Let’s be very clear. At school I was crap at all the sports.

Football?

Last to be picked and shoved somewhere out of the way where I could do no harm.

Rugby?

See above.

Athletics?

The slowest and least able to throw/ jump in the year.

Cross-country…?

Again, I was always towards the back of the pack at school. But… but I was allowed to enter. To be part of the team. And I quite enjoyed it… So when I gave up smoking aged 29, and looked around for something to occupy my time as looking rakish and cool with a cigarette was no longer allowed, I remembered running. To date, I’ve run nearly 30 marathons and 20 Ultramarathons. Never under-estimate the seed you plant.

Same with cricket at Junior School. I was not very good, but I turned up to training every week and desperately wanted to get on the school’s (competitive and rather good) team. But I wasn’t good enough. And in the 80’s that was just how it was.

Finally, after about two years of trying and failing, I was given the (I suspect newly created) role of ‘First Substitute’ on the school team.

I was over the moon.

How to compete with the elite.

Blackhorse Primary school, where I’ve been Headteacher since 2011, is known as one of the highest achieving schools in terms of school sports in the South West.

To date our (ostentatiously displayed) trophy cabinet (placed in the main foyer which every child walks past every day, and brightly lit like a horde of pirate treasure) currently holds 106 trophies from 42 different sports. 75 of these are for athletics and Cross-country. Girls’ trophies outnumber the boys’ – something we link to our girls bucking the national trend in areas such as maths where they don’t lag behind the boys. These girls can.

All these trophies were won in the last decade.

We have had 10 children go on to run in the national cross-country competition at Parliament Hill, two children who went on to be picked up by UK Athletics and one, Tom Wilstead, who – having won a sports scholarship to a prestigious private school on the back of his sport at primary school – has just been signed to Bristol Bears RFC first team. Our first alumni to become a professional athlete. Many of these young people return in their teenage years to help coach the many extra-curricular sports clubs.

I know, I know – I am beating the drum for my school as I’m really proud of what the staff and young people have achieved.

However, I’m writing this as I’ve recently read much on EduTwitter lamenting the fact that state schools, especially state primary schools, have no way of fostering the Olympians of the future in the way that private schools can and do.

But we disagree. We set out to deliberately create a sporting culture on the back of London 2012.

You see, in 2011 we had no clubs (not even a football team) and certainly no trophies. Our children were use to turning up to infrequent sports tournaments and losing. As a result, they opted out – as nobody likes to be the laughing stock of the county.

So when we started to re-vision the school, we took the conscious decision to become good at sport – as much as a metaphor for the improvements which we needed to make in core academic areas (the school being at the bottom of the county SATS league tables).

This is what we did.

1. We made excellence in sport part of the vision.

Our school slogan is ‘Champion Learners’. This was agreed in 2011 when we were one of the least popular schools in the county, with poor academic results and only 11 parents choosing the school for their Reception-aged child, from the 60 places available.

We needed to change the narrative and as it was a year before London 2012, this seemed as good a narrative to write as any.

A couple of years earlier I’d read about the Uncommon Schools Network in New York (which inspired Doug Lemov’s ‘Teach like a Champion’). These schools, in the poorest parts of NY, achieved the best academic outcomes in the state.

How did they do this?

Put simply, they treated their (often very disadvantaged) students like they were pupils at the most prestigious and expensive private schools in New York.

They build their curriculum around this principle – exposing them to art, music… and sporting opportunities which were usually the preserve of those who could afford it. Every child learnt to play an instrument and every child attended one of the copious extra-curricular clubs on offer after the school day finished.

We stole this idea and decided to replicate it in a corner of Bristol.

We decided to treat our children like they attended the poshest private school in the city (an idea which actually doesn’t cost much money)…

2. We created Extensive Opportunities

“The experience gap IS the achievement gap.” Mark Roland.

Remember – I was crap at all the sports – and this hadn’t changed since I left school and worked my way up to being a Headteacher. Indeed, as a Deputy in another school, I was put in charge of the school football team and still remember the look of disgust in the parents’ faces as I attempted to coach children who clearly knew much more about the game than I did!

However, both myself and my Deputy had started off as PE leaders (which in the 90’s seemed to be the result of being young and male in a primary school ). I’d also done a postal Sports Psychology course as an NQT in a vain attempt to be less of a fraud. As such, we had seen the impact on individual young people and school morale of taking part in things.

If 90% of succeeding is showing up, the first thing we did was create opportunities and allow children to experience as many types of sport as possible.

To do my bit, I started a Cross-country club (which we called ‘Track Team’ so as to make it sound cooler). Nine children turned up that first term, but we managed to come third in the Girls’ team event at the local league which gave the school its first (very small) trophy in many a year.

Other staff also offered clubs after school and a report about our fledgling sporting exploits became a regular part of our weekly celebrations assembly.

In 2011, we knew that we’d have zero chance of winning popular sports like football and rugby tournaments (as at the time we had neither the coaching or practise), so we started by entering niche competitions – like ‘Tri Golf’ – which again start to produce some, much needed victories for the school communities.

