I was invited to speak at the Global Education and Skills Forum concert in Dubai recently by the Varkey Foundation, who founded the conference and the inaugural Global Teacher Prize which takes place during the event. I was lucky enough to listen to some incredible talks with teachers, educators and people from all over the world who are genuinely passionate about education. I spoke on a panel at the conference about the importance of putting PE and sport in the curriculum at school, highlighting and debating the importance of sport for mental and physical health. I was joined by Auma Obama, cricketer Brian Lara, a former finalist of the Global Teacher Prize from Germany, footballer Juan Sebastian Veron and Jerry Bamba. We had an interesting discussion covering doping in sport, lessons learned from sport and why these are so valuable for children, the difference between traditional and non-traditional sports. I emphasised to the audience how growing up, sport was not really an option for me at school in the 90s, because very often the teachers did not know what I could physically do and Paralympic sport did not have the profile it has today. Hopefully the teachers in the room will look at the importance of physical activity in schools for all children, no matter their ability.
The full panel discussion can be watched here.
