As we celebrate the numerous and outstanding sporting successes and achievements of this term, I began to reflect and question the benefits of our After School Activities (ASAs) programme and why it grinds to an unfortunate halt during examination time.
Our ASA programme is a key part of the TISB educational provision as every student is empowered to pursue a huge range of interests, shared experiences, and activities. From the core sporting programme which includes soccer, basketball, hockey, and cricket, to activities which go beyond the norm such as horse riding, shooting and golf. The opportunities for students are abundant, and with good reason.
Of course, the physical benefits of regular exercise are well documented, yet the mental benefits are only first beginning to be fully appreciated. In a teenager’s world where phone and device addiction are more widespread, the simple act of getting outside and engaging in an activity has become incredibly important. During COVID we were in a strange dilemma where teachers were requiring students to use devices more for their learning yet also encouraging non-screen-based activities which mainly included sport and hobbies. The pause in team and individual sports during COVID inevitably meant that many of us struggled to maintain our physical fitness levels. Although I attempted to walk 10,000 steps a day and a colleague walked virtually from Land’s End to John O’Groats in the confines of her living room; it is amongst school age children that, perhaps, the most long-term and serious pandemic consequences are being seen.
However, with the extensive TISB campus and refurbished outdoor sports facilities there is sea of change driven by the fact we are together again. Being part of a team, striving together towards a common goal, focusing on someone other than yourself and enjoying the incredible highs of winning and lows of losing are aspects which are built into all team sports. The return to physical offline tournaments of this academic year have been highly emotional occasions with both staff and students thriving on return to competitive competition.
For many students sport and indeed activities offered as part of ASA programme is where they find their passions. Ultimately the core business of a school, particularly in the Indian context, is the academic education of its students.
At TISB we strive to be so much more than the inevitable exam factory as admission into colleges or universities and indeed life is about a balance of education which includes sport, music, artistic opportunities, and activities which provide engagement with an interest and with people.
Often the irony for us is that the busiest students in the co-curricular part of the school and on the sports pitches often the ones who are most engaged inside the classroom. Students who flourish enormously from their pursuits beyond the curriculum are the students who work hard academically, who are the most driven, who plan effectively and have an inner innate confidence and motivation to succeed for themselves.
When faced with the choice after school of an hour of half-heartedly revising or on the laptop surfing the internet or YouTube instead of working or being outside playing sport- few would argue about the physical and mental health benefits of the latter. As an educationalist, it is our job to teach students about these benefits but, more importantly, to allow children to experience them for themselves in a safe and structured way that encourages collaboration, competitiveness, ambitious goal setting and personal achievement.
Every student here at TISB has the opportunity to succeed, and we also firmly believe that our ASA programme enables every student to find their passion, to build resilience, to maintain their physical and mental health and to achieve well beyond their potential academically.
