Lyfta live lessons: Men's Football World Cup

Trailer to storyworld series Values Through Sport

Kick-off! The 2022 Men's Football World Cup

The countdown has started for the Men's Football World Cup 2022 in Qatar and if you haven't felt the football fever yet, you soon will. In 2018 at the last World Cup in Russia an estimated 1.12 billion people watched the final between France and Croatia and this year will likely see even higher viewing figures.

Kick-off for the 2022 competition is Sunday 20 November and the tournament will last for a month. For many, that's a month of a tantalising mixture of hope, disappointment, frustration and celebration.As children (and indeed teachers) get swept up in the excitement of the tournament, it's the perfect opportunity to harness the power of sport to explore and nurture positive values in the classroom.

How Lyfta can help you leverage this exciting learning opportunity

Lyfta has a host of sport-related content and resources to make the most of the occasion, including a series of 4 football-themed storyworlds.

The Kids' Cup series explores the stories of 4 young people competing with their teams at an international youth football tournament in Oslo. The storyworlds (featuring each story as a short documentary and a range of 360° spaces) are a powerful way to explore and spark discussion around values like resilience, leadership, teamwork and how to cope with the disappointment that often accompanies sport.

Join us, with classes from across the UK for a Lyfta Live Lesson

We will be running Lyfta Live lessons on 30th November and 2nd December (sessions at 11.30 and 14.15 each day) exploring a football-themed storyworld. There is no need for any teacher preparation to take part, just sign up and join your class via a Zoom link on the day.

We will be exploring one of the stories from the Kids' Cup featuring Anna from Norway. We'll see Anna's home and bedroom in 360°, and see how Anna has to learn that coping with disappointment is all part of the game.

Lyfta Live lessons - what are they?

Students at Cheam Fields Primary participating in a Lyfta live lesson

Lyfta live lessons are delivered by our engagement team live, via Zoom, bringing together many different schools for a shared Lyfta experience. During World Space Week in October, we introduced 255 classes from 109 schools to Space Mission Lucy, our exciting new space-themed storyworld. Read what the children thought of the session here.

Subscribed to Lyfta? Explore the resources now.

If you subscribe to Lyfta you can launch one of the read-made lesson or assembly plans to explore the Kids' Cup series whenever you choose.

There are a series of shortened Lyfta Time sessions (20 minutes) which are ideal for assembly or form time during the tournament, or look at some of the longer lesson plans to explore the themes in more depth:

Meet Anna from Norway as she competes in the Kids' Cup (20 min Lyfta Time)
Evaluation skills: Anna from Norway (45 mins)
Meet Freddie from Brazil as he competes in the Kids' Cup (20 min Lyfta Time)
Meet Yu from China as she competes in the Kids' Cup (20 min Lyfta Time)
Meet Afnan from Palestine as she competes in the Kid's Cup (20 min Lyfta Time)
People who inspire us (45 mins)
Inference skills (45 mins)

You can access a range of rich media articles which are included in the series, including :

The history of the football
Winning and losing
Being a captain
Functioning under pressure
Football in Brazil
National Pride
Coaching
The benefits of exercise

More about the Kids' Cup series

This Lyfta storyworld series is made up of 4 films focussing on young footballers representing their countries in the Norway Kids' Cup, an international youth football tournament in Oslo. The films featuring teams from China, Palestine, Brazil and Norway, are a powerful way to explore and spark discussion around positive values including resilience, leadership and teamwork.

China: The Enduring Captain

Yu from China: Kids' Cup storyworld series.

In this storyworld, students will meet Yu, from the Chengdu region of China. Yu lost her father and still struggles with this, but has been selected as team captain for the Kids' Cup and is determined to honour her father's memory as well as her country. Discover how Yu leads and supports her teammates when the going gets tough. See her team train in a specialist football camp in China and find out how playing football and studying hard is Yu's way of dealing with bereavement - and preparing for her future.

Brazil: From the Sidelines

Freddie from Brazil: Kids' Cup storyworld series.

This storyworld focuses on Freddy from Brazil. Playing for one of Brazil's best teams is expectation enough, but he also has a family legacy of footballing success. How can he live up to these expectations, and what happens when he gets benched during the tournament? Find out how Freddy learns to celebrate others' success - and manage his feelings when somebody special steals his heart.

Palestine: More Than a Game

Afnan from Palestine: Kids' Cup storyworld series.

Students meet Afnan from Palestine in this storyworld, who has trained with her dedicated football coach and teammates all year against the odds. Join Afnan and her resilient team as they work hard, enjoy the competition and show that, for them, raising the name of Palestine is more important than winning.

Norway: Eyes on the Ball

Anna from Norway: Kids' Cup storyworld series.

Anna is from Norway, the host nation. Students will watch her run alongside fjords and in the shadow of mountains as she prepares for the competition, and find out what it's like when your Dad is your coach. Explore how Anna manages her emotions as the tournament progresses - and learns how coping with disappointment is all part of the game.

Did you know you can use your Primary PE and Sport Premium for Lyfta?

The Primary PE and Sport Premium help more children access high-quality PE lessons and sporting opportunities, supporting both their physical and mental wellbeing. But did you know that you can use your sports premium to subscribe to Lyfta and enhance your PE offering through our immersive human stories? The DfE funding allows primary schools to target their greatest challenges in relation to ensuring that all young people have the opportunity to live healthy and active lives. While an EdTech resource might not be the first thing that springs to mind for use of the sports premium, Lyfta in fact provides an innovative and highly effective tool to help raise the profile of PE across the school and increase the confidence, knowledge and skills of all staff in teaching PE and sport. Find out more here.

Seminar in partnership with Youth Sport Trust

On 11th November we are running a seminar with Youth Sport Trust exploring rationale and pedagogical reasoning for the use of digital technologies within the PE curriculum. We will discuss ways in which digital technology can support PE and provide examples and support for how to embed digital technology and support students' digital literacy, as well as health, wellbeing and emotional regulation. Sign up for Supporting PE - Sports Education Through Digital Global Encounters here.

Get started for free