Sport Policy

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Rationale

The aim of offering broad participation in sports at High is to nurture the personal development of our students. Participation in sport is an educational activity. We want all boys to be involved in team sports for the lifelong physical, psychological, social and personal benefits that such participation can bring. It is particularly important to encourage boys at High to engage in organised sport because of the initial low levels of measured physical fitness and motor skills.

High is unique among public schools in its membership of the AAGPS.  Members have mutual obligations to supply facilities, fixtures, officials and depth in team numbers in multiple sports.  In order to fulfil our commitments we need maximised participation by individuals.

The standard of competition in many GPS sports continues to improve.  Physical and mental preparation for competition is both intense and of longer duration.  Adequate preparation and regular training are required to maintain and enhance our competitiveness.

Player satisfaction in sports is important.  Commitment to the sports program by students and parents needs to be maintained and strengthened.

Parents are paying co-payments for their sons to participate in sports and they would like to see good preparation, organisation and participation, particularly on Saturdays.  They also want competent, qualified coaches running sports training to enhance player satisfaction.

Incoming Students - Sport Selection

Incoming students can select a sport via the following link:

sbhs.co/nss

By choosing to participate in GPS sport, you will be gaining new skills while creating lasting friendships and memories for life.

Objectives

The objectives of the Sports Policy are:

  1. To raise the general fitness level of our students.
  2. To provide an enjoyable and successful sports experience for as many boys as possible.
  3. To meet our GPS obligations well – by having all teams ready to play their fixtures.
  4. To build support for competitive sport among our students and their parents.

Strategies

  1. Supply a qualified coach for every team.
  2. Improve the level of expertise of our coaches.
  3. Increase the frequency and intensity of our coaching/training sessions.
  4. Improve the attendance of students at Saturday sports fixtures and at training sessions.

Actions

  1. Recruit and / or train qualified coaches for every team or crew involving students in Years 7-9.
     
  2. Where possible recruit a Coordinator or Lead Coach to develop skills in the Year 7-9 cohort of competitors.
     
  3. Engage all students in sport on Wednesdays or Thursdays as part of the school curriculum.  Exemptions on medical grounds can be applied for in writing to the Principal.
     
  4. Encourage all students to participate in GPS sports.  Once a student has committed to a GPS sport, full participation in that sport is expected and monitored with consequences for non-attendance without an acceptable reason.  Full participation means attendance at all scheduled training sessions, trial matches and competition fixtures.  These expectations and consequences are communicated online to students before sport selections.
     
  5. Aim for maximum attendance at all Saturday fixtures by recording and monitoring attendance and following up absentees. [See action 12]
     
  6. Aim for maximum attendance at the minimum number of scheduled / school training sessions for the Year and team level by recording and monitoring attendance at the training sessions and following up absentees.[ See action 12]
     
  7. Insist on full participation. In order to meet full participation requirements, students must attend at least the specific number of scheduled/school training sessions each week.

    1. For GPS 1st and 2nd grade – three scheduled training sessions/week.
    2. For Open teams 3 – 10 two training sessions/week
    3. For Junior Teams to Year 10: A + B: 3 training sessions/week; C – J: 2 training sessions/ week

    Training Sessions

    1. One training session is held on Monday afternoon at 3.30 pm. 
    2. A certified weights program is considered to be a training session.
    3. A training session is usually scheduled on Wednesday afternoon for the senior school 10-12 and Thursday afternoon for the Junior School 7-9.
    4. A standard day training session is Wednesday at 3.30 pm for Juniors (Years 7-9) and Thursday at 3.30 pm for Seniors (Years 10-12).
    5. Coaches decide on the intensity and duration of coaching sessions, but all sessions must conclude by 5pm.[ See bus schedule for after training sessions]
    6. Exemptions from some training sessions for elite athletes may be negotiated with the Principal
    7. Exemptions for students for scheduled out-of-school hours training is automatic during relevant examination weeks.
    8. Parents are asked, wherever possible, not to schedule after school activities for their sons that conflict with standard, scheduled training sessions – Monday, Wednesday/Thursday afternoon.

    Variations to standard training days

    The bulk of training for sports should occur on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. Some sports are constrained by availability of specialised facilities (eg basketball /tennis courts, cricket nets or pitches, swimming pools, rowing sheds or rifle ranges). By arrangement with members of teams, after avoiding clashes with other activities, and on obtaining permission from the Principal, training sessions may be scheduled at other times.

  8. Improve cardiovascular fitness: by regularly testing students in a 1.6km. run as part of the PDHPE program; by recording and monitoring  times run by students; by setting individual targets for improvement; and by setting cohort goals against state standards.
     
  9. Lift player satisfaction: by setting and measuring individual improvement goals in fitness benchmarks or game-specific skills and by giving feedback to participants on their progress; by setting and measuring teamwork targets (eg attack and defence statistics); and by setting and measuring whole sport targets (eg improve competition standing by one position or reduce negative point differentials by 25% across all fixtures). Successful achievement of targets and goals is celebrated.
     