And we put a table in the foyer to display the (three) trophies which we’d won in 2011. Okay, so one of these these was for ‘Good Sporting Attitude’, but a win’s a win!

We followed this with learning to play Table Tennis (more on this later) and quickly the opportunities mushroomed. We were in the fortunate position of having a thriving sports partnership and well developed county tournament scene, so it was just a case of turning up.

Sports Premium has been crucial in providing these extensive opportunities. From the start we committed to using it to provide a route into sports which children may not have the funds to try.

We also addressed the issue of access for vulnerable children. Through analysing which children attended clubs in and out of school, it quickly became clear that children who were disadvantaged, or struggled to regulate behaviour, or had SEND, often did not attend sports clubs. We set targets for PP children attending after school clubs (giving them first refusal for places and free sessions for all the schools clubs).

We also introduced Friday enrichment afternoons. These were designed to overcome the problem of non-attendance at clubs and societies after school, by making these courses part of the school day (in addition to the after school opportunities. Again, we targeted sports which were outside most children’s experience, mostly led by expert coaches: Laser Run Pistol Shooting (led by the Team GB Modern Pentathlon coach), fencing, dodgeball, athletics, cycling, roller-hockey (led by a keen parent), archery, Lacrosse. Each year we aim to add something new.

These days, we offer more than a dozen after school sports clubs and another dozen enrichment course each week. In a normal Term 5-6, we’d expect the school to compete in two sports tournaments a week.

3. We piggy-backed on London 2012’s Legacy

I was fortunate enough in 2012 to work with 15 fabulous head teachers from the Mangotsfield & Downend Schools’ group (our corner of Bristol) who were keen to make a big deal of the London 2012 Olympics.

We also had access to the fabulous CSET Sports Partnership who, as well as running numerous staff training and sports tournaments, were very keen to support a large-scale legacy event.

We planned a Cultural Olympiad (art, music, drama, writing) for Term 5 of 2012 and a Sporting Olympiad for Term 6. Each school held their own competition with the final event being the first MaD Olympiad, which involved 1500 children coming together at a local sports field for a Track and Field competition which included every Y2 child (so every child would experience the joy of representing their school before they left KS1) and a super-competitive KS2 competition.

The MaD Olympiad Track and Field event is now about to celebrate its tenth year (abandoned only once – last year – because of COVID) and has since been replicated in other parts of the county.

Every year the standard of athletics has been driven up by this competition, with our area of Bristol providing more athletes to local clubs than any other. Indeed, the links formed on the back of this with local athletics clubs has led to young people having a clear pathway into professional sport.

4. Personal Effort: We balance participation with competition.

We insist that every child in school takes part in an extra-curricular sports or arts club – we are not just about the high-achieving few. We remove all financial and practical barriers so that every child who wants to attend a club can do so.

We look at providing sports which will attract children who might not see themselves as ‘traditionally sporty‘ and who may not play sports out of school. We place value on personal improvement, not just winning. That said, I have seen many children start out not believing that they can be good at a sport, only to learn that with enough practice and good coaching, they end up winning medals.

Because we do believe in the value of competitive sport.

We make sure that there are opportunity for children to represent the school if they work hard enough – but this is not an automatic right. Sometimes our efforts won’t result in a place at the tournament (although we often take several teams).

I have worked in schools where everyone gets to be in the competitive football (etc) tournament if they turn up to training (and sometimes even if they don’t). I have worked in schools were everyone gets a medal and nobody is allowed to lose. This devalues the effort required and (as well as losing 15-0 each week) doesn’t encourage the ideal that you have to work to be successful (and even then you still might not succeed).

For me (the child who was crap at all the sports) getting ‘first substitute’ in the Junior school cricket team, or being allowed onto the Junior school Cross-country team, mattered because I had to earn a place. Okay, so there might have been some pity involved in my selection, but I was still expected to put in the effort – never missing training and giving everything to improve. Not everyone got to be part of the school team – and that’s why I worked hard to be part of it.

There is nothing wrong with teaching children that they might fail.

There is nothing wrong with teaching children that sometimes they won’t be picked for the team, picked for that job… get the thing they want.

That is life. That is how we learn to accept disappointment and build resilience. Indeed, sport is the perfect low-stake medium in which to learn this lesson.

5. Expert tuition: We reverse engineer success

Wanting to be successful at something, doesn’t make you successful.

In 2011, we knew we didn’t have the skill within the staff, or the years of practice (more on this later) to win at some sports (like football).

So we looked at the more niche sports (Cross-country, golf, lacrosse, table-tennis, scooter free-style (!?) and started to unpick what a ‘winning performance’ looked like.

Now, before the cry goes up about it being ‘all about winning’, I ask you this: do you not show your students everyday what a successful maths problem, comprehension answer, written composition looks like? Of course we do – it’s called modelling!

All we did (and do) was apply this to sport.

For small niche sports, it’s quite easy as most schools do no preparation for these events.

