Nursery World - Learning & Development: World cup

An early years sports coach reveals how he has used the World Cup
to improve planning for physical development. Lala Manners reports.

However well the England football team do in the World Cup this summer, the event presents a wealth of learning opportunities, particularly for specialist physical development (PD) practitioners. For one early years sports specialist, it has led to a significant change in the planning and delivery of active sessions - and an encouraging growth in dialogue between practitioners and parents about sports initiatives.

For five years, Matthew Smith has been a sports coach for Active Learning nurseries, working across settings in the South of England. Like many sports specialists, he was used to working in a linear, sequential fashion, with sessions planned around the acquisition and refinement of particular skills. This is his story.

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