The focus group program at Geelong East Primary School proudly supported by the Geelong Community Foundation was a huge success. At first, the identified students were sceptical towards us, their emotions were closed and apprehensive. However, as the days went on, these students began to come out of their shells, opening up to us, as they began to feel the safe environment we had created and wow did we kick some great goals.
Our Program focused on the important topics of Goal Setting, Conflict Resolution, Diet & Nutrition, Teamwork, Problem Solving and asking important others for support when needed.
We discussed individual ambitions including providing the necessary steps to assist them in seeing how their dreams can be achieved. The students became excited about their future, as they began to understand and appreciate their full potential. At the end of our program, these identified students had demonstrated an increase in confidence, self-worth, and an improvement in the ability to interact with others.
Their self-belief had lifted significantly compared to when we first met them. From the objective analysis of data, the Sports Challenge identified students made an overall improvement of 23%. The importance of this data showed that with some passionate and well trained Sports Challenge mentors , we can have a major effect on which path these students choose in the future.
For the first time we also conducted Fitness Testing where all students were required to complete a set of 7 Fitness Tests for all year levels. Students were excited to challenge themselves and eager to complete every task thrown at them. They thoroughly enjoyed the experience and were able to have meaningful conversations with their Sports Challenge mentors. Through our fitness testing, students would encourage each other, developing their social skills and building relationships as they met every fitness test head on. After some encouragement, The Phrase “I want to get a PB” (Personal Best) was often heard throughout our testing which is a really positive outcome and demonstrates the desire of these students to grow and improve.
Every Family will receive an individual student report with objective data to build ownership of the importance fitness has in building both physical and mental health.
The Programs at Geelong East were a huge success and we cannot wait to get back next year to build upon the gains from 2022.