Stone Lodge School – Highland Games Transition Event

Project Overview

In partnership with Dartford and Gravesham School Games Organiser (SGO) Andrea Kitchener, Stone Lodge School organised a transition event for Year 6 students at local primary schools, to help with their transition to secondary school. Through the event, Stone Lodge School wanted to create a sense of belonging, form new relationships and address any misconceptions or worries about moving to secondary school. The Year 6 students were invited to form teams with Year 7’s at Stone Lodge School and take part in Highland Games.

Highland Games are different to any sporting activity. It’s fun, quirky and relaxed, offering a mix of events that allows everyone to take part at their own pace and ability, whilst developing team camaraderie. The Games are fully inclusive and offer a level playing field for all participants. Stone Lodge’s Year 9 students and sport leaders helped to facilitate the event and supported the students taking part.

“The event was relaxed and fun for all to take part.”

Stone Lodge School

Impact

On arrival, Year 6 students were asked to rate (between 1 -10) how confident they felt about starting secondary school (10 being very confident). They were asked the same question on leaving the event.

• On arrival, 30% rated their confidence between 8-10.
• On departure, 72% rated their confidence between 8-10.

The SGO and teachers observed that throughout the day the students had increased confidence, enjoyment and resilience. The students particularly enjoyed the tug of war.

“Lots of students who felt less confident, possibly slightly overwhelmed at the start of the event, had such a positive experience that they were able to reflect, recognise and acknowledge their enjoyment and feeling of being comfortable and safe whilst taking part.”

Andrea Kitchener, School Games Organiser

Key Learning

Gather Feedback. Always ask for feedback from participants, teachers and deliverers after an event. This allows you to find out what went well, less well and what you could do to improve future events. For this particular event, students said they would have preferred the races to cover a shorter distance. We’ll listen and adapt for next time.

Find out the barriers. To increase engagement in activities and in turn, increase the number of students being active, we asked the students what stops them from being more active. Through a graffiti wall activity, many cited being tired or not having enough activities on offer. We will use this information, share it with other organisations to help breakdown and overcome these barriers.

Next Steps

Following the success of the event, Stone Lodge School will continue to open their doors to local primary schools to help students transition smoothly to their new secondary school.The School has also signed up to the Activity Volunteer Award. This will help students gain a better understanding of what they can do to help promote sport and physical activity in their school and improve their leadership skills. Developed by The Leadership Skills Foundation, this award provides an accredited learning pathway into volunteering for young people aged 13+ through building transferable skills. It provides young people with the confidence and ability to embark on their volunteering journey, opening doors to leadership and coaching qualifications.