Joining together to excite, involve and inspire
Why Get Set?
Located in the heart of London, Redriff School (Southwark, London) wanted children to feel part of their city’s Games. The Olympic and Paralympic Values complemented existing school values and could be used to further involve and inspire the children.
Redriff felt they would benefit greatly from joining the Get Set network, sharing ideas and resources to help prepare for the upcoming Games and for day-to-day teaching.
Through Get Set children would:
- be fully involved in London 2012;
- be inspired by others; and
- experience a sense of excitement about the Games.
Building on a range of initiatives and events which were already firmly in place at Redriff, staff and children were ready and eager to move forward!
The journey so far
Redriff has joined other schools in the area to find ways of raising awareness about Olympic and Paralympic sports, and plans to involve children in multi-sports, triathlon and water sports.
Meanwhile the children have been busy philosophising! The Philosophy for Children project has enabled pupils to enquire and communicate freely and safely, learning to accept other people’s opinions.
Art, poetry, discussion and performance activities were all used to celebrate Black History Month, culminating in a Black History Night complete with children performing in their ‘inspirational’ street dance group.
Other exciting opportunities have included:
- leadership roles given to Year 6 children;
- ‘Greenriff’ environmental activities to raise awareness of sustainability issues;
- a drama workshop to empower children against bullying; and
- designing an ‘Olympic Park’ in numeracy.
Positive Values
Children have been given opportunities to experience a range of stimulating, engaging activities to help them explore the Values and what they mean on a personal level. Regular blogs convey the breadth and quality of these experiences!
Building on successful leadership activities, Redriff will be working with the local secondary school, Bacon’s College to help children becomeYoung Leaders.
Philosophy for Children has enhanced children’s skills in language and understanding, with discussion questions resulting in some highly insightful answers.
And the highlights for students?
- ‘The sports they do inspire me because most of them seem really impossible but the athletes can do it. But you need to practice and train and be strong and believe in yourself to do it too.’
- ‘The Olympic Games are exciting because when you watch them you want to see who wins. Different countries are better at different sports so it’s always exciting.’
- ‘I can’t wait for the Olympic Games to be in London, it’s going to be so fun. I hope I get to go and see them.’
Towards 2012
Exciting initiatives already in place are set to continue and develop year on year. The successful Black History evening is sure to be repeated, and videoed philosophy sessions may even appear on the Get Set blog! Redriff looks forward to continuing its sports work with neighbouring schools.
‘We would like children to live the Olympic and Paralympic Values and see them played out in front of their eyes. We would hope that they continue to aspire by these Values for the rest of their lives.’
