September 2017

From Mr Share: Head of Secondary
Dear parents and carers,
We are very proud of the large number of sporting activities and opportunities at GIS. Just this week we
saw some excellent results from an athletics meet at Regent’s. As a small school we regularly take part in
FOBISIA and local competitions against larger schools who have a larger pool of students and coaches,
yet we continually punch above our weight and show passion to succeed. It is common for parents to not
be aware of the importance of sport to our community. We have been lucky enough to host FOBISIA last
year and have visits from Olympians and international professional athletes. We compete regularly against
local schools with pupils swimming personal bests, and the boys and girls football, badminton, volleyball,
netball and basketball teams, are developing and competing at all age groups.
We publish our results to students, parents and staff via our Facebook and Twitter feeds and we rightly
celebrate our wins, but also recognise that when we are not winning we analyse what we did well and how
we could develop. People often overlook the benefits of good quality sport provision at school and do not
see how much it complements our students developing our Core Values and building a resilient attitude to
success and loss, and having a growth mindset.
Physical literacy is the act of running, jumping, catching and throwing of which all Primary school students
are expected to graduate from Year 6. Research has shown that at all ages where schools have good PE
provision, SATs results, attendance records and behaviour tend to improve. Young people’s participation
in sport improves their numeracy scores by 8% on average above non-participants. It is well known that
there is the need for exercise as part of a healthy lifestyle, but our sport provision dovetails with our learning
in all areas of the school.
Pupils are challenged to be independent and constantly practising to improve. Students are provided with
personal targets to achieve personal bests and also have to work collaboratively as part of a team. Our PE
teachers and additional coaches drawn from across all our staff ask pupils to reflect and analyse on performance.
The physical and mental challenge of trying an array of sports or competing with peers and in front
of crowds, builds character, encourages risk taking and helps focus students which links with our values
for good behaviour.
The flourishing nature of our PE and After School sports programmes gives students access to a range of
opportunities to perform at many levels. Our sports provision helps build the idea of community amongst
students, staff and parents who come to support. Please do check the week ahead notices to see when
there are fixtures and if they are home or away. We all appreciate the support and it is a great chance to
interact and celebrate a student’s willingness to compete, improve and succeed. If you are a parent and
would like to help, use our facilities or even raise a team to compete against our staff in any sport please
get in contact. We already have parents joining us for dancing, football and Zumba. Sport is a great way to
further build on our successful community and we are constantly looking for new opportunities.
Regards
Mr Share
Head of Secondary
headsec@gardenrayong.com