The Premier League's primary school education programme, Premier League Primary Stars, has been recognised as a leader in sports education at the ISC International Sports Awards 2023.
Celebrating exceptional success in the sports industry, the annual International Sports Awards recognise the innovation and achievements of individuals, groups and companies in the world of sport.
Premier League Primary Stars was presented with the Education award, alongside education agency Hark London (formally EVERFI) during the International Sports Convention at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium earlier this week.
"We know that football can bring together people from different communities and cultures. Diversity makes the game stronger both on and off the pitch and, thanks to Premier League Primary Stars, in the classroom too," said Premier League Charitable Fund Chief Executive, Ruth Shaw OBE.
"More than 100 professional football club community organisations deliver Premier League Primary Stars sessions in their local primary schools every week.
"This, coupled with more than one million pupils reached annually through the programme's digital offer, demonstrates the reach of this free programme and helps us to collectively harness the power of football as a force for good."
The award includes special recognition for the Premier League Primary Stars diversity and inclusion work.
Close to 11,000 teachers have delivered the programme's No Room For Racism resources to over 328,000 pupils since the programme's launch in 2017.
Premier League Primary Stars has also delivered the roll out of the Premier League Kit scheme and Active Allies resources, in association with Nike, to help instil positive behaviours in children by growing self-belief in girls and inspiring allyship in boys, to ensure football can be truly everyone's game.
In a recent evaluation conducted by EVERFI, 88 per cent of teachers surveyed said that Premier League Primary Stars helped their students understand more about challenging prejudice and discrimination, and 95 per cent reported that the programme had positively impacted their school community.
What is Premier League Primary Stars?
Premier League Primary Stars uses the appeal of football to support children to be active and develop essential life skills.
It is available to every primary school in England and Wales, with over 19,000 schools engaged with the programme. More than 1.3million school sessions and events have already been delivered.
Funded by the Premier League, through the Premier League Charitable Fund, Premier League Primary Stars has enabled over 69,000 to use resources for English, PSHE, PE and Maths, to help children to be active and develop essential life skills. There are 650+ free resources available.
Currently 104 professional football club charities from the National League to the Premier League run in-classroom Primary Stars sessions in local schools, with over 18m attendances by primary school pupils.
To find out more about delivering the programme in your school, please visit plprimarystars.com.
