From Field to Future: How Sports Shape Students' Success at Network International School

On 2nd February, Tr Jon Simpson spoke to parents at the latest Parents’ Coffee Morning to talk about sport at Network and the approach that is taken by our staff for the benefit of our students.

Network’s Vision

It is important that the whole school vision and ethos is fostered in all aspects of school life and PE and Sport is no different.

“We aim to foster academic curiosity in our students, enabling them to achieve highly and become independent, engaged and responsible members of society.” Our vision for sport is fully aligned with the school’s overall vision. We want our students to achieve highly in sport, but also to become better individuals as they engage in sport at the school.

How Network delivers its Ethos through Sports

“We foster an inclusive and nurturing environment where every student feels supported and valued. We are a family-oriented community that promotes positive relationships and a collegiate spirit among students, staff, and parents alike. We are committed to providing a holistic education that empowers our students to reach their full potential, both academically and personally.”

Network International School delivers its ethos through sport by integrating its values into the sports programmes and activities that we offer. This is done through inclusive participation and ensuring all students, regardless of their ability, have the opportunity to participate in sports. Through our approach to sport, we combine the experience of professional PE teachers with the coaching experience of classroom teachers to create a nurturing environment, in which students are provided with positive feedback, and feel supported through challenges.

Sports are used as a tool to build positive relationships among students, staff, and parents. Network International School promotes a collegiate spirit through sports by emphasising teamwork, sportsmanship, and respect for others. This is reinforced through team values and codes of conduct.

Sports are integrated into the school's holistic education approach, recognising the importance of physical activity for overall well-being. This includes providing opportunities for students to develop skills such as leadership, communication, and resilience through sports.

Through sports, Network International School empowers students to reach their full potential by setting goals, overcoming challenges, and developing confidence in their abilities.

Relationship with Bahan Campus

As an all-through school, we are able to benefit from the fact that our students are at Network from EYFS all the way until they leave for university.

The Physical Education departments in both Primary and Secondary work closely with one another to provide:

• Broad & diverse curriculums
• Extensive opportunities to represent the school
• Share good practice and expertise
• Identify common language curriculum structure that flows through all Key Stages
• Delivery of high quality PE that develops both physical literacy and holistic growth

Core PE in Key Stages 3 and 4

Each term students are taught a wide range of transferable and specific skills through a diverse curriculum providing all with access to traditional and new sports.

The sports that are covered include: football, basketball, volleyball, badminton, rugby, table tennis, handball, netball, swimming and fitness.

In all Physical Education schemes of work students are taught about: Health & fitness, Importance of diet, Leadership, Teamwork, Sporting etiquette and Lifelong participation

Healthy and Active Lifestyles

Healthy Active Lifestyle is a way of life that incorporates regular exercise and healthy nutrition to improve overall wellbeing.

It isn’t about achieving peak performance or reaching elite-level athlete status. It’s an approachable, maintainable way of life centred on holistic fitness.

From improving confidence to helping to reduce stress, Healthy Active Lifestyle can help you become the best version of yourself.

Competitive Sports

For each main sport, our students regularly participate in the MISAC (Myanmar International School Athletic Conference) League and  Tournament, as well as Galas for swimming.

During the course of the year, we also compete in City Invitationals with other schools that do not compete in MISAC.

For the first time this year, our students travelled to Phuket to participate in the BISP Soccer 7s. With our application to join FOBISIA (Federation of British International Schools in Asia), this will also open up opportunities for other international tournaments with other schools in the region.

Extra-Curricular Activities (ECAs)

MISAC sport training occurs through our ECA Programme, but we also try to offer a wide variety of other sports for students to try.

This year, we are offering the following sports through our ECA programme: athletics, badminton, basketball, climbing, dance, football, golf, muay thai, rugby, spikeball, swimming, table tennis, volleyball, water polo, yoga and zumba.

