Birmingham 2022: The Games is a real springboard for genuine inclusion
In just under a year’s time, some of the greatest athletes in the world will arrive in the West Midlands for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. Local schools and networks are getting ready to welcome the Games to their region. Pupils and teachers from Wilson Stuart School in Birmingham are excited to be involved in the build-up. Their Executive Headteacher, Simon Harris, talks to us about his hopes for the Games and their influence on the region to deliver more inclusive sporting opportunities.
Preparation is well underway for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games which run from 28 July – 8 August. The Games will be huge for the region in many ways.
Wilson Stuart is located in Perry Common, Erdington in the north of Birmingham. The school is involved in the region’s Include Me West Midlands programme. It is an initiative backed by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) to support disabled people and people with long-term health conditions to be physically active.
Tell us about your school
We have 286 pupils here and I’m proud to say we are a six-time consecutive Ofsted Outstanding all age 2-19 Special School and Mainstream Nursery.
We have pupils across a wide range of abilities. We have GCSE level students and pupils with very complex Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities (PMLD).
We run a wide range of inclusive sporting and health programmes ranging from Paralympic Sports, such as Boccia, through to Inclusive yoga sessions. I’m excited to say that we may see one of our ex-pupils Javaughn Parkes compete at the Games in the 100m sprint.
We know how important being active is to our pupils’ physical and mental wellbeing. So, from September, every student, no matter their physical needs, will start the day with our 'Physical 45'. This will be a 45-minute session from the second they arrive in school, supporting them with their physical development, health and wellbeing.
How excited are you about the Commonwealth Games coming to the West Midlands?
We are all excited - Alexander Stadium is just down the road from our school and we can now see a lot of the new buildings taking shape ready for next year. We’re also really excited to be getting involved in the lead up to the Games and hopefully we will be able to see some of the events live.
A lot has been happening across the region to get us ready for next year’s Games. We are particularly excited by the development of new sports facilities, which we will be able to use after the Games has finished next summer. It’s great to see that the 2022 Games will be holding more Parasports than ever before at a Commonwealth Games.
What plans do you have to join in with the Games’ atmosphere?
We have recently met with the Education Lead for the Games and we will be taking part in some test events. We will be checking out the facilities and seeing how inclusive they are going to be.
We are also looking forward to a visit from Perry the Bull, Birmingham 2022's mascot. We will be building Commonwealth Games activities into all aspects of our curriculum. And we are hopeful that some of the athletes will be visiting the school in the lead up to the event.
What do you hope the legacy of the Games will be for disabled people in sport in the region?
There will be some great facilities. However, we are also hoping for some changes in mindsets for the population of Birmingham as they see the challenges disabled people face in a big City. Particularly when it comes to taking part in sport and activity.
We are hoping the influence of the Games will bring with it more regular opportunities for disabled children and adults to take part in inclusive sports. We have already started to look at this with Sport Birmingham in Birmingham City Council, Community Games organisers and Sport Governing Bodies.
How are you involved with Include Me West Midlands and what does it mean to have such influential programmes in the region?
We have been successful as a school for a long period of time now, and I believe that Is down to us being acutely aware of the need to improve. We never sit still and say how brilliantly we are doing; we just keep on trying to make things better. Our mission statement is 'Better Never Ends' and we live by that every day.
Being involved with Include Me West Midlands is a natural progression for us. We want to be involved in any movement which can improve physical activity, health and social care for our students when at school but also for their lives beyond school when they are trying to become independent young adults.
The more we talk about the barriers to participation and everyday challenges faced by disabled people across our region, the more chance we will have of solving them together.
I hope Birmingham 2022 can bring some of the issues disabled people face to the forefront and be a real springboard for genuine inclusion. Some of these issues were identified in the Government's National Disability Strategy, launched last week. Birmingham 2022 is set to be the most inclusive Commonwealth Games ever and that’s really key, not only to us as a school but the West Midlands region.
Image credit: Dwarf Sports Association UK
