Craig McCann, a Paralympian athlete in wheelchair fencing and a British National Champion Paracyclist, came into school to work with Mr Butterworth’s year 10 GCSE PE class last week. The Paralympian’s visit, who is hoping to make the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games, coincided with an initiative, Sky Sports Living for Sport, that Greenfield Community College are loyal advocates of that uses sport as a tool to motivate and inspire 11-16 year olds.
Craig and Mr Butterworth team taught a pre-planned theory lesson on diet in sport. It proved to be a fantastic opportunity for the Greenfield pupils as it isn’t everyday they get to interact with a Paralympian in the classroom. During the lesson there were a series of engaging tasks focused around the key nutrients. Craig reflected on his commitment and dedication towards a balanced diet in order to help realise his dreams of becoming a professional athlete including the sacrifices he had to make along the way. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed the lesson and were keen to inquire into Craig’s expertise and first-hand experience of maintaining a balanced diet by asking a series of questions throughout.
Craig McCann also worked with English Teacher, Mrs Robson, and spoke to a group of year 9 pupils. The year 9 class had begun to look at newspapers and the media. The class acted as journalists and spoke to Craig about his life and career. Craig spoke to the group while they took notes, after, they held a question and answer session, where students asked a range of questions. The year 9 class then sat and began to draft their articles, either in the style of a broadsheet or tabloid newspaper. During this time Craig was able to sit with the students on a one to one basis and give quotes and answer further questions. The students will be using computers this week to create their articles.
This visit was Craig’s second in as many months into Greenfield. He spent a full morning working with Mr Butterworth’s Year 9 AC group. The first hour consisted of a theory-based session focusing on Craig’s story. Thereafter, Craig led a session in the sports hall where the pupils would complete a series of practical challenges that embedded Sky Sports Living for Sport ‘6 key skills to success’ message. It proved to be a truly inspirational few hours as the pupils thoroughly enjoyed the activities that saw them work in teams competing against one another to develop skills such as ‘mental toughness’ and ‘planning for success’.
At the end of the morning they were asked to set targets in relation to the ‘6 key skills to success’ and focus on improving a couple of these in the coming months which would impact upon their future achievements. Many thanks to Craig McCann and Sky Sports Living for Sport for another inspirational visit to Greenfield.
