London 2012 inspires Winchester - University of Winchester

VENTA / Issue 26 / Summer 2012
Vytas Jakimavicius – Director of Sport
Vytas Jakimavicius (PGCE, 2005 to
2006) is Director of Sport at Prince’s
Mead School in King’s Worthy,
Winchester. The school was the
first Prep School in Hampshire to
be awarded the London 2012 Get
Set Mark, the official London 2012
educational programme’s marker
for schools who are providing
opportunities and activities for their
pupils to get involved in London 2012.
Vytas explains; “ We have been doing lots of
activities, children have designed team GB kit
for various sports, children have choreographed
dance routines for Wenlock and Mandeville
(Olympic mascots) and designed balanced
meals for the athletes to eat to help their
performance.
“The children I teach are too young to remember
much beyond the 2008 Bejing Olympics but
they will remember the London Olympics for
the rest of their lives. This generation of children
will see and hear about the fastest, strongest,
most athletic, most skilful people in the world
and aspire to be like them. It is our responsibility
after the games to do all we can to help children
realise their dreams.”
In honour of the Paralympics also happening
this year in London, the school has also
introduced the sports Boccia and Goal Ball
both of which are current Paralympic sports.
“We are trying to make as many sports as
we can accessible for the children,” explained
Vytas. “We have started putting on festivals
of sport for local schools, and have linked with
lots of local clubs to provide a base for their
fixtures and training sessions.”
The school is also taking part in the
celebrations to mark the Olympic torch
arriving in Winchester with every child making
their own Olympic torch to take down to the
city centre, and their choir and brass band
attending to entertain the crowds.
Winchester Street Arts students perform at
Olympic Stadium
A group of talented Street Arts
students from the University of
Winchester were selected to perform
at the Olympic Stadium in May
with an audience of around 35,000
spectators.
The 20 performers, all students from
Winchester’s BA Street Arts programme,
entertained the crowds at the Sainsbury’s 2012
School Games on 9 May with seven different
walkabout and interactive acts. This inaugural
UK schools event ran from 6-9 May at the
Olympic Park and was organised by the Youth
Sport Trust. Almost 1,600 young sports stars
competed across 12 different sports.
The students were recommended by
a representative of the 2012 Cultural
Olympiad who had seen their work The Art
of Demonstration at Winchester’s Performing
Arts Studios earlier this year. The University
was awarded the London 2012 Inspire Mark
in January for the project which involved
workshops with the internationally-acclaimed
performance company Periplum.
In addition to performances in Winchester,
students have recently returned from the 15th
Artois International University Performing Arts
Festival in France where, amongst other pieces,
they performed Ka-dunk-a-junk. This act has
now been adapted to ensure it is suitable for an
even larger audience at the Olympic Park.
“We’re all hoping that performing at
the Olympic Stadium will lead to future
opportunities,” said second year BA Street
Arts student, Emma Nias from Bournemouth.
“However, on a personal level, whatever
happens, this is something we can take with us
forever.”
“This is an incredible opportunity for our
students,” said John Lee, Programme Leader
for BA Street Arts at Winchester, one of
the first courses of its kind in Europe. “We
encourage them to get as much experience in
public performance as possible but this is the
biggest venue we’ve had yet. Performing at
the Olympic Stadium is a chance of a lifetime.
We’re hoping this event might lead to an
engagement at other events that surround and
include the Olympic Games.”
Street Arts students performing at the Olympic Stadium. Image courtesy of Keith Van-Loen.
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