Sports

At St Columba’s, we believe that a balanced child is a happy and healthy child. The St Columba’s holistic education model includes academics, sport, arts, cultural and community engagement activities to create a balanced environment for the modern child to thrive.

The St Columba’s passion for sport drives the school's ethos of inclusion and fairness as we strive to give each child the opportunity to develop into a sportsman/woman through presenting each one with a fair chance to participate, regardless of skill level. We give children access to a range of sports and while having fun, they learn to love sport, giving them a powerful mental, physical and social grounding for their future.

The benefit of sport in general has been proven time and again and consists of three key areas of development for your child:

Personal Development

Participating in sport, be it an individual or team sport, is critical for the development of a healthy perception of self.

Areas of personal development sport assists with include:

Sport provides children with a structured manner to engage with and achieve goals. Each practice they attend develops perseverance and shows children how dedication and patience results in improvement.

Participating in sport, even if the child’s skill levels are minimal, develops self esteem because of the external and internal recognition sport provides them.

Research suggests that active children are happier than peers who do not exercise. Sport is a positive emotional experience in which a child is able to learn new skills in a fun, social and encouraging environment.

Health Development

Providing children with fun, self-affirming exercise opportunities ensures a lifelong enjoyment of exercise and sport. The long-term health benefits of participating in school sport include:

Sport helps children develop a healthy body composition from a young age with more muscle than body fat, providing children with a springboard for long-term health including a reduced risk of heart disease later in life and increased bone mineral density.

Dr Ratey from Harvard Medical School writes that exercise improves learning on a number of neural levels such as improved alertness, attention and motivation as well as physical changes in the brain. Studies also show that children who regularly participate in sport are less likely to be depressed and structured sport practices are known to assist children struggling with ADHD.

Social Development

Sport at St Columba’s provides a platform for children to hone a range of social skills. From making new friends to competing with other children, sport introduces a range of soft skills that equip students for life.

These skills include:

Sport provides a structured space for friendship, companionship and community that is difficult to find elsewhere. Competing within a team provides children with a different way of communicating, working with others and being. Being involved in a sport teaches valuable lessons in teamwork, such as putting yourself in second place for the benefit of the whole team. All of this gives children a new sense of togetherness and belonging.

Sport teaches children how to cope with success and how to cope with defeat as inevitably there will be a winner and a loser in practice and competition. The St Columba’s coaching team strive to show children that the result of a match doesn’t affect who they are as people, assisting to build resilience and self-control and compassion for others.

Sport helps to develop children who are open to being taught and understand the value of fair rules and authority – aspects that exist in every society. Sport provides a space in which children are active participants in self-discipline and team discipline and where they are able to see the results of these valuable principles.

St Columba’s provides a variety of sports activities for your child to participate in. Each activity involves practices which also encourages children (and parents) to interact and develop friendships.

Matches and competitions are held throughout the year and a sports prize-giving ceremony is held in June and December to recognise continued, consistent participation and students' achievements.

The sport available at St Columba’s include:

Tennis

The St Columba’s Tennis Program consists of a series of structured lessons in which the skills and understanding of the game are taught to all interested students. Tennis provides amazing development opportunities in:

Hand/eye/ball co-ordination

Timing

Game strategy and match temperament

Patience and perseverance

Teamwork

Cricket

Cricket at St Columba’s provides students with the opportunity to participate in a team sport where a multitude of skills, aptitudes and mental resilience is developed. Cricket provides amazing development opportunities in:

Hand/eye/ball co-ordination and muscle development

Spatial awareness

Teamwork

Mental strength

Self-control

Football

Football at St Columba’s is a fast-paced team sport that enhances students’ in-the-moment communication skills, teamwork and ability to react effectively under pressure.

The collaborative coaching methodology of the St Columba’s football staff helps children have a positive and self-affirming experience with this sport. Football develops amazing skills in:

Ball skills and spatial awareness

Teamwork

Pressure and stress management

Self-control

Work ethic development

Swimming

Swimming at St Columba’s provides students with a structured team approach in which every child in the swimming team plays an important role. Swimming training provides children with fantastic lifeskill development in:

Self-discipline

Perseverance

Gala performance skills

Comradery

Fitness

Cross Country

Cross Country at St Columba’s provides students with the opportunity to participate in a variety of running events around Gauteng with the benefit of a great school spirit to spur them on. Cross Country develops skills in:

Self-discipline

Perseverance

Resilience

Comradery

Performance and competition skills

Netball

Netball at St Columba’s gives every interested student an opportunity to participate in this wonderful team sport. Netball provides children with development in:

Hand/ball co-ordination

Teamwork

Spatial awareness

Self-discipline

Communication and conflict management

Sports

Personal Development

Health Development

Social Development

The sport available at St Columba’s include:

Tennis

Cricket

Football

Swimming

Cross Country

Netball

Fees Structure

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