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Sports College
Having reached the end of our third
year as a Sports College, it was very pleasing
that the impact of being a specialist school,
came through strongly in our OFSTED report in
June 2008. During the last three years we have
introduced quite a few new sports for example
lacrosse and kayaking and we have increased opportunities
for students to compete. Our aim has been to encourage
all students to use the positive values of sport
to raise their achievement and develop generic
values and skills such as confidence, self esteem,
leadership and communication skills.
The introduction of lacrosse has
been a real success and we are employing a resident
coach via a scheme with the English Lacrosse Association;
if this proves to be a success we may explore
further opportunities to employ resident sports
coaches.
This year's sports award dinner
was a fine example of how the positive values
of sport can inspire young and old alike. We were
privileged to have Duke McKenzie as our guest
speaker, Duke's intelligent, honest speech promoted
the values of hard work, commitment and the importance
of family on his success in sport and life. The
thoughtful questions posed by our students were
a measure of his impact. He was generous with
his time as he stayed for photos with his prized
Commonwealth belt.
It is fantastic to see our sporting
peer group leaders in Year 10 and 11, identified
by their sports ties, looking immaculate in their
uniform. It is impossible to measure the impact
this has, but it cannot be doing any harm.
In lessons across the school;
a growing number of departments are using sporting
contexts to engage students, these include Science,
Mathematics, Geography, ICT, Enterprise Education
and Food Technology. There are exciting possibilities
that could see our Countryside and Environment
students building a 'trim trail' on the park!
We are also looking into the possibility of raising
achievement further by offering a more flexible
curriculum from Year 9 including the opportunity
to follow GCSE P.E and other accredited courses.
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