Bath Rugby Foundation’s award-winning HITZ programme is continuing as normal – or as close to normal as possible – during the COVID-19 outbreak.

While the participants may not be in the classroom, they have continued this week with all the participants taking part in online classes with tutors Hannah and Emily.

Face-to-face lessons are being held using Microsoft Teams, enabling all learners to see each other. 

HITZ is Premiership Rugby's flagship education and employability programme, which works with over 2,000 young people across England every year. 34 learners are currently enrolled on Bath Rugby HITZ courses.

Academic learning is delivered by SCL Education and work will continue to take place online, while the HITZ “enrichment” – physical activity – is taking place via a series of challenges being made and the youngsters performing tasks in their homes, garages and gardens.

See how the HITZ learners are finding creative ways to exercise on the film below:

SCL tutor, Emily Hull said: “Despite the challenges facing the HITZ learners, they are continuing to engage enthusiastically with us online. 

“HITZ is a huge part of their lives and it’s great to see how they want to continue to engage with us and each other, despite not being able to be together in the classroom.

SCL tutor, Hannah Stephens, said: “The first few days of remote learning have gone really well. All the learners have been fully engaged in the work and have embraced this new way of learning very well.”

HITZ participants have been challenged to think about the current crisis...and find a little humour to cheer everyone up. They were asked what advice they would give the world right now and also to come up with a joke to put a smile on people's faces. The results have been shared on the Bath Rugby HITZ and Bath Rugby Foundation social media channels.

Learn how Bath Rugby Foundation's work is continuing during the COVID-19 crisis >>

Bath Rugby Foundation’s HITZ Officer, Joe Aygul, said: “We always say that our classrooms are different and that is certainly true now as the participants deal with this complex situation.

“Many of our learners have faced barriers to education in the past and at Bath Rugby Foundation we are determined to everything possible to allowing education to continue and see them achieve their goals.

“We know that the social impact of the current situation, with schools, colleges and learning facilities like our HITZ Academy shutting down will be felt most by the young people we work with at Bath Rugby Foundation and we are determined to continue to support them for as long as the crisis lasts.”

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