Priority Learners

I've been thinking about the priority learners that I should focus on working with, this year.  Priority learners in the New Zealand education system are Maori, Pacific Island learners, those from low-socio economic backgrounds and students with special education needs as stated in the Education Review Office report in August 2012.

So here are twenty groups of children that I work with in the capacity of my role:

• the increasing number of obese children
• the well behaved children who excel in sport but are not achieving academic outcomes
• the children who are committed to sports but are not engaged in the classroom
• the children who lack self-confidence
• the children who dislike any form of physical activity
• the children with special needs
• the children who have been through traumatic experiences
• the children who have a short temper and a low tolerance rate for others
• the children who need help to develop the social skills to make and keep friends
• the children who are 'talented' in sports with leadership potential
• the talented children who dream of 'making it big' one day
• the talented sportsperson who lacks motivation to participate or compete
• the talented sportsperson who thinks that they're too good for everyone
• the children who have potential talent but don't realise how good they are
• the children who would love to play sport but need the support from home to continue
• the children who come from supportive homes and strong families
• the absent child who doesn't want to come to school 
• the children who want to play in a pay-to-play sports team but can't afford it
• the children who want to play in a team but don't have a coach
• the children who are 'all rounders', who do well in sports, academics, the arts

Year 5 & 6 Camp March 2015 - my 'All Stars' group

The groups are not separate as a number of children can be several of those things combined - I'm mindful that each child is unique and that they learn in different ways and need time to develop at their own pace.

So what I would like to do, is to share ways of how I've tried to use sports or physical activities to help an individual on their journey to become a better person and to transfer the disciplines learnt in sport to improve their lives and their academic status.