Page 28 - Education Supplement_Issue 2_ 2022

Developing potential

An intentional approach to sport at school

By Natasha Marot, Head of Marketing at HeronBridge College

he growth and development of a child happens as part of an ongoing In the Prep School, the emphasis is on exposure.
process. To enable a child to achieve to their full potential in academics, “We want as many kids to participate in as many
Tschools need to ensure that the basics are covered first, and that there is sporting activities as possible,” says JP Lübbe, Head
adequate support provided to each child along every step of their learning journey. of the Prep School. “Our junior sports programme
exposes the Grade 1s and 2s to a taste of every
Similarly, athletic development is also a continuous process. At a Pre-Prep level, major sport offered by the school. Basics are taught
children need to be given the space to develop gross motor skills, as not only do and internal matches are played.”
they learn through movement, they are building the fundamentals of physical
activity in their everyday lives. As children move into the Senior-Prep programme
and inter-school matches are played, our children
As children get older, movement skills need to be taught and opportunities for can draw on a broader (albeit shallow) base and skill
exposure to all types of sports need to be provided to build, strengthen and refine level when choosing from a wide selection of sports
movement and physical skills, as well as foster a healthy relationship with exercise in a single term. “We believe (and science would
and physical activity. agree) that the greater the variety of sports played by
children at a young age, the greater their success at
As they enter adolescence and begin to look into specialisation of a particular an age of specialisation. Our goal in the Prep School
sport, the emphasis needs to be kept on the physical, athletic and mental is to have a child play many sports proficiently, rather
conditioning of that young sportsman or sportswoman, so that when than playing a single sport well,” says Lübbe.
specialisation occurs, they can tap into fully optimised physical preparation.
In 2021, HeronBridge opened the doors to an
Long-term athletic development (LTAD) is the approach that HeronBridge College on-campus High-Performance Centre (HPC), in
advocates and applies to our sports curriculum. Over the past few years, the collaboration with High-Performance Schools, USN
school has made an intentional decision to not only ‘have a great sports offering’ and Gauteng Aquatics. The HPC, which is managed
but to provide our children with the opportunity to become the best that they can by on-staff sports and conditioning coaches,
be. Our focus is on developing potential and not just playing to win. As a school, provides the platform for physical education lessons
our coaches are focused on the long game. and high-performance training.

Education | August 2022 | 26