We have had another fantastic Chance to Shine primary school programme during the 2021/22 academic year!
Having tackled the challenges of Covid for the past couple of years, it was nice to return to some sort of normality while still ensuring that all activities were delivered in a safe environment.
Throughout this academic year, we delivered 45 Whole School Programmes – which consist of 6 weeks of coaching to 4 classes throughout the day, and 50 Cricket Engagement Days – which is a one-off day of coaching to 4 classes, as well at 15 festivals throughout the county. This has enabled approximately 13,300 primary school pupils have engaged in activity that has been delivered by The Derbyshire Cricket Foundation. A number that we are very proud of!
All our delivery is to promote exit routes to either clubs or community settings. Whether it be club coaching, girls’ activity, ECB national programmes or street cricket, we always try to encourage cricket to be a game for everyone.
In July, we partnered with Chance to Shine and Youth Sport Trust to deliver a free training day for teachers to attend. This was to encourage and upskill staff to deliver cricket in primary settings. The feedback we received was positive and, by using the free chance to shine teacher resources, we are encouraging more cricket to be delivered when our coaches are not present in schools.
The DCF have plans to deliver further training courses to staff as we look to double the participation of cricket in primary schools, which is a key goal in our Derbyshire Strategy.
We are excited about our delivery in the next academic year, as we look to engage with new schools, staff and participants as we continue to show how cricket can improve the personal development of children as well as their physical, mental and social wellbeing.
If your school would like to get involved in cricket this next academic year, please contact james.colton@dcfcricket.com
