Welsh sports clubs have joined forces with Caerphilly County Borough Council to encourage creative writing and improve literacy in comprehensive school pupils.
More than 200 Year 7-9 male pupils visited three major South Wales sporting venues recently– Cardiff City and Swalec stadiums in Cardiff and Rodney Parade in Newport – to take part in a series of ‘Read a Million Words’ workshops organised by Caerphilly Schools Library Service and Sport Caerphilly.
The workshops covered various aspects of sports journalism, including match report writing techniques and styles, researching and writing sporting personality profile and drafting questions for an interview with a chosen sports personality.
Pupils from Bedwas, St Martin’s, Risca and St Cenydd comprehensive schools spent the day at Cardiff City Stadium where they started off the morning with a tour of the arena, followed by a writing workshop with author Michael Harvey. In the afternoon the pupils enjoyed a second workshop with the author.
Sport Caerphilly’s Active Young Peoples Manager, Andrew Honey-Jones, who has been leading the project, said, “This is a fantastic opportunity for the young people to experience a professional sporting environment. The visit to Rodney Parade and Cardiff City and Swalec stadiums positively inspired the pupils to work hard to improve their literacy whilst exploring their interest in sport.”
Author Michael Harvey said, “By visiting these sporting venues the boys are inspired by the focus and determination needed in elite sport, which feeds into their writing.”
