Pupils in focus: 10 years of STARK BEWEGT

Perseverance, goal orientation and teamwork: These and other qualities are taught to children and young people in the "STARK BEWEGT" programme of the Waldeck-Frankenberg district. For 10 years now, the district has been offering all schools team training for their students. The sports and youth work department is supported by school administrators, teachers, parents and other volunteers who have previously been trained as team leaders.

"STARK BEWEGT", a name that says a lot, but what exactly is behind it? With different movement activities such as strength, endurance and coordination, young people are supported in the development of their social skills in a targeted way through regular training. Depending on the structure and goal, the class is given individually designed problems to solve together. In this way, the training not only creates a better understanding of the person themselves, but also of other group members. "The participants can get to know themselves and also their fellow students free from the pressure of grades and performance. This way, an understanding togetherness can develop and community and cohesion can be promoted," explained Matthias Schäfer, head of the sports and youth work department and team leader.

However, many children and young people have experienced massive restrictions due to the measures taken to combat the Corona pandemic, especially in the social area, which have consequences. In order to keep the programme as complete as possible, it was constantly adapted to the current Corona regulations by the specialist service. "We noticed very clearly that the children and young people lacked social contact, which led to behavioural deficits. Through our adapted team training, we were able to counteract these deficits and support the pupils during this time," explained Andreas Greif, deputy head of the specialist service for sport and youth work and team leader.