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Millfield hosts Directors of Sport from across the country
On Friday 29th January, Millfield School in Street, Somerset, played host to some 20 Directors of Sport from schools across the country for an Independent Professional Development (IPD) Course on Physical Competence Assessment and Development. The day was designed to build on the introduction to this subject given by the IPD last year, dealing with the key concepts in much greater detail, and incorporating four practical sessions, taking delegates through the key phases of assessment and evaluation.
The course was given by Kelvin Giles, a former UK National and Olympic Athletics Coach who has spent 28 years in Australia's internationally renowned High Performance network as Coach, Manager and Administrator. He is now internationally known for his innovative coaching programmes and has just returned from the United States where he is pioneering fitness programmes for junior students.
Kelvin is the founder and Director of Movement Dynamics UK Ltd, a company that offers services across the entire sports performance continuum. Currently consulting on development a high performance issues with Leicester Tigers Rugby Union Club, Sport Ireland, the Lawn Tennis Association and the Football Association, Kelvin conducts operational reviews and interventions for organisations to deliver ‘best practice' strategies for all athletes. He is only one of three Master Level Strength and Conditioning mentors with the Australian Strength and Conditioning Association and has recently completed a 3-year consultancy in Elite Player Development for the Australian Rugby Union. He has published a range of practical books designed for use in schools, including ‘Movement Dynamics', ‘The Progressive Exercise Syllabus' and ‘The Physical Competence Test Battery'. His philosophy is built around the design and implementation of a functional process for all layers of the performance continuum from students in schools through to elite performance in professional sport. This philosophy guided his approach as Manager of Strength and Conditioning Services at the Queensland Academy of Sport where the Academy won 56% of Australia Olympic medals in Athens. He was also the inaugural Director of Performance for the Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Club, one of Australia's most successful clubs. He is a former lecturer in Physical Education at St. Peter's College, Birmingham University.
Millfield was delighted to host this eminent expert in his field for the day, with five members of staff attending his session. Graeme Maw, Director of Sport at Millfield said: "At Millfield we are in the position of taking care of broad and varied young sporting talent, and we owe them a special duty of care. The theory and philosophy around Physical Competences is highly consistent with that in developing youngsters at an age-appropriate rate with good foundations in place. As every good coach knows, if you don't get the basics right things can quickly unravel, and Kelvin's ideas highlight both the risks of not doing this with physical conditioning and the benefits we can offer to our own pupils."
