Moving from Community College to Academy
Why Get Set?
All Saints Academy (Plymouth, South West) wanted its students to feel that they were part of the Games despite their distance from London. Get Set was a platform to help promote the Olympic and Paralympic Values and enable staff to plan creative activities throughout the year.
The aspirational theme of the Olympic and Paralympic Games was seen as hugely important and an excellent vehicle to help make the transition from Community College to Academy. Students could be encouraged to aim higher in their beliefs and actions.
All Saints wanted to show students that it is not only Olympic and Paralympic athletes who can display the Values but that they too could live by the Values in their everyday lives.
The Journey So Far
An Olympic and Paralympic opening ceremony and associated range of events helped All Saints celebrate becoming an Academy, while raising awareness of the Olympic and Paralympic Values and bringing the Games to life.
Activities included:
- A visit from Olympic diver Tonia Couch
- Enterprise and team building activities
- Traditional and non traditional sports
- Marching together led by a flag bearer under the All Saints Academy banner
- Marking out Olympic rings on the field.
Along with opportunities for winning medals, students were rewarded for demonstrating the Olympic and Paralympic Values. A new ‘Academy Cup’ was awarded to the team with the highest points.
Academy students will be taking the lead in:
- Running primary school events
- Presenting assemblies to other students
- Creating a display board to promote the Olympic and Paralympic Games and Values.
Positive Values
Focusing on the Values has enhanced the ethos and vision of the new Academy. It was felt that the opening event helped develop relationships between staff and students leading to the successful opening of the academy and improvements in behaviour around the campus.
Staff have found that awarding the Get Set Values certificates has been useful in promoting the meaning of the Values.
And the highlights for students?
- “Everyone trying their hardest”
- “You get to hear the stories of how much work they have done and how they have persevered”
- “All the countries coming together to show off their talents”
- “It shows what is possible that you think is impossible.”
Towards 2012
A measure of success for All Saints would be for the school community as a whole to be interested in a wide range of Games events and for students to believe in striving for excellence and trying to achieve their passion or dream.
All Saints wants students to experience competitiveness, participation and winning in sports just as athletes experience in the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Opportunities in a wide range of activities will be offered to students, aiming to build on teamwork, problem solving and embedding the Olympic and Paralympic Values.
