With England’s cricketers taking on the old enemy down under in the Ashes, injured England fast bowler Steven Finn visited his old primary school, Cassiobury Junior in Watford, to inspire the boys and girls to get into cricket.
In order to make cricket accessible to all children across the country, national cricket charity Chance to Shine has developed a free set of digital resources for teachers. Along with official charity partner NatWest, Chance to Shine is ensuring that there are no boundaries to children playing the sport.
The resources have been developed in partnership with the Youth Sports Trust and there are programmes aimed at curriculum outcomes for KS1 Lower, KS1 Upper and KS2. The resources can be accessed at www.chancetoshine.org.
The Year 6 pupils at Cassiobury received a special lesson from supply teacher ‘Mr. Finn’ who delivered one of the brand new Chance to Shine numeracy lessons. Finn had the pupils getting up and about taking part in some active learning in a ‘Cricketing Conundrums’ starter, this was followed by the ‘Captain Co-ordinates’ lesson where the students had to locate the fielding positions using a grid reference map.
Finn also took part in a special MCC Spirit of Cricket Assembly back at his old school and gave the Year 3 pupils some cricket skills training during a coaching session with the fast-bowler.
Chance to Shine aims to give all children the opportunity to play and learn through cricket. Since 2005, the charity has spread the power of cricket to more than 3.5 million children, 46% of whom are girls, in over 14,000 state schools across the country. Chance to Shine partnered with NatWest as part of their ‘Cricket has no boundaries’ campaign, championing diversity and inclusion in cricket.
Speaking at the event, Steven Finn said “I’ve had a brilliant day back at my old school, it’s brought back a lot of fond memories. I was a little anxious about actually teaching a lesson but once I got into it, it was great! Chance to Shine’s new resources are an amazing way to give teachers the tools they need to teach cricket in the classroom and on the playground.
“I was really pleased to see how the pupils were interested in the cricket and how it captured their imagination. Hopefully lessons, like the one I’ve taught today, will be given all across the country and it will inspire young people to not only play but also to learn from cricket.”
James Harris, 10, was taught by Finn “It’s amazing that he was a pupil at our school and now he’s playing for England. Mr Finn was a really great teacher, I’ve been struggling with maths but adding cricket makes it a lot more fun and easier to understand. I enjoy playing cricket with my teammates and having fun with them – I’ve learnt lots because of playing the sport.”
Headteacher Jenny Sherry added “Having an inspiring ex-pupil visit allows our children to dream big.”
To find out more, and to access the free resources, go to www.chancetoshine.org.
