Head’s blog
On Thursday Grimsdell was one of the many schools across the country that participated in Sport Relief Day. There are a number of reasons why we chose to dedicate a full day to this charity event; fundraising of course being one of them, but the opportunities for broader learning and the development of key skills and understanding have been equally important.
The main themes of the day were;
Developing global perspectives and empathy by hearing about other children’s experiences of living in parts of South Africa. The children we met on the video often do not feel safe and they live in fear because of all the crime that takes place.
Understanding the importance of giving through fundraising and knowledge of where that money goes – so we learnt about the skate parks and sporting facilities that have been built to provide safe spaces for young people to go and be active. We also heard from the children who use them and what a difference it has made to their lives.
The importance of a healthy lifestyle and how being active can be fun and invigorating. We had a dance-a-thon, a very sophisticated obstacle course, we walked a whole mile around the grounds of the Foundation and we made healthy snacks to sell at the end of the day. So many ways to be healthy, and all of them great fun! We hope that instilling these habits and values now, we will help embed them for the future.
Building team work and resilience through making Sport Relief a House Competition. The children supported one another and cheered each other on, learning the thrill of winning and taking part whilst also dealing with the experience of not being on the winning side. I was so impressed with the children’s ability to do this when they are so young and our house system is so new.
Building our sense of community through making this a whole school event that included pupils, staff and many parent volunteers. The feeling of togetherness was really special and it felt as though we really are one big family.
Learning through experience is the key to creating deep connections with children and strong memories that will last.
