When Josh Harrop and Ben Pearson stepped into the assembly hall of St. Andrew’s Primary School, they were greeted with applause and cheers from the school children who were desperate to meet them.
The PNE duo explained to Year four children who’d been taking part in North End’s H.E.L.P (Healthy Eating and Lifestyle Programme) all about their diets, their pre-match routine and what they did to ensure they kept up with the healthy lifestyle expected of a footballer.
The visit was a perfect addition to the programme which sees PNE deliver the scheme into the school as part of North End’s partnership with St Andrew’s.
The programme is designed to educate primary school children into living a healthy and active lifestyle with key messages such as eating healthy, exercising regularly, maintaining general hygiene and building up fitness levels at the forefront of the delivery.
Year four teachers Miss Slater and Miss Small have been key observers of the lessons the Trust deliver, and have been particularly impressed with the methods of delivery and variety, ensuring no two lessons are the same.
On the six week initiative, Miss Slater said: “It’s been really encouraging for the kids. They’ve been involved in loads of the activities and the lessons have been moving at a really fast pace and I think the children really like that.
“We always assess how the children have found the session but Chris - who comes in from PNE uses an emoji chart as well of how the children feel. The children point to which emotion they felt regarding the lesson and it’s a good way for them to show how they found the session.”
Miss Small echoed her fellow teachers sentiments, adding: “They’ve been interactive, they’ve been outside doing lots of games as well and Chris is always really organised and always has their attention and they’re all really enthusiastic about it. They’ve been doing the lunch time club as well and they loved it.
“There’s also children who are reluctant when it comes to P.E and the physical side of it but every single child has really got involved with it. Even we as teachers have been getting involved!
“They’ve all been fresh ideas as well. Chris has brought in different ideas that I wouldn’t have thought to teach that way.”
To find out more about PNE's Premier League Primary Stars Programme, click here.