Shiplake Spotlight... Sport

This week’s Shiplake Spotlight focuses on the importance of taking part in sport at school, and how it brings huge benefits to pupils both physically and mentally during their time at school and beyond.

Our Head of PE, Mr Tom Walter, talks about his passion for helping students achieve their goals through sport and develop skills that they can take with them into the world of work.

Having grown up playing a variety of different sports, I know how beneficial sport can be to anyone's wellbeing. Physically, the benefits are well documented but there are also mental and emotional benefits such as building self-confidence and providing an opportunity for stress relief which are equally as important, particularly to young people as they are going through so many challenges and changes. 

Socially, sport allows people to build relationships, work and communicate effectively and even learn to tolerate each other. Sport also feeds and directs our competitive nature - life outside of school is hugely competitive, so learning how to deal with both success and disappointment is essential. There are so many lifelong lessons for a student to learn from sport, from perseverance to dedication and how to bounce back. Being able to see students develop all of these things is why I am so passionate about teaching it. 

In Years 7 to 9, where the teaching is largely physical, as a department we try to make sure that we offer a well-rounded curriculum of sports. This includes both team and individual sports, as well as sports which will be beneficial throughout life, such as swimming. We also include some units on health and fitness, which focus on developing the students' understanding and knowledge of how to use the gym safely and effectively to improve vital components of fitness, such as speed, power and flexibility. We are trying to break the stereotype that the gym is just for building strength and instead focusing on the components of successful performance. The students will also learn the basics of nutrition so that they can make healthier lifestyle choices.

At GCSE and in the Sixth Form, where we offer A Level and BTEC, our focus is on developing the all-round knowledge of the students so that they can prepare for future careers in sport. The courses are diverse, covering content from sport psychology to anatomy and physiology and the history of sport. We try to deliver as much of the content as possible with some sort of practical application, so that the students can improve their understanding and critically evaluate the things that they are learning. 

I hope that the overall outcome is that every student will understand that sport is an essential component of a healthy lifestyle. I accept that not every student will be 'sporty' in the same way that not every student likes maths or history but they should have the skills to be able to use a gym safely, go for a swim or feel comfortable going for a cycle or a run. For those that love sport, I hope that we can facilitate their success on the sports pitches, whether that is through injury prevention or having a better understanding of their thought processes and how to develop effective training programmes. I also hope we provoke interest so that they want to pursue a career in sport, perhaps as a physiotherapist, nutritionist or coach. The opportunities to be involved in sport are so diverse that there is something for everyone. 

About Shiplake Spotlight

Shiplake prides itself on the huge array of subjects and co-curricular opportunities available to all pupils. There really is something for everyone to ignite enthusiasm, passion and creativity. At Shiplake, we encourage pupils to find their ‘thing’. The thing they can’t wait to get out of bed in the morning to do, the thing where they set themselves challenges and goals to get better, the thing that motivates and inspires them.

Each week, we will be bringing you a spotlight on an individual subject or co-curricular activity from our teachers, who for them, this is their ‘thing’. We hope their insights will spark some passion in you to learn something new, or simply find out more about what Shiplake has to offer.