Pioneering Movement System for  Wellington School Pupils

28 May 2019

Wellington School will be pioneering a revolutionary system of movement amongst some of the younger children. The Sports and Wellbeing Department has been working closely with Functional Movements Systems (UK) over the past 18 months to collect data and create a scheme which will retrain the body and the brain to improve movement efficiency to re-establish sound movement patterns.

“If we are going to influence the health and fitness of the general population, we have to impact children first. Developing movement habits and preserving movement health of young people must be a priority,” commented Steffan Jones, Director of Sport Performance & Wellbeing at Wellington School.

“The programme is not about competition or elite sport – it’s about everyone – a tool to identify poorly developed or maintained movement patterns that potentially make gross motor skills or specific sports skills difficult.”

Of all the challenges that await the next generation, health – specifically obesity – is among the most significant. According to the NHS nearly one third of children between the ages of 2-15 are either overweight or obese. The Movement Patterns programme allows teachers to screen for movement inefficiency to ensure a child has the basic foundation of movement quality to make the best programming decisions with precision and purpose.

“There will be seven movement tests that require a balance of mobility and stability – placing children in challenging positions where weaknesses, imbalances, asymmetries and limitations become noticeable”, observed Steffan Jones. “We will work with Year 5-8 initially, then roll out the across the whole school.”

“We are delighted to be working with Wellington School on this programme “commented FMS UK Chief Executive, Peter Bowler. “The platform is accessed through an integrated FMS UK App – by phone or tablet – it stores every child’s results and establishes a movement passport that can be monitored continually. A report is automatically produced outlining any required remediation needed and the necessary training program established – this is available to be emailed to parents at any time.”

FMS are considered leaders in the world of movement. After two decades working with and testing their theories with elite athletes in the Football Premiership, the NFL, US Military and Nave Seals, FMS are now refocusing their attention on schools and junior sport.

 

Photo: FMS CEO Peter Bowler (left) with Steffan Jones Wellington School’s Director of Sports Performance & Wellbeing and FMS Gavin Armstrong.