Grace Mary Primary School deputy headteacher Kris Toone says he and his pupils have “all the time in the world” for The Albion Foundation coaches.
Coaches Nathan Russon and James Davies have been delivering a six-week Early Years workshop at the Primary School, focusing on the social skill of sharing with an exciting football twist.
The sessions were greeted with a gradually resounding reception by the Year One class at Grace Mary, and it is a programme that Kris would recommend highly to any teacher.
“The relationships that the coaches have forged, to say that it's been six weeks has been fantastic,” Toone said. “They’re more than willing to come back and do this.
“We're looking forward to maybe getting them into the reception over the next few terms, maybe to look at that transition into Key Stage One. We've got all the time in the world for Nathan and James and the coaches that have been.”
Nathan and James were called in as Kris’ class struggled to mix in a social context, and were tasked with developing those interactions through the medium of sport.
“When I got in touch with Chris, he said that he had a particular year one class that could do with a bit of work around sharing,” Russon began. “So we've been doing some football based activities but really linking in that social skill to try and improve the sharing skills of the children.
“The children have really settled in well to sessions. They’ve really taken to me and James, who have been delivering it.”
One child in particular has seen a new lease of life throughout these sessions, Candice, once a shy, reserved figure in the class – now excited to attend and interact with the external coaches.
“As the six week block has gone on, she’s really started to come out of their shell,” Russon said. “She’s really started to see progress of, not just those sharing skills within the session, but their interaction with not just the children but also the coaches too.
“Candice wouldn't even say her name in the sharing circle. So to get to the point where she's sharing the ball and confident enough to say who she is with, it's been really good.”
Kris agrees, and believes that the Foundation coaches have helped transform Candice’s confidence, meaning she is now able to interact well with her peers.
“A lot of her interactions would have been with trusted adults that she'd known for a very long time,” Kris said. “Anyone sort of outside of the classroom, that she would come into contact with, she wouldn't give them eye contact.
“She wouldn't really initiate any conversations, and what we found over the six week period that the coaches have been in, is that she's willingly interacting with adults within the school as well as children that she wouldn't have talked to before. She willingly comes and talks to the coaches when they come in, which is great.”
After making a positive impact at Grace Mary, Russon and his Early Years team, who operate under a specialist curriculum – are ready to bring similar joy to other schools.
“We've tried things and we’ve learned things, it’s gone really really well and we're so happy with it,” Russon said. “We're looking forward to kind of getting out and being with more children and more schools to try and get them to see the benefits of social skills within sport.
“Not just to see it as a football session. It's so much more than that.”
You can contact The Albion Foundation about these exclusive sessions for your school by emailing nathan.russon@albionfoundation.co.uk.