Placement overview
Name: Alex
Vocational area: Sports
Duration: 4 weeks
Location: St Lucia
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I developed skills such as confidence, leadership, problem solving, creativity and independence. I learnt to use my initiative and creativity to develop coaching sessions with limited resources.
The motivation
When I heard about the opportunity to coach in St Lucia for 4 weeks, I applied straight away. It was a chance to travel abroad, be more independent and meet new people. I wanted the opportunity to coach children from a completely different environment.
The placement
I mainly coached swimming and it was such a beneficial experience. I also coached netball and summer camps, which taught me different things about coaching.
The children we coached were aged from pre-school age to secondary school, so it was useful to learn different coaching styles for different ages.
The more confident and creative you are with your sessions, especially with younger children, the more they will enjoy it. For example, with the pre-school aged children, creating a theme and sticking to it for all of the session really boosted their enjoyment and enthusiasm levels.
The location
It was so good to see a snippet of St Lucian culture and taste some of their food. My favourite excursions were the carnival, as we got to walk along and celebrate their culture with them.
I also liked zip wiring along the forest. The views were picturesque and we got to enjoy being at the top of the tree heights and hearing all the noises in the forest.
Canoeing through the mangroves was such a great experience! We got to try drinking out of a coconut and cliff diving whilst we were canoeing.
The impact
When I’m older, I hope to become a PE teacher. Having the experience of teaching different sports to those I’m used to teaching gives me an idea of how to adapt sessions to different sports. I developed skills such as confidence, leadership, problem solving, creativity and independence.
In St Lucia, there was less equipment and sports than there would be in a typical English primary school, so I really had to use my initiative to think of what I could do with limited equipment. This will certainly help me in the future.
Outcomes
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Leadership
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Exposure to cultural experience
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Confidence building
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Creativity and Initiative
Collaboration and partnership is at the heart of what we do.
If you would like to find out more about the way we work, get in touch.
