‘Enabling children to develop and nurture a love of cricket’

As our team of Community staff continues to grow and evolve, it is easy to forget that Jamie only joined us in April 2021. Working predominantly across Canterbury and Swale, Jamie is our champion for cricket in primary schools and delivers the Chance to Shine programme to the highest of standards. Earlier this month we were pleased to be asked if Jamie was available to advocate for the success of the ‘Playground Leaders’ content on a national CTS webinar.

During term 3 (Jan/Feb) Jamie worked with Queenborough Primary School on the Isle of Sheppey, and we took the opportunity to catch up with one of their teaching staff to find out how the sessions went…

How would you describe the cricket provision previously at your school?

Although I think our cricket provision is quite well established within our school, Jamie’s time with us was highly valuable. The children have been ignited with excitement, been engaged, enthused and thoroughly enjoyed each session overall.

What impact has the Chance to Shine sessions that Jamie has provided you with had on class behaviour or life skills?

I think for us a school, this was a real highlighting factor as it matched the ethos that we try and instil through sports with our children. Alongside the skill and knowledge that they also gained from the programme.

How much did the children benefit from the leadership sessions that they conducted at lunchtimes?

The impact of our sports leaders that worked with Jamie was huge. He worked closely with them to work on specific cricket skills and games over the term which then enabled them to successfully deliver this to some of the younger children in our school.

How have the children benefitted from having Jamie working with them throughout term 2?

Having Jamie work here throughout term 2 was fantastic; he delivered well organised and well-structured lessons that enabled the children to develop and nurture a love of cricket, as well as other very important values that are transferrable to everyday life. These are values that Jamie embedded throughout each session such as respect, fairness and collaboration.

Are then any highlights or pupils that have particularly benefitted from the programme?

All of our teachers and support staff that engaged with the programme have the added benefit of extra CPD through working with Jamie. It is also clear that the confidence of both the children and staff has improved within the sport.

Finally, Jamie made a real effort to learn children’s names from the first session, helping them feel valued and he had the ability to quickly develop a rapport with the groups which of course led to higher engagement levels. We are thoroughly looking forward to seeing back in term 4 for some catch up sessions.

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We would like pass on our thanks to Ms Barton and Queenborough School for their comments.

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.