Life can be very competitive – and children that learn early on how to build their own self-confidence and self-belief are more likely to thrive at school and at work.
Connect Academy Trust is made up of five primary schools in Plymouth and three in Torbay, all with a strong commitment to building core values in their children.
The Plymouth schools are Eggbuckland Vale Primary School, Leighham Primary School, Manadon Vale Primary School, Thornbury Primary School and Widey Court Primary School.
Stuart Bellworthy, chief executive of Connect Academy Trust said:
“As a Trust, we decided that a series of sports competitions for our Plymouth schools would be an excellent way of demonstrating our games core values of self-belief, teamwork, passion and respect.”
At the end of September, Widey Court Primary School hosted the inaugural Connect cross country tournament. The focus of the tournament was for the children to learn and develop the value of self belief. Despite an ominous forecast and foreboding clouds overhead, the races began with a great competitive spirit.
Lucy Thomas, PE lead at Widey Court said:
“This event was all about self-belief and while the focus was the cross-country race, it involved other sporting activities including dodgeball, tri-golf and frisbee golf. There were up to 16 children – boys and girls from Years 3-6 – from each of the five Connect Plymouth schools.
“The route and events were marshalled by our Widey Court house captains, made up of eight children from Year 6,” she added.
In the end, Manadon Vale Primary School excelled at the cross-country, with winners in each of the four races for Key Stage 2 children.
Manadon Vale headteacher Hayley Gilbride said:
“In total 15 of our children represented Manadon Vale. They all performed brilliantly. As a team they demonstrated resilience, encouraged each other, won gracefully and, importantly, showed excellent self-belief.”
Stuart Bellworthy added:
“Some of these races were extremely close, but Manadon Vale shone through. The next sporting competition is netball in December, hosted at Eggbuckland Vale Primary School. I expect that to be just as keenly contested, with the teams looking to take the cups back to their school.”
Schools in Connect Academy Trust are currently offering parents the opportunity to visit on open days, private tours, Play and Stays and Saturday Open Days. Visit www.connectacademytrust.co.uk to choose which school to visit.
