With the decline in the importance of coursework, and fewer opportunities to re-sit exams, GCSE and A-level courses are now less like a league season and more like a cup final.
While the beginning of a new school year might not feel like the right time to start talking about an examination period that is still almost 10 months away, what can we learn from the world of elite sport about good preparation?
The Youth Sport Trust has considered how to best help students 10 months, 10 weeks, 10 days and 10 minutes from the start line. As we head into the new academic year we ask, how can a school, a department or an individual teacher get their systems and climate in the right place to support students most effectively?
10 months out – Mission 2012
UK Sport is the organisation responsible for funding and supporting British elite performance sport. Prior to the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and under the leadership of Baroness Sue Campbell, they developed a planning model that they applied to all of the sports under their umbrella. It led to Team GB’s most successful ever Olympic and Paralympic performance at the unforgettable London 2012 Games.
Mission 2012 asked every sport to reflect honestly and openly on its performance in three components – athletes, systems and climate. This review and reflection process led to leaders, coaches and athletes having the most accurate picture possible about their readiness to perform at the critical moment.
How can Mission 2012 apply in my school, my department or my classroom?
The principles of Mission 2012 can be applied at any scale – at whole school level, at department level or at individual classroom level.
The “athletes” are your students – the ones who ultimately have to go out and perform on the day.
The “systems” are your teachers, your support staff, your facilities and your knowledge and expertise.
The “climate” is the culture, feel and day-to-day experience of everyone involved.
Here are four of the 70-plus questions that Mission 2012 regularly asked of its leaders. How can you apply these questions in the context of your particular athletes, systems and climate?
- Do your athletes really believe in, and engage with, your programme?
- Do they seek a high level of day-to-day contact with your staff and activities?
- Do most view the programme as the optimal route to the podium?
- Is there is a willingness to follow competition schedules designed to optimise performances at major championships, even if these clash with other commitments or opportunities?
It’s very easy to see how those questions can be translated to a school environment, seeing your students as athletes and the podium as examination success.
How often do you ask these hard questions? How honestly do you answer them?
Mission 2012 only started working when sports began to acknowledge their weaknesses openly, and when this acknowledgement led not to criticism, but to additional support. There was an explicit expectation that “strong” performers supported “weaker” performers – it became about a single mission for everyone, rather than about internal competition between sports. Is there an expectation that your strongest teachers and departments take responsibility for the development and improvement of the less effective? Do different teachers and subjects share skills and expertise in order to raise the bar for everyone?
The mantra of Team GB was “one team, one mission”. Whether you are an individual teacher leading a group of learners, a head of department leading a team of teachers or a headteacher leading a whole school, consider this mantra – it raised Team GB from 35th in the medal table in 1996 to 3rd in 2012.
Kevin Barton is head of raising achievement at the Youth Sport Trust.
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