15 years of developing employability skills through Sports Leadership

As a school with strong standing in the local community, Shenley Brook End School’s aspirations for their students are summed up perfectly by their motto: Belong, Believe, Become. Having delivered Sports Leadership for more than 15 years, they have plenty of experience in the programme’s potential for preparing young people for their future.

“When we first started delivering Sports Leaders, we were looking for ways to deliver activities which help young people to develop intangible leadership and employability skills ready for when they move to post-16 education,” Sean Doyle, Team Leader for PE at the school, explains.

“We wanted to provide a course for our learners that evidenced their achievements and enabled them to gain a qualification which wasn’t tied to sporting performance. This gave us a chance to access a wider range of students whilst also reducing teacher workload and still promoting a ‘qualification-for-all’ curriculum.

“Since starting to deliver the programme, we’ve seen thousands of students achieve Sports Leaders qualifications which stay on their CVs and support them to take steps towards the next leg of their journey.

“As part of our Sports Leadership Diploma, students who complete the programme are more likely to enrol on our post-16 qualifications, and students in year 11 are more likely to enrol on a sports related course.

“The skills gained by our Sports Leaders has a profound effect on our ability to support Primary School PE across our cluster and city. Having developed their confidence by becoming Sports Leaders, our learners become confident enough to deliver festivals, sports-specific competitions (including officiating) and even primary school sports days.”

Improved energy, motivation and confidence

Sports Leaders at Shenley Brook End benefit from the skills they build almost immediately as well as in the next phase of their education or their first steps in employment. Sean explains: “In the short term, learners show that they feel more confident.

“They demonstrate improved ability to communicate with their peers and younger learners and they show greater levels of empathy during evaluation and reflection activities.

“We also see them show greater levels of energy and motivation to learn as a result of their experiences as Sports Leaders.

“In the longer term, they are more prepared and more equipped for when they leave school. We also know from students we keep in touch with that they retain fonder memories of their education and can recall the components of skills such as public speaking and planning far better.

“The focus on the five skills (teamwork, communication, problem solving, self-belief and organisation), have also been a huge win, as these are now embedded in our own assessment criteria and we agree that they provide a very clear set of qualities to work towards.

“As a result of this, learners feel like they have a head start in terms of working towards formal education and in the workplace.”

Vital in providing structure

Having seen so many students complete Sports Leadership at the school, Sean believes that the programme continues to be the right choice for their learners. He says: “Choosing to work with the Leadership Skills Foundation is a no-brainer for our particular context.

“As the market leader in leadership skill development and non-performer sports qualifications, they provide a good, staggered framework and the support offered is first class. In the time we’ve been working with the organisation, they have taken their own steps to develop and we have gone with them on that journey.

“For our non-sport ‘lifeskills’ style lessons, the Leadership Skills Foundation’s programmes are vital in providing structure to students’ learning and leadership development.

“The Leadership Skills Foundation has grown with the demands of the sector and continues to offer a diverse variety of excellent courses. The quality assurance process has been streamlined to suit workload demands on school staff, the level of support offered is second to none and both tutor training and the resources available are also high quality.”

Sports Leadership is our most popular programme, helping to equip young people with experiences to get them ready for work and ready for life. The programme is suitable for learners aged 12 and above across three levels with CPD, training and resources available for tutors. Learn more about Sports Leadership.