The Orienteering Australia consultation meeting with state association representatives on the $80,000 ASC grant to implement Sporting Schools orienteering will be held at 5pm on Saturday 10 January in the St Helens Training Centre (St Helens High School), Groom St, St Helens, 100m from the junction with Circassian St. The meeting is expected to be about 1 hour.
Sporting Schools is a $100 million Australian government initiative targetting the 8,000 primary schools in Australia and a sample of 80 high schools and is due to commence in July 2015. The ASC website for this is http://sportingschools.gov.au/
Implementing this for orienteering will require a considerable increase in the numbers of Level 0 and Level 1 accredited coaches willing to run 3 to 8 week orienteering programs in primary schools, a large increase in the numbers of schools mapped (and schools with existing maps updated), national and state online resources, a State Sporting Schools coordinator in each state and territory, and a state Sporting Schools implementation plan. Orienteering Australia wishes to encourage experienced junior orienteers aged 18 and over and any other orienteers older than this who might be seeking some part-time remuneration to contact your state association to express an interest in becoming an accredited Sporting Schools orienteering coach or otherwise contribute to the mapping and administrative effort needed to implement orienteering in the Sporting Schools program. Further information is also available from John Harding at Orienteering Australia.