Nuffield Curriculum Centre

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Olympic Fencer joins the Key Stage 3 STEM writers’ workshop
Wed, 9 July 2008

Nuffield Curriculum Centre

Richard KruzeAs a European silver medallist and Athens Olympian, fencer Richard Kruze is used to answering questions about competition and peak performance. He is less of often quizzed about his domestic arrangements. Not surprisingly then he seemed somewhat perplexed when the first question from the floor was “Richard, when you stay in the Olympic Village who cleans your room?” This was followed by a barrage of questions from the authors who wanted to know what he ate and who prepared it, how often was his urine tested, how did he get from A to B, and what did he do for fun when not competing. The purpose of this inquisition was to find out what life in the Olympic Village is really like and who are the people responsible for providing for the needs of the world’s athletic elite.

Richard was slightly less forthcoming when asked about the Lodge - a retreat complex for athletes just outside the Village. Here the competitors are free to meet family and friends outside the security cordon and without the normal restrictions on alcohol – is this where the fun and games start?

Some of the STEM project team writing activities
This forum was the second Key Stage 3 workshop for teachers who are writing a section called Village People as part of our first module based on the Olympic theme. Part of the aim of the module is to demonstrate the wide range of STEM practitioners needed to prepare for the games and support the athletes when they are in the Village. The next round of writing will investigate how STEM practitioners help prepare top athletes for competition through their expertise in diet, physiology, engineering and psychology. Once again the aim is to involve the athletes themselves who are key in developing sports research.

Before the event we had been aware that Richard’s injuries this season had left him just short of Beijing qualification. However on the eve of the workshop Richard discovered that he had been given a wild card. He says he can’t wait to find out who will be cleaning his room this time around!

If you’d like to find out more about the Nuffield Key Stage 3 STEM Project take a look at the Wiki website at http: //www.nuffieldstem.org/.