Physical Activity, Health and Sports at SEK International Institution Schools

For SEK International Institution schools, physical activity and sport are key elements in the overall development of our students.

That is why the Physical Education Department at Eiris International School, analyzes and plans new strategies annually that boost physical activity and sport in different areas of the school.

Variability and the ability to surprise our students are just some of the keys in our intervention strategy. We feel that they must explore different options at school that help them to enjoy both their favourite sports activities and new alternatives.

From the early years stages, our teachers offer a wide variety of activities in Physical Education classes where students begin to enjoy different games and multiple materials as the first step in their development of fine motor skills. We consider this stage to be vital because it allows the department to carry out an initial personalized evaluation of the students, a determining factor in the subsequent planning of individual and collective strategies.

It is in Primary Education where students take another step within their motor skills progression and where teachers implement new strategies in line with evolution and growth. Pre-sport skills begin to show a presence in Physical Education classes and students begin to follow up their sporting interests through extracurricular activities.

In more advanced stages, as in Secondary Education, sports become more defined. As well as more traditional sports such as football and basketball, in recent years the department has also incorporated some less common ones such as baseball, American football or paddle tennis, an example of “new sports” that can help our students untap some of their sporting talents that, until now, had not been discovered in other sporting activities.

Another important strategy of our project lies in the need to find alternative environments for classes, as we feel the need for our students to do sport outside of the usual context. In this way, parks, beaches and specific sports facilities have become our new classrooms for different classes held throughout the course.

When we talk about sport at Eiris International School we must not forget our extracurricular activities. Sports such as soccer, basketball and rhythmic gymnastics allow our students to complement their training and extend their relationships outside of school hours. The weekends become a time for students and families to come together as they enthusiastically enjoy representing the school in competitions. In recent years it has become common to see our football or rhythmic gymnastics teams occupying the top positions in various school competitions as a result of the hopes and efforts of many months of training.

Come summer, our Rhythmic Gymnastics Campuses and Surfing Campuses become the highlight of the school’s sporting activities. Rhythmic Gymnastics students enjoy a fun summer camp that complements the training received during after-school hours with new and fun workshops. The Surfing Campus is an excellent opportunity to experience a different sporting activity in a privileged natural environment, the beaches of La Coruña, Spain.

Every year these two activities provide the finishing touch to this project based on physical activity, sport and the health of our students.

This project is continuously evolving and will continue to progress with new ideas thanks to a great team made up of our students, families and teachers.

David Sánchez-Marín
Extracurricular Activities Coordinator