Seniors and Sixth Form
‘Sports Parents’ information evening
On Thursday of last week, we welcomed John Fletcher into school to give a talk to boys and parents about supporting our boys in sport. John is currently in charge of overseeing development of young elite players at England Rugby and also coaches the national Under 18 team.
John’s talk centred around five key areas, namely;
1. Learning environments and learning
2. Talent (selection & relative age effect)
3. Mind set
4. Strategies for supporting your son in sport
5. Why kids play sport
The talk was really eye opening and prompted a great deal of thought and discussion from parents, boys and teachers. At the end of each section John touched on a number of simple ‘take away’ points that can help everyone support the boys in their sporting endeavours. Many of the strategies can also be used to support the boys learning in a range of environments away from the sporting arena.
Mr. Hogarth’s five top ‘take away’ points were:
• Exploring and making mistakes is vital to learning (60% success, 40% mistakes is a good guideline)
• Praise effort not talent to develop a boy’s growth mindset
• Let boys make their own decisions, do not instruct from the sideline
• Immediately after a sporting event, parental questioning should centre around enjoyment, effort and the favourite things they did. Not the result!
• Research shows that winning is only the 10th most important reason why kids play sport
A copy of a video he used to reinforce his thoughts can be watched via this link.