By Miss Nicholas, Director of Sport

If there was something we learnt from remote lessons the first time around, it was that you, our NHEHS students, have a wonderfully diverse range of talents and interests.

We loved hearing during the first lockdown, about students completing daily cycle challenges with family members, learning a new sport such as football or lacrosse, or making up their own dance routines. We realised very quickly that just asking you all to complete a generic cricket lesson had great initial novelty value (and we enjoyed watching many of you throwing balls over your neighbours’ fences!) but that there were better ways of developing your love of sport.

This is why for your second PE lesson each week, we are inviting you to take part in the #BeYou project. 

During the course of five weeks, we want you to choose an activity you already love, or perhaps an activity you have always wanted to try. We will then support and guide you to achieve a goal in this activity in the time allocated to your second PE lesson. To help you on this journey, we are providing you with a virtual log book. You can log in it at any time (not just in your second PE lesson!) that you do an activity that relates to your #BeYou goal. 

On Week 5 (commencing 8th February), you will submit your completed log-book and create a short presentation (either live via Google Meet, or as an uploaded video recording) explaining what you have done over the half-term, whether you have achieved your goal and most importantly for us, your reflections and what you have learned about the activity you chose. We will also ask you to think about how you might develop this interest beyond school, namely at university and into your adult life.

Remember when setting any goal, you should use the ‘SMART’ goal setting principles.  

Before setting your goal, think about the following:

• What sports and activities do I enjoy?
• Is there sport or activity that I have always wanted to try out?
• Am I going to complete these sessions by myself or with family/friends? 
• What would I like to achieve by the end of the half-term?

Want some examples or ideas?

For new activities, have you ever thought of trying cycling, jump rope, rowing (if you are lucky enough to have a rowing machine at home!), roller blading, yoga, golf, strength-training, football or rugby? I know what you are thinking: “How can you learn a team sport without a team!?”. Interestingly, though, using your time to learn and develop your individual skills in these sports, if only the fitness components involved, could be a terrific goal in lockdown at home! 

Perhaps you already know what activity you love and developing your skills further is something you would enjoy, This might be, for example, developing your ball skills in netball or your stick skills in hockey. It may be that you are a runner and with more time at home you could include a bit more running training to try and hit a Personal Best? If it is an activity you will also sign up for on one of the virtual extracurricular clubs this half-term, this could also be added to your weekly log and contribute to your final presentation!

Can I have the same goal as someone else?

Now more than ever it is important to connect with others, whether that be in person with family members in your household, or remotely with friends. Your goal could be something you set for your whole family, for example, walking a set distance daily, or covering a set distance over a week. It might be that you have a friend who loves dance just as much as you, and together your goal is to get together on google meet and create a routine you can perform at the end of the half-term.

A few initial ideas to get you started:

Below is a list of activities which you could choose from, based on a selection of sports and fitness workouts. This list is not finite, but may give you some guidance of what resources are out there to support you. Your teacher will also be on google meet every lesson and will be supporting you and your progress towards your goal.  You can complete your activities by yourself or with others in your year group.

NETBALL

• Solo Sessions YouTube channel has a variety of videos with ball skill and other netball related exercises
• Nettyheads YouTube channel has a variety of videos with netball drills and workouts to follow 
• England Netball YouTube channel has some drills and challenges that you can complete 
• Download the App NETFIT Netball and explore the workouts

HOCKEY

• Field Hockey Tube YouTube channel with a variety of individual and skill circuits to improve your hockey
• Field Hockey at Home YouTube channel with a variety of individual skill drills that can improve your basic level of hockey
• Field Hockey Education YouTube playlist with 12 sessions that cover different skills that can be done at home
• Super twitter account which has daily challenges logged from last year which you can try to develop your stick skills 

HIIT

• Joe Wicks YouTube channel with a variety of workouts
• Heather Robertson YouTube channel with a variety of Cardio/HIIT workouts 
• Rachel Gulotta YouTube channel with a variety of full body Cardio/HIIT workouts
• Pamela Reif YouTube channel with a variety of muscle group specific workouts
• ‘POPSUGAR fitness’ a range of upbeat and engaging fitness routines
• ‘SELF’ has a range of no equipment fitness routines of various intensity levels

YOGA

• Yoga with Adrienne YouTube channel with a variety of Yoga workouts
• Sarah Beth YouTube channel with a variety of Yoga workouts
• Cat Meffan YouTube channel with a variety of flow and vinyasa Yoga workouts

PILATES

• Move with Nicole YouTube channel with a variety of Pilates workouts
• Lottie Murphy YouTube channel with a variety of Pilates exercises
• Isa Welly YouTube channel with a variety of Pilates exercises

MISCELLANEOUS

• Concepts Indoor Rowers website resource page
• Zwift – Stationary bike and running/treadmill training App
• Trainerroad – Stationary bike and road bicycle training App

INSTAGRAM ACCOUNTS FOR JUMP ROPE ACTIVITIES

@maria.elena.adarna

@noelagra

@happyfingersjumps

Watch Miss Nicholas launching #BeYou here

We look forward to hearing all about your own #BeYou goals in the coming weeks which we will share through our #BeYou newsletter, here on the website and through our Twitter account!  Watch out for some guest appearances by some very well known sports stars too who will be encouraging us along the way, including England Netball’s Corbin sisters,  England Rugby captain Sarah Hunter and GB Hockey’s Esme Burge!