  10. Expose students to unfamiliar sports by holding ‘Try Rowing’, ‘Try Rugby’ and ‘Try Weights’ days.
     
  11. Promote the benefits of sport and publicise and discuss the Sports Policy with staff, students and parents.
     
  12. Make students accountable. Students are voluntary members of sports teams but once they have committed to a sport must abide by its requirements or withdraw.
    • Once a student has committed to a GPS sport (ie a sport played by members of GPS schools) he is accountable for his full participation in that sport. A student is deemed to have made a commitment to a summer sport if his name is on the roll once the selection trials for that sport have been completed. For winter sports, students in teams C/D/E/F commence winter sport in the first week of the athletics season and have made a commitment if their names are on the roll. A and B teams will do athletics training as first priority, unless released to join their winter sport team.
    • Students are encouraged to keep personal training logs to record attendance and monitor their own development.
    • Department of Education - 'School Attendance Policy', 2005: 4.6.2 – Specific sports rolls must be marked at the beginning and conclusion of each sports session.
    • Students not meeting full participation requirements will have penalties imposed on them.
    • Students unable to attend a GPS fixture must inform the school at least one hour before the fixed. Students need to:
      1. Go to the school website
      2. Go to the student portal
      3. Choose ‘My Absences’
      4. From ‘Class Absences’ select ‘I’m going to be absent from sport’
      5. Choose sport, age group and team
      6. Enter student ID
    • For training sessions (outside of school hours) and Saturdays, parents are to email through the specific details of the absence, including:
      • Student Number
      • Student name
      • Sport
      • Team
      • Reason for absence
      • Date/s for absence
      Parents are to email the details to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

      Note that all absences during school hours (including Wednesday/Thursday Timetabled Sport 1-3pm), are to be communicated to main school office administration.

    • Coaches are expected to mark the roll for their team/crew at every training session, trial match and GPS fixture and to communicate the names of absentees to the school by 0900 on the next school day.
    • Penalties for non-attendance at sport or scheduled training sessions, without an acceptable reason:
      1. First time – sports detention and warning
      2. Second time – sports detention + loss of 50% of Award Scheme points
      3. Third time – Student removed from GPS roll. All Awards Scheme points forfeited.
    • MICs in each sport are responsible for recording penalties applied to students and for making judgements on the Award Scheme points to be lost. Details must be communicated to the Deputy Principal or delegate in charge of Award Scheme administration.
       
    • Medical Exemption
      If a student is injured and unable to attend training and/or fixtures due to the injury or illness, the student must follow the protocols below:
      • In the case of a one-off injury, provide a note explaining the absence to the Head Teacher Sport, Mr S Marcos, using the email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or in person, directly.
      • In the case of an injury preventing attendance at more than one training session or fixture, provide a 'Sydney Boys High School Sports Injury Report and Medical Certificate' signed by the student's doctor. This document may be downloaded from the school's Parent Portal and, once completed, must be provided to the Head Teacher Sport. Or, alternatively
      • See the school's physiotherapist for evaluation. The physiotherapist is available on Monday mornings between 07:00am and 09:00am in the school gymnasium
      A medical exemption may then be authorised by the Head Teacher Sport.
       
  13. Communicate our Sports Selection Policies fully and clearly
    1. Maximum team numbers for particular sports are recommended to the Principal by the Head Teacher of Sport in consultation with MICs.
    2. Published, transparent and consistent policies for all teams are published in each sport. Eg training sessions attended, skill standards reached, comparative measures recorded
    3. Trials are held where nominations exceed the spaces available in the sport
    4. At the change of season, Trials must be held promptly to identify unsuccessful students, thus allowing them time to change sports and allowing coaches adequate time to prepare their teams.
       
  14. Organise our activities to help students achieve balance in their lives
    Many students are engaged in a variety of school activities. Our policy is to facilitate the activities of these all-rounders. Times have been allocated for co-curricular activities. They have priority and MICs and sports coaches must respect them.

    eg
    Tuesday afternoons – cadet parades. 
    Tuesday and Thursday (mornings) - Year 8 languages.
    Monday to Friday (mornings) - music ensembles
    Monday & Wednesday (mornings) - Extension 2 mathematics

    Coaches are at liberty to negotiate with their teams to find suitable morning timeslots but must not:

    1. Pressure any individual student into withdrawing from an activity to attend a morning training session
    2. Imply that he is standing in the way of what all the others in the team want to do
    3. Indicate directly or indirectly that attendance at such a session will be a part of any selection policy for a team.

    15. Coaches who make arrangements for morning training times must inform the Principal of the arrangements – who is involved, when will they happen and where such training sessions will occur.

  15. Expand our sports offerings.
    Our first priority is to meet our commitments to honour our AAGPS membership. We also want to offer educative, healthy and active sporting activities. From time to time, additional sports will be offered to a limited number of boys on a cost recovery basis.

As amended 14 September 2018