School’s sports elite show the value of pupils getting active
AS the exam season starts, a PE teacher has highlighted how sport can help revision and academic work.
James Savastano, head of PE at Caerleon Comprehensive School – which has a strong track record in sport, with pupils competing at UK, national and county level – said keeping active helps concentration and focus.
More sport should be done in schools, even with exams coming up, he advised.
“Lots of research shows sport helps concentration. After two hours of PE, my rugby team is far more alert.
“PE can help revision. You can only revise so much and you are better off doing a couple of hours and then going for a jog or doing another sport and then going back to it.
“Sport is important for health and well-being and teaches teamwork and the ability to work with others.
“The teamwork and problem-solving you learn from sport are key skills for life and we should all be doing more sport in school.
“Our children sit on their backsides too much – and with curriculum restraints, PE is an easy target. Hopefully the Donaldson Report will be a good way to pick up on this.”
A recent survey at the school showed that two-thirds of Caerleon Comprehensive’s 1,550 pupils have played sport at school or national level.
The current list of top performers includes a clutch of Team GB, Wales and county athletes across a range of sports from wheelchair basketball to golf.
But Mr Savastano emphasised that sport is not just about being an elite performer and said all students should be encouraged to take part at all levels.
“We put on six or seven activities in the upper school. In Year 11, with GCSEs, the dropout rate is higher so we try to make sport enjoyable with things like going on tours, and bring in role models like Beth Fisher to talk to pupils.”
This term the school clinched the Welsh Schools Indoor Rowing Championships, as well as putting in a strong performance at the Welsh Cross-Country Championships and the Welsh Gymnastics Championships.
A number of pupils are now hoping to build on their success this year by reaching the Newport and National finals once again in hockey, rugby, netball, football, gymnastics, swimming, tennis, and cricket.
The school rugby team will also have the opportunity to defend its title across the Channel, by competing at the prestigious Jean Roy International rugby tournament in La Roche, France, where the squad will compete against other invitationonly teams such as Racing Metro and Perpignan. THE current list of Caerleon’s top sports students includes:
■ Angus O Brien – Wales U20s/ Wales 7s/Newport Gwent Dragons
■ Ashton Hewitt – Wales Rugby/ Newport Gwent Dragons
■ Tyler Morgan – Wales Rugby/ Newport Gwent Dragons
■ Charlotte Mitc-hell – South East Wales Athletics
■ Dan May – Wales U15 Wheelchair Basketball
■ Dan Rabbit – GB Judo
■ Emily Tillet – GB Cycling
■ Matt Burke – British Cycling Olympic Academy
■ Alex Mitchell – Wales Youth Cycling ■ Georgia Rowe – Wales Netball
■ Hannah Cousins – Wales Hockey
■ Jack Davidson – Wales Golf
■ Katie Jones, Lucy Jones – Wales Youth Squash
■ Roseanne Thomas – Wales Hockey/GB Hockey
■ Sam Bowen – Cardiff City FC/ Wales U16 Football
■ Shay Ryan and Jack Ryan – Wales
Tennis
■ Luke Turner, Ben Turner, Toby Savidge – Wales Water Polo
■ Tolly Spencer – Wales U16 Hockey
■ Molly Cooper – Wales Girls Cricket
■ Abigail Welsford – Wales Hockey
■ Matt Burke – Wales and GB cycling
■ James McCarthy – selected to start for Wales U18 Rugby v France last month alongside former Caerleon pupils Josh Reynolds and Corey Howells.