In delivering a holistic programme, we encourage our students to find a balance across their ECAs, from supercurriculars, to public speaking, to sports. They should get involved in all and help them to become well-rounded individuals who can thrive in any setting.

House Sports Competitions

Across the year, students are able to represent their House in the main MISAC sports, as well as some others. This allows students who might not normally represent the school, to represent their community in another way. These tournaments tend to be at the end of each MISAC season and so act as a culmination of all of the training over the course of the term. Due to House Lunches on Fridays, there is the opportunity for Houses to conduct their own training once a week, if they so wish, in preparation for the House competition. 

Cambridge IGCSE Course

Physical Education is a subject that has grown rapidly at IGCSE in the last few years. From one student three years ago, the Year 10 class now has 18 students.

The course is divided between a theory exam and practical coursework with equal weighting given to each.

Throughout the course, students study a variety of units ranging from the circulatory system and the heart to motivation and goal setting.

The students have to develop skills across four sports. We aim to provide our students with extensive access to a variety of sports. This year, students have experienced; rock climbing, weight training for fitness and horse riding. However, if a student has a particular activity in which they are well-skilled, we will try to accommodate it.

Candidates must undertake physical activities from at least two of the seven categories listed below:

 

Teamwork, Leadership and values

At Network we encourage our students to play with pride, passion, skill and determination. However, it is very important that each student conducts themselves in line with the Network CRUCIAL Values when representing the school.

It is important to us that all students have the opportunity to experience leadership roles, working with students that they would not normally choose to and to experience both winning
and losing in individual and team situations.

It is also not just about experiencing winning and losing but how to express and control emotions of elation and despair, how to demonstrate compassion and empathy to peers and opponents and showing respect to all.

We are also delighted that we are able to offer coaching opportunities for our senior students alongside our coaches, in the coaching of our younger students. This service activity allows them greater experience in developing their own CRUCIAL Values, as well as helping to develop the Network community by increasing the opportunities of social engagement between senior and junior students.

Win or Lose

Of course, our teams always set out to win and there have been some fantastic victories, even just in the last month with both U19 boys and girls winning their respective MISAC tournaments. However, losing sports fixtures is also an integral part of athletic development and character building and our students recognised this when they travelled to Phuket for our first ever involvement in an international tournament. 

Losing teaches individuals valuable lessons about resilience, sportsmanship, and the importance of perseverance in the face of adversity. Losing provides an opportunity for reflection and growth, allowing athletes to identify areas for improvement and develop a stronger drive to succeed. Moreover, experiencing defeat fosters humility and empathy, as individuals learn to appreciate the efforts of their opponents and understand that setbacks are a natural part of competition. Overall, losing sports fixtures builds character by instilling essential values such as determination, humility, and respect, which are valuable not only in sports but also in life. Through House competitions, in particular, our students see this. We encourage them to be gracious winners in victory, but also reflective in defeat, so that they bounce back ready for the next opportunity.

Lifelong Participation

We try to ensure we offer as many sporting opportunities as possible to allow students access to a wide range of sports.

We trust that the experience they have of PE & Sport with us at Network instals a sporting prowess within our students that they take with them to university and beyond, staying with them throughout their lives. That may mean representing their  university in a sport; it may mean regularly playing a sport with friends in a local 5-a-side football league or in basketball pick-up games; or it may mean simply going for a run or to the gym on a regular basis

Assisting them in continuously setting fitness and sporting goals will ensure they maintain active and healthy lifestyles. When it comes to sport, we also want our students to be lifelong learners.

What’s next?

With the completion of the Term 2 sports, including the fantastic success at the U19 MISAC football tournament, we now turn our attention to the MISAC Term 3 sports: U19 basketball and U14 football.

We are now well into Term 3 and after delivering three Parents’ Coffee Mornings so far, there are two remaining in the coming weeks: 

• 1st March: The importance of reading (and how parents can support their children)  - Tr Mandie
• 15th March: Applying to UK universities - Tr Jacob

Jon Simpson
PE Teacher
Network International School