Posted on: June 25th 2018
Unsurprisingly, and quite rightly, our newsletter this week is dominated by sport and after school clubs. A main focus of our three-year School Development Plan is to improve the provision of sport at Norfolk House and our annual Sports Day at Aldenham School last Friday was a clear demonstration of the inclusive ethos that we are aiming to promote. It is a real challenge trying to strike the right balance between competition and inclusivity, and from the positive parent feedback I think we did well in achieving this aim.
Since joining Norfolk House in September, Mr. Charman has worked hard to develop this ethos with the children and promotes his three main aims of sport: inclusion, enjoyment and improvement. During Sports Day all pupils were involved throughout the day and clearly enjoyed the range of activities on offer. To ensure that the activities are appropriate for the ages of the children, especially the sprints, Mr. Charman has used the guidelines from the English Schools' Athletics Association. This ensures there is a progression of skills and expectations for children as they move through the school. After our success at the Haringey Quad Kids athletics (our first ever inter-school competition in athletics) we aim to build in more opportunities for children to compete in athletic events in coming years and using this guidance will support them in preparing for these competitions.
The cricket games were a welcome addition and it was clear to see the improvement as a result of the quality teaching and opportunities for children to play against external teams over the course of the summer term. Many parents were impressed with the children's cricketing skills and some parents even joined in when Clive were a little short on numbers!
Over the course of this year, opportunities to compete in sport fixtures have increased exponentially at Norfolk House and between 75% and 100% of children in Forms 2 to 6 have represented our school in competitions, often multiple times. The opportunity to take part in competitive sport is essential for developing teamwork, resilience and leadership skills; and developing respect and humility when handling success or disappointment. Environments such as Sports Day involve so many of our school's core values and it was wonderful to see the level of sportsmanship between pupils - we were all very proud of them!
Our thanks go to Mr. Charman for excellent planning and organisation, the staff for running events, parents for supporting and to all the children who participated with great effort and enthusiasm.
