Cricket in Schools…COVID-19 Style

“Just wanted to say a massive THANK YOU for the cricket sessions you gave to year 5 and 6 last term. The feedback I had from staff and children was extremely positive and complimentary.”

“Let’s hope we can have some tournaments in the summer, and they can put their skills to good use!”

“Thank you again, and hope to see you at a cricket venue in the summer.”

– Ms K McLennan, East Stour Primary School

This is just some of the amazing feedback we have received about our Community Coaches, delivering Chance to Shine cricket within local primary schools. Our coaches work hard to provide active and enjoyable sessions to the children, and it is always extra rewarding to be sent such positive comments from one of the schools we work with.

Matt Fagg is one of our Community Cricket Officers. He has been delivering the Chance to Shine programme at East Stour Primary, as well as numerous other schools in East Kent. We asked Ms McLennan what effect these sessions have had on the children at East Stour Primary during such a difficult time:

Not all schools have been able to welcome external coaches in yet, why has it been a priority for to make this happen?

As a school we don’t have many external coaches, but we know and trust Matt to deliver quality coaching and during COVID times it is important that sessions are outside.

Can you comment on whether you feel that the sessions have supported the pupils socially or emotionally this term?

For some of our pupils, lockdown has been stressful. The pupils mostly love cricket and being outside having fun with a coach who is familiar to them was a tonic. Working together in teams is always good for the children socially but after 7 months of not being together I think the cricket sessions were particularly beneficial.

What have the children and staff found most beneficial about the sessions?

Feedback from the staff is that they were shown new ways of setting up PE lessons, especially the warm-up activities as they can be used for other sports.  Matt has great ideas that will be used for PE generally. I saw a former pupil, who is now in year 8, the other day and she told me how much she enjoys cricket and belongs to a club. This is down to Kent Cricket’s approach. I know of other children who have maintained an interest in cricket and play in their secondary school teams – again down to Kent Cricket’s input.

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We caught up with Matt about why he enjoys coaching in local schools and why it is so important for children to be involved in outdoor sports:

What is Chance to Shine, for those who don’t know?

Chance to Shine is a cricket charity that help to deliver free cricket programmes to schools throughout the year including coaching, assemblies and teacher development. This helps us to ensure that cricket is delivered across the county to as many children as possible and helps us to create links between schools, clubs and All Stars centres to inspire the next generation of cricketers.

How long have you been going to schools in East Kent?

I’ve delivered in Sturry and Hornbeam for the last couple of years which has been nice, seeing different classes and working with different teachers during the programme.

It is my first year at Wingham, I had planned some activity there last summer which didn’t go ahead and so far, the year 1 and year 6 classes have been great! We hope that this will translate into some new members for Littlebourne CC and their All Stars Cricket programme in 2021.

What activities do you do with the classes and how is that different to the activities you would have delivered 12 months ago?

During the programme we use activities that cover all the physical skills and fundamental movements involved within cricket and sport, but we also try to develop their social skills, creative and cognitive thinking of the children. The ‘social’ element of the sessions has changed the most recently; we used to do lots of group activities to encourage children to work together and help each other to learn. The current climate prevents this, so we have had to come up with activities that are more individually based. Chance to Shine have been a great help with this, their online portal for teachers and coaches is full of fun activities and guidance.

What do the children enjoy most?

Playing games – they just want to play with their friends, whatever age they are. Give them a bat, a ball and some stumps and let them go, they will create their own game in no time.

What do you enjoy most?

I enjoy helping other people, whether it’s a child – helping them to catch or whack a ball as far as they can, or a teacher – helping them to be more confident to deliver cricket themselves and teach them the skills and activities. It gives me a great buzz. The fact that I get to do that with so many children and teachers across my areas whilst coaching a sport that I love and has been a huge part of my life makes it extra special.

We would like to pass on our thanks to East Stour Primary for their comments, as well as Sturry Church of England Primary, Hornbeam Primary and Wingham Primary for providing the photos of their sessions.

If you are interested in having one of our coaches deliver in your school, please contact James Moss.

You can access each of the Chance to Shine lesson plans free of charge, which come with accompanying videos on the Chance to Shine Teachers Portal. This has been designed in conjunction with Youth Sports Trust and Create Develop. Click here to visit the portal and if you are not registered, click ‘not a member’ to create your free account.