The World Health Organization considers childhood obesity to be one of the most serious global public health challenges of the 21st Century, and encouraging children to play sport from a young age can help to combat this epidemic. As well as the benefits for physical health, participating in sport helps students to develop skills and confidence, engages and inspires them, and teaches them about teamwork and community.
“Sporting activities allow a student to extend their school experience outside of the classroom,” says Alan Williamson, Director of Education & Principal, Kings’ School Al Barsha. “This is vital if any school is to allow a student to become a holistic learner and thrive at their chosen passion.”
Incorporating sport into the school experience is part of developing well rounded education, and Williamson believes that every school should aim for a programme that is fully inclusive of sport and the arts, as well as academics. This helps to ensure all students have the opportunity to expand and grow.
Learning life skills
Research has shown that participation in sport from an early age affects a student’s success in other areas of life. Colin Morris, Director of Sports at Kings’ School, says playing sport brings numerous benefits. “These include the ability to interact with others and communicate effectively, teamwork and respect for others,” he says. “Children learn skills that are unique and not always accessible in a classroom environment.”
Williamson agrees that sport can make a huge difference to a student’s development. “It can help spur a real drive and motivation for learning as well as capacity to focus and absorb new information,” he says. “It helps nurture a positive attitude as well as a sense of sportsmanship with their fellow students. Sport can create a real sense of belonging and affiliation to their school. It raises levels of inner and self-confidence – not to mention the vital importance of improving health and well-being.” With many children feeling pressure to perform academically, sport and the arts can also provide positive outlets for relieving the potential stress of such expectations.
A winning teaching team
Kings’ offers a wide breadth of activities with a focus on British sports. These include football, rugby, netball, basketball, tennis, cricket, swimming and athletics. The school is also linked with Dubai Affiliated School Sport Association (DASSA) and British Schools in the Middle East (BSME).
Kings’ School has recruited the most qualified staff possible for its core sports. For example, the football coaching team have all worked in professional football club academies, and the lead rugby coach spent five years working with Bath Rugby Club, one of the best professional rugby union clubs in England.
All staff are highly qualified not only in their chosen sport, but in teaching too. “We think it is important that they are qualified ‘teachers’ as well as coaches,” says Morris. He believes this helps them to focus on developing ‘the whole child’, not just their sporting success and achievement. “We also insist that our academy leaders keep up to date with the highest levels of coaching qualifications in their chosen sport but also that they are trained in coaching and mentoring.”
The vast range of quality facilities at Kings’ School, coupled with a growing and highly experienced team, enables the school to offer sport to every child, not just at a competitive level. Every child has a minimum of two hours of high-quality physical education a week in addition to access to a range of extracurricular activities and competitive sports programmes.
The best by every child
Kings’ School Al Barsha recognises the power of sport to create a true community spirit. With this in mind, it opens its facilities to the wider community in the evenings and at weekends. These include full-size grass rugby and football pitches, a prestigious cricket academy, multiple tennis, basketball and netball courts, and three swimming pools, including a full-size competition and diving pool.
“At Kings’ we want the ‘best by every child’,” says Williamson. “We believe we have incredible sports facilities and we have talented staff recruited specifically for competitive sport from the UK. Basically, we want children in Dubai to benefit from these world-class facilities and coaches.”
The school’s scholarship programmes ensure that any child with talent and motivation has the chance to succeed. “Sport is certainly about talent, but it is also about effort and mind set,” says Morris. “A large part of the sports scholarship programme is to develop the capacities of young people, so they can develop themselves as learners over and above an extensive package of physical training and activity.” Kings’ School delivers a wider range of sports for young people, whether they are on the scholarship programme or members of the school community. “However, we will look at any child who is gifted in sport,” says Morris. “We believe that it is early in a child’s sporting programme to say, for example, that they are only a ‘rugby scholar’ or a ‘soccer scholar’. Our experience is that children are talented across a range of sports.” The school will be expanding its scholarship programme to a broader spectrum of sports this year including tennis over the course of this academic year. “These academies not only develop children's potential,” says Williamson, “they also compound the community link we feel is vital for Kings’ Schools.” With such determination to ensure all children are in the game, King’ Schools are sure to educate a generation of winners.
