Establish relationships
Setting up relationships in the school environment and ensuring each stakeholder plays their role, supports successful sport programs and improves students' participation in sport.
Set up the key relationships
Setting up relationships in the school environment and ensuring each stakeholder plays their roles supports successful sport programs and improves student sport participation.
Sport
Sports can build their sport-student connection through:
- off-site programs and visits
- designing versatile programs suitable for disengaged students i.e. fitness-based sessions, social vs competition
- providing merchandise and legacy equipment
- coaches wearing branded uniforms
- adding novelty or bending the schools rules (e.g. seeking permission for students to wear their sport uniform all day).
Teacher
Teachers, sports and coaches can collaborate in these five ways:
- LEARN how to identify disengaged students and how to innovatively engage them through program delivery, deliverer or design.
- USE the pre-program questions to discuss administration and shared objectives of the sport program.
- UNDERSTAND and clarify the roles of the sport deliverer and teacher in program delivery.
- DEVELOP tools to build the school’s positive sport culture, including reaching students' families to encourage support.
- ESTABLISH an open feedback channel between the school, the deliverer and the national sporting organisation, to continuously improve and maintain program quality.
Coach
Learn about the students you’ll be coaching and if you have a diverse group, adapt your delivery.
Parents, guardians and families
Parents are important influencers and can add value to the sport program.
- Educate parents on how sport benefits academic performance.
- Provide take-home sport program information i.e. photos of students, setting homework for the family, community sport club opportunities.
- Invite parents to volunteer at sport sessions.
- Use social media to engage families with photos and videos of their child.