Cricket Ireland has launched a new partnership with renowned cricket charity Chance to Shine, which will see a suite of engaging and exciting cricket-based teaching and learning resources being made available to primary school teachers.
Following on from the launch of its new Strategic Plan, and two new participation programmes for girls and boys – Smash It and It’s Wicket! – Cricket Ireland is now taking the power of cricket into the classroom.
The free learning programme features fun and easy-to-use lesson plans, activities and resources designed to help teachers teach and to inspire children to learn. All content is based on Chance to Shine’s decades of work in the UK but has been adapted and aligned for the school systems in the Republic and Northern Ireland.
Chance to Shine is an independent charity that celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2020. It works to spread the power of cricket in schools and communities throughout the UK, and this is the first time that its resources will be available in Ireland.
More than 5 million children have engaged in the charity’s programmes after their schools and teachers have downloaded the free resources and activities.
Resources
The resources are free and easy to download and use. They have been designed to support the delivery of curricula and learning outcomes — Key Stages 1 and 2 in Northern Ireland, Junior and Middle Programmes in the Republic of Ireland.
The resources focus on using cricket to make teaching and learning maths, English, science and geography even more fun. “Mascot Mystery”, for example, follows the story of Cricket Ireland’s missing mascot, and develops children’s reading, writing and comprehension skills at Key Stage 2/Middle Programme, while “Run Chase” encourages them to count, analyse and complete sums to ‘score runs’.
“I am delighted that we are launching this new schools programme together with Chance to Shine,” said Elaine Nolan, Participation Director for Cricket Ireland.
“Cricket is such a rich game offering everyone, especially children, the chance to grow, develop and learn. And this is as relevant off the field as much as on it.”
“Chance to Shine have demonstrated over many years that cricket can be used in the classroom to make teaching and learning even more fun – every aspect of the game offers opportunities to learn and develop numeracy, literacy, comprehension and even science and geography.”
“Working with the experts within Chance to Shine and the education systems North and South of the border, we have adapted all of the resources to align within the Irish context and curricula. This means that the resources are free, incredibly easy to download and use, and most importantly relevant to classrooms across Ireland.”
“The Chance to Shine partnership enables us to deliver on yet another commitment in our recently released Strategic Plan. Together with the recently launched ‘Smash It’ and ‘It’s Wicket!’ programmes for boys and girls, we are strengthening the foundations of our sport, and putting us well and truly on the road to creating a cricket island.”
“The Chance to Shine Portal is a fantastic platform that has already helped thousands of teachers to embrace cricket in schools,” added Steve Peyman, Chief Operating Officer, Chance to Shine. “We know what a profound effect cricket can have on children and it’s our mission to ensure all children can play, learn and develop through the sport.”
Cricket Ireland is among more than 250+ members of the Sport for Business network of sporting and business organisations working together across a number of key areas.
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