INCLUSION,LANGUAGE ANDFOOTBALL

from Shropshire Magazine May 2023

WORDSPIRALS IMPOSSIPUZZLES

Atarecent Head’s conference one of the speakers introduced me to anew concept –the art of tarrying.

According to the dictionary,totarry is to stay somewhere for longer than expected, or delay leaving. The context for the audience was the importance of taking time in leadership to reflect,or delay making an action, especially given that most of our lives as Heads arespent making multiple, quick decisions.

Without realising it at thetime, Prestfelde has experienced its own tarrying of late and it has proved to be of great benefit. Like many schools, equality and inclusion hasbeen afocus for us. Since arriving at the school last September,the issue of gender equality in sport has been raised by parents, pupils and staff,with football top of the list

The power of women’s football was evident in July last year,when England’s Lionesses were crowned the European Champions and the course of the sport and the future of every girl in the country was changed for ever.The reaction to the success and the way it hasgalvanised asocietal approach has given us an unprecedented chance to change the future for girls in education and beyond. The post tournament mission statement, driven from an open letter written by the Lionesses, was to ensure equal access in school to all sports, including football, and to enforce aminimum of two hours of sport and PE for all. In the independent sector,wedo not struggle with thelatter, however we recognise there is still some way to go to achieve the former.The mission: acompletely equal sporting offer for boys and girls.

In recognising this we set about trying to achieve it,and very quickly fell into what we now realise was ‘lazy language’ through aplan to launch ‘Girls Football’.

At that point an intervention from amemberof our sports staff caused us to ‘tarry’. Mrs Darel Tidman-Poole, is a UEFABLicence Coach and FA Coach Educator,who forced us to pause and think about the language being used.

This is why at Prestfelde we are looking to do it differently.InMarchwe launched Football for theGirls. How words are perceived can change the course or direction, depending on who is reading them. Girls’ Football suggests the sport is different, with different actions and adaptations, that somehow make it more applicable for girls.

Following the launchevent, where we were joined by female role models who play for clubs in the local area, we have now added football to the games programme for all pupils,calendared for September 2023.

Having led the campaign to allow the girls to play and learn football, Head Girl Carys Tamilarasan said: “It is great that we are now able to play football as the boys have always been allowed to. It is asport that has probably the biggest opportunities available, especially after the Lionesses won the Euros. It tends to attract those girls who find netball and lacrosse tricky, so it gives other people achancetobe part of the matches. I’m pleased that girls at Prestfelde will have the opportunity to play and I’m happy that in my role as Head Girl, Ihave achieved this change.”

We seethis as apositiveforward step towards parity in the offer for girls and boys. By enhancing links to local grassroots clubs and performance pathways, we hope to nurture the talent of the future, and provide alasting impact on the sporting horizon for our girls

From aHead’s point of view,taking the time to reflect on the language used has been invaluable, andIhavenodoubt this subtle change of words will have as big an impact as the decision itself n Prestfelde School is one of the UK’s leading prep schools for 3-13 years old. Forfurther information,or to book a tour,pleasevisit www.prestfelde.co.uk

“Throughout the school, pupils’ behaviour is of the highest order. Anatural respect and politeness is evident in all ages.”

“Excellent in all areas ”

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS INSPECTION REPORT 2023

Come and see what makes Prestfelde one of the UK’s leading prep-schools for 3-13 year old boys and girls www.prestfelde.co.uk

“Pupils make outstanding progress in the development of their knowledge, skills and understanding.” To view Prestfelde’s ISI Report 2023 Executive Summary,please scan.