Learn more about the Sport in Education project in the Managing Sport section.

SiE profiled by Seven Sharp

Following word-of-mouth about the immediate impact of Sport in Education, TVNZ's Seven Sharp programme recently dropped by Kaikorai Valley College (KVC) and Queen's High School to see SiE in action first-hand. The story is expected to screen soon, so keep an eye out for it at 7pm weekdays on TV One.

The Seven Sharp visit coincided with a full day of SIE activities organised by the Dunedin schools. In the morning Queen's High School students took contributing Bathgate Primary School students for futsal. This was followed by contributing Tahuna Intermediate School students being led by Queen's students in aerobics and basketball. In the afternoon KVC students participated in a Winter Mini-Olympics event and a four-minute mile race. This was followed by application of elements of the race to Maths class.

The day provided a great opportunity to showcase Sport in Education and how it harnesses the power of sport to help address the academic and social challenges facing schools.

Students excelling through Health and Sport Science Academy

Sport in Education has been embraced at Papakura High School through integration with its relatively new Health and Sport Science Academy (HASSA). HASSA is about finding ways to get students to engage with learning, and not primarily on subjects they find easy to pass. HASSA also uses real life relevant contexts to increase learner engagement. Students' interests and abilities indicated a programme including sport and connected to the curriculum, would engage a lot of students and allow them a greater chance to achieve in NCEA. As a result, an academy class was set up for students interested in a career within the Health or Sport Science industries.

Focus has been placed on Science, Health and PE, Maths and English. These subjects were decided after consultation with Auckland University about the entrance requirements for probable pathways for HASSA students. A flexible, problem-solving thematic approach has been adopted and each term a 'theme' is chosen that each subject makes links to. This has led to a deeper understanding of content and has made the content more relevant for the students. Strong results have been achieved as illustrated by this selection of student feedback:

• "I have improved dramatically in all of my classes. My Achieved marks have turned into Merits and Excellences. I am actually proud of myself."
• "I have grown and learnt a lot of new things, extended my knowledge, opened my eyes to my career pathway and HASSA has really pushed me to reach my true potential."
• "HASSA has really challenged me, before this academy I didn't believe I would have passed NCEA."

Attendance figures are another sign that HASSA is effectively engaging with students. Attendance is significantly higher for HASSA compared to the year groups overall:

• Year 11: 84% for HASSA and 78.4% overall
• Year 12: 85.9% for HASSA and 79.5% overall

Papakura High School SiE Project Leader Jayne Dunbar has been delighted with the success of HASSA and how the students have bought into the programme and excelled. "I am most proud of my HASSA students because I can say that they dare to dream about their future, accept the challenge of education and are mature enough to discuss their challenges along the way," says Jayne Dunbar. "Seven of the Year 12 students have applied for prefect roles and I can't wait to see them flourish in 2014."

Olympic Boxer does the rounds at Hillmorton High School

Christchurch's Hillmorton High School recently enjoyed a visit from Olympic Ambassador, Trevor Shailer, who spoke to students about his sporting experiences and the Olympic ethos and values. The opportunity was also taken to invite student leaders from contributing schools to hear Trevor Shailer's story. Shailer competed at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics in boxing, alongside David Tua, and went on to secure a boxing bronze medal at the 1994 Commonwealth Games. Following an address at school assembly, a group of 30 student athletes were invited to a seminar with Trevor about what it takes to be an elite athlete. The students were chosen through the leadership strand of the Sport in Education project, with selection based on the students' sporting achievement, leadership skills and positive attitude. "I feel privileged that I got to be a part of it and listen to an Olympian," remarked one of the student athletes in attendance. The Olympic values discussion also tied in well with work that Hillmorton High School has commenced to re-launch its school values next year, to coincide with the school welcoming in students from Year 7.

Howick College hosts cross country event

In September, Howick College hosted Cockle Bay Primary School's cross country event. It was the second year that Howick College had opened up its grounds to the local primary school for the event. However, there was a difference this year. Selected Howick College students from the Year 9 Sport in Education Project (SIEP) pathways class were given the opportunity to step up as leaders and assist with the organisation of the day. Not only did they arrive early to assist Cockle Bay staff set up the course on the main fields, they then spent the rest of the morning assisting primary students in each race. They ran alongside the juniors, supporting and encouraging each runner to do their best. Cockle Bay school staff and parents were delighted with the interaction between the two schools, and along with a huge thank-you card signed by all the Cockle Bay student leaders, Howick College also received the following message of thanks from the Cockle Bay PE specialist teacher: "Thank-you Howick College for your help with our recent Cross-Country event. Your students were wonderful, supporting our runners and encouraging them along the way. Our students really enjoyed having the older children helping them out on the course when the going got tough. We also had a number of our parents comment on how amazing the SIEP students were."

Curriculum workshop generates new approaches and ideas

Ideas flowed at a SiE Curriculum Workshop held in Wellington in August. The workshop attracted 37 attendees, including SiE school project leaders and Maths, English and Physical Education lead teachers from the participating schools. During the workshop every teacher presented at least one approach to contextualising curriculum within their subject area. This was very successful and resulted in seven new ideas, resources or approaches to teaching being shared across the group. Principles and approaches for cross-curriculum planning, teaching and learning were also explored. The Commonwealth Games were used as a context for developing a cross-curricular unit of work that could be customised to suit the needs and environment of each school. Sport in Education Project Manager Garry Carnachan said the cross-curriculum session in particular, was extremely valuable in that it provided teachers with strategies to take away and adopt in their classrooms. "The strategies and approaches that arose from the cross-curricular principles session will allow teachers to use sport and sporting characteristics such as competition, leadership and teamwork as motivational vehicles for enhanced student engagement," said Garry. "And we know for a fact that getting students more engaged, is that critical first step to improving academic and social outcomes for students."

Links

• Video: The Performance Director for British Cycling talks about the CORE Principle to achieve personal excellence
• A collection of sport-related Maths activities and challenges, including student and teacher guides, from NRich

SiE in the media

• Football: High school pupils lend helping hand to juniors (ODT)
• Sport igniting passion for life and learning (ODT)

Quote

"Every now and again you spot a kid that you've really reached, as you can tell by the way they're listening, and I love that." – Olympic Ambassador Juliette Haigh following a visit to Kokatahi School on the West Coast.