Spirit of the Games Values developed further at Histon and Impington Junior School
This year, as a partnership, we have been promoting the ‘Spirit of the Games’ values at our events. We have been promoting these values at our competitions through certificates and awards, and have asked schools to take these ideas back into the school setting.
On a recent visit to Histon and Impington Junior School we were able to see how our initial idea has been taken back to school and developed even further by the whole school in all areas of learning, not just PE and sport.
Histon and Impington Junior School have the Values displayed on their PE notice board and have used our partnership presentation for an assembly, so all staff and pupils are familiar with the values. This half term the school has encouraged all the children to get involved in thinking about what the School Games Values mean to them, not just in a sporting competition context. Shona Inman, the PE Coordinator at Histon and Impington, explained, “every half term the display boards around the school are changed. Each class is given one of the display boards and as a staff we agree a curriculum subject and a theme within that subject to focus on. I asked if this half term we could have PE as the subject and the theme be the School Games Values.
“Each class took a value and decided how they should represent that value (art, writing, poetry, pictures, maths, etc). We had a sign-up sheet in the staff room to make sure that all the themes were covered and that there was a variety of different ideas as to how the values were represented. The displays look great and it means the values are evident all over the school.”
Shona went on to explain that they also use the Values when awarding HIP (Histon & Impington Points) tickets throughout the school, “the HIP tickets started initially for being polite, kind, encouraging etc around the school”, this has now been extended to include those elements linked to Spirit of the games. “Teachers have 10 each which they give out throughout the week and then the winning house get a cup in assembly”.
At Histon and Impington it was evident that they were encouraging their pupils to think of the importance of the games values, not only in sport but also the wider school context and everyday life.
You may want to consider how you can promote the Values or use them in your own schools:
• Do they link to your whole school values or can they be used as rewards for PE & sport?
• Can school sport/competition and these values support an ethos of aspiration and personal best in your school?
• Can you use these values to promote inclusive opportunities for all young people –so it’s not always just the best team/performer that gets recognised?
We would love to hear what work your school has been doing linked to these values so please let us know!