Sports Leaders News

Key Dates

Gulf Sports Leaders Conference, Bahrain: 23-28 February 2020

Mrs Allen

What an absolute privilege to have been selected to attend this event in Bahrain along with only one other school from the UK (Great Marlow School in Buckinghamshire).

We all got along very well and were soon working alongside our colleagues from the Gulf States. There was much to be inspired by from both staff and sports leaders alike. The hospitality was out of this world and the delivery of the activities to the primary children was a joy to watch and be a part of.

We have learnt much about their culture and programmes and especially inspired by the way that girls were empowered. Mrs Turner and I were very proud of Holly and Ben (year 13 students) in the way they talked and all the questions they posed to the British Ambassador, Head of the British Council and other special guests.

The Youth Sport Trust are so special to work with and school has been afforded many opportunities because of the working relationship we have with them.

Mrs Turner

The Gulf Sports Conference was truly inspiring. It was an amazing experience to have the opportunity to share our sports leadership programme with delegates from the Gulf and learn about their delivery.

Duncan Goodhew, Olympic swimmer gold medallist, gave a powerful speech at the conference “Sport is a common language of all across the world and everyone has a place in sport and can make a difference.”

Ben (year 13)

Bahrain was an incredible experience! I was invited out to Bahrain to work with Youth Sport Trust International and the British Council. This opportunity came about through our school’s work with sports leaders.

Throughout the week we worked together with other sports leaders from Gulf countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) to plan and then eventually deliver an event for primary school aged children from Bahrain. This wasn’t the easiest of tasks due to differences in language. However, we quickly managed to get around these difficulties to put together a great event that everybody thoroughly enjoyed.

Not only did we deliver this event, but we also got the opportunity to visit a Souk (market) this was a fascinating way to learn more about Bahrain and it really opened my eyes to how different their culture was.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and would love to visit Bahrain again. I would also recommend anybody grabs the chance to do any work with the Youth Sport Trust in the future.

Holly (year 13)

Bahrain was an amazing experience. I was apprehensive after the first evening in the initial meeting with the girls from the Gulf region as I was the only English girl and felt like I didn't fit in. However, after meeting the other English students and being introduced properly the following day, I realised how welcoming the girls were and was greatly impressed by their ability to speak English fluently.

We began planning the sports event and I learnt about traditional Bahraini games that are used by the leaders to involve young girls in physical activity. This was an eye-opening experience as we learnt about the culture and differences between our countries. For example, where we would play games such as football or netball with all participants, some of the girls recommended activities that were fully inclusive for all participants as some many have grown up with little participation in sport.

Meeting inspirational athletes and listening to the achievements of other countries during the conference was an amazing opportunity to recognise and celebrate the improvements they have made in the their countries.

Overall, the trip was a huge success for me as I learnt about new cultures and shared ideas with people from all over the region. I have brought back to England many skills such as the ability to include everyone and communication even through language barriers. I believe that I also left the students from the Gulf region with new ideas and experiences for example, the integration between genders when working together in sport and the opportunity to learn about English culture and sport.

Year 5 & 6 SSP Pentathlon

The year 5-6 SSP pentathlon championship took place at Highfields on Monday 2 March after school. Students came from the primary schools in the Highfields cluster to take part, competing against a national ranking in standing long jump, standing triple jump, speed bounce, chest push and sprinting.

Students get a national ranking and are invited to a summer camp depending on their scores. Thank you to the Highfields sports leaders in years 7, 8 and 12 who did an amazing job at officiating.

KS2 High 5 Netball

We held the key stage 2 High 5 netball event on Tuesday 3 March. It was a cold day but despite this 90 students took part from local primaries – St Joseph’s, St Giles, Wessington, Lea, South Darley, Winster and Darley Dale.

Our 27 sports leaders from years 7-11 were excellent and thank you to Freya in year 8 who was umpire of the tournament.

Results:

Years 3-4: Gold Lea Primary Silver St Giles Primary Bronze Wessington Primary

Years 5-6: Gold Lea Primary Silver South Darley Primary Bronze Wessington Primary 4 th place St Joseph’s Primary 5 th place Darley Dale Primary 6 th place Winster Primary

Primary Sports Evenings

On Wednesday 4 March the spring block of our primary sports evenings began with students from All Saints and Darley Dale Primaries in attendance.

Mr Molyneux and the Highfields sports leaders led the students in basketball, tennis and benchball activities. Leaders Courtney, Sophie and Florence were outstanding!

Dance leaders

I was able to observe the level 2 dance leaders in year 13 leading a session after school to a group of Highfields dancers – they were very competent in their delivery and the young dancers responded brilliantly.