Stoke Mandeville Institute
What is SMISE?
SMISE stands for Stoke Mandeville Institute of Sport and Education. The institute is a partnership between WheelPower, Bucks New University, Bucks and Milton Keynes Sports Partnership and Leisure Connection plc. This partnership will provide a unique programme of sports education and training opportunities for disabled people and those working in disability sport, which will contribute to the legacy of the London 2012 Paralympic Games and beyond.
The Institute is committed to providing accessible education and training programmes to upskill and extend the existing dedicated workforce, enabling more disabled people to become involved in sport as athletes, coaches, administrators or officials, and increasing the number of qualified coaches, officials, volunteers and classifiers in various sporting disciplines.
What are the main aims of SMISE?
• Contribute to a more coordinated, effective delivery system for disability sports education and training. Providing a unique programme of education and training with a specific focus on disability sport.
• Develop and deliver courses that raise the awareness of the needs of disabled people within sport and leisure, to give deliverers the skills to include disabled people in their sports and activities.
• Empower disabled people to take a more active role in sport and physical activity by recruiting and training disabled people to be tutors and coaches on its courses.
• Work with National Governing Bodies to provide tailored pathway of sport specific courses for coaches, officials, volunteers and classifiers.
• Offer a diverse array of educational and training courses; from short courses to degree level qualifications (Level 1-7). For example; Disability Equality awareness training, classification and profiling courses, National Governing Body and UKCC sport specific training and work based foundation degrees and Honours degrees.
• Provide alternative delivery models such as intensive residential training courses and flexible distance learning using the state of the art technology depending on the demands of learners. In some instance it may be that course development is required to compliment and extend existing provision, in such cases partners will provide appropriate support and guidance.
The institute aims to work with as many local, national and international key partners as possible to provide a comprehensive educational schedule to support the future of disability sport and the legacy of the 2012 Paralympics and beyond.
Who will benefit from SMISE?
Research carried out by the Institute suggests a number of audiences will benefit from such training, these include:
• Community Sports Coaches
• Paid & volunteer coaches & officials
• Teachers & Educational Support Staff
People with Disabilities
• 2012 Volunteers
• Sports students
• Social workers and rehabilitation teams
Athletes & retired athletes
• Leisure workers
• Play workers
• Performance coaches
To name but a few!
In addition to this infrastructure Stoke Mandeville Institute of Sport and Education will increase the awareness within the business and corporate sector and build capacity for people with disabilities to access qualified people locally to where they live around the UK.
How do I find out about courses run by SMISE?
To register your interest or book onto a course run as part of the SMISE programme please contact Carina Page, Sport Strategy Manager on carina.page@bucks.ac.uk or call 07920 150 465