Suddenly, with the help of coach Google, and increasingly professional coaches paid for with Sports Premium, (and practice and effort), Blackhorse could turn up and start winning – for the first time ever!

In 2012, our MaD Olympiad event was Table Tennis – not because we loved Table Tennis, or even played Table Tennis, but because we had two tables – bought with Tesco vouchers and left for years in their boxes.

A staff member showed the children a few basis moves from the internet and ten left them to get on with it.

Come the competition against 14 other schools, we won every game without conceding a point…

Fast forward to 2021 and we work hard to provide expert tuition to children in clubs and enrichment. Locally, the MaD Olympiad has led to an arms race in athletics, with many schools (us included) seeking the help of professional athletics clubs to improve performance. For us it’s all about the relay (which we like to win). Our children love getting really good at the baton changes and enjoy the tweaking of tactics. The net result is many children who weren’t interested in traditional netball, football etc getting involved in local athletics clubs.

Good teaching is good teaching – why not apply that to sport?

6. Purposeful Practice

And how did we win the Table Tennis?

We allowed the children into the hall every lunchtime to practice and gave them some tuition.

Nothing else – just that.

The Y6’s in particular spent hundreds of hours practicing and became really good as a result.

And this is the bit we often fail to see.

Being good at anything takes hundreds of hours (Bounce my Matthew Syed explains this).

Talent is a myth – expert tuition and purposeful practice makes the difference.

Our PE curriculum is split into ‘essential movement’ tuition – how to move and control our bodies from a very young age – and sport specific skills – generally taught in KS2. This provides the specific practice needed to control this wonderful machine of ours, and to get joy in doing so.

At Blackhorse, we have dominated Cross-Country running for the past decade. This isn’t down to luck, but practice. We break down the key disciplines, stamina and mindset of a race and explicitly train for it.

Most of our Track Team Runners have been coming since they were Year 3, some since Year 1. The record for our mile course is 5 minutes 23 seconds.

By the time they stand on the start line for a competition, they have accrued hundreds of hours of specific practice.

This especially benefits children who struggle with team sports. They only have to try and beat their own PB at training, which means everyone can see themselves improving.

And again, we have seen that instilling an understanding that ‘practice is the only way to improve’ in our children has improved their mindset across the curriculum.

7. Mindset & Legacy

How we feel about something has a huge impact on how well we do in that thing.

The Sports Psychology night school that I did as an NQT turned out to be right on the money on this. As Henry Ford said “Whether you think that you can or think that you can’t – you’re probably right”.

My school has managed to shift the narrative from one that lost at sports to one that won. Mindset is a powerful thing.

If you have grown up hearing every week in assembly about the sporting achievement of older children, then you grow up wanting to be like them.

This has had an enormous impact on school behaviour and motivation. Our girls’ running teams were the best in the region for years, and as a result all our girls grew up wanting to be like the older children they’d heard about. Best of all, many of the boys and girls who went on to succeed were the same pupils who were not ‘naturally sporting’, but who became so by effort and practice. Sending out the message that anyone can be successful through effort and practice.

One of the biggest complements paid me by a fellow HT was “You don’t run a school; you run a cult!”. The belief that the children have in themselves is a feature of the school. And I wouldn’t have it any other way (we also do a lot of work in the arts – we know not every child wants to be a runner!).

But having a belief that effort leads to success (after natural disappointment and failure) is surely something we would want to teach our young people?

9. Belief and academic success

“So Simon, you keep telling me that this stuff matters, so I’d like to see all your Pupil Premium children to test that out.”

The HMI leading our last full inspection wasn’t won over by out extra-curricular offering. She wanted to know how it drove improvements in the three R’s.

We gathered a dozen or so of the most vulnerable children in the school and she took them into a classroom and closed the door. To this day I have no idea what was said.

Thirty minutes later, the pupil conferencing finished. We dismiss them to their classes.

The iron-faced HMI teared up.

“Okay – now I get it.” She said.

As I said earlier, I credit the power of sport (and the arts) and the sense of agency, progress and belonging which it can provide, with the school’s academic success. We are still on our improvement journey (and have twice narrowly missed out on being judged Outstanding) but our children know more, and can do more, because of their mindset.

‘First substitute’ in the 1986 Weddington Middle School First XI

It was very clear that the school was going to win.

The other school in the final were down to their last pair of batsmen and Weddington Middle School’s First (and only) XI had ample overs in which to bowl them out.

I stood at the boundary – first substitute – ready for action.

“Right” said Mr Goodwin, the PE teacher, “time to make a change, Simon, you’re on…”

It was an act of genuine kindness and authenticity which instilled a sense of belief in the eleven year old me. I was not good at reading. I was not good at maths. But my teacher believed I was good enough for this moment. I believe it allowed me to believe in myself as I headed on to secondary school.

I was placed in the outfield well away from where any ball would ever reach. An over later, the last wicket fell and the school team had won the Coventry District Cricket Cup.

The PE teacher took us to the local pub to celebrate afterwards and bought us crisps and a pop (different times).

To an eleven year old who was crap at all the sports, it was a great day.