Let students grow up in sports——Observation on “Sports Prosper School” in a rural primary school

Let students grow up in sports——Observation on “Sports Prosper School” in a rural primary school

2022-12-02 11:39:27.0 Source: Xinhuanet
Author: Zheng Minghong

“The connotation of Tangfang Primary School can only be truly felt by staying here for three to five days.” This is what the reporter said when he called Wu Xiong for an interview for the first time. With a skeptical attitude, the reporter went to Tangfang Primary School to interview for 3 days, and had a deeper understanding of the school’s “prosperity because of its physical fitness” school-running process.

Tangfang Primary School is a village-level complete primary school located in Niuchangping Village, Baling Town, Xingren City, Qianxinan Prefecture, Guizhou Province. It currently has 524 students and 42 teachers. According to Wu Xiong, the principal, when the school moved to the present site in March 2004, there were only 3 teachers and 75 students. There was not even a flat area of ​​more than 20 square meters on the campus, and the students had no playground.

What made Wu Xiong even more distressed and puzzled was that some students left the house in the morning but did not enter the school gate, and ran to the mountains to play halfway. In order to find out why, Wu Xiong and his colleagues called these students together, held a symposium, and asked them why they were unwilling to go to school. “There are many reasons, but the main reason is that the foundation is too poor, I can’t understand the class, I can’t finish the homework, and I am afraid of being scolded.” Wu Xiong said.

How to enhance the school’s attractiveness to students? After discussing with his colleagues, Wu Xiong decided to let the students “move”. “Rural children often help the family with work. They have good physical strength and great strength, and are suitable for sports activities.” He said.

In 2004, the construction of the Northwest Ring Road of Xingren City, which passed through Tangfang Primary School, started. Wu Xiong and his colleagues used their spare time to work for the construction party in exchange for earth and rocks on the construction site to fill in the potholes in the campus. The teachers and students of the school worked together to complete the work in 2 years, and the school has a simple sports ground.

In November 2006, Tangfang Primary School held the first sports meeting on the unhardened mud floor, with events such as kicking sandbags and table tennis. The second sports meeting held in 2007 added badminton. There was no formal field, so white lime was used to draw the sidelines on the mud floor, and then a white rope was drawn in the middle of the field as a net.

Before holding the sports meeting, Wu Xiong and his colleagues will conduct research among the students and listen to their opinions. “The competitions in the sports meeting are the ones that students usually like to play, so as to mobilize their enthusiasm.” Wu Xiong said.

During the interview, Tangfang Primary School was holding the 17th sports meeting. Vice-principal Feng Shichuan said that there will be 10 major events including basketball and sprint, and 20 minor events in this sports meeting. In order to allow all students to participate in the sports meeting, they will set up at least 2 group events each time, and all students need to participate in the class as a unit.

Huang Mengxin from class 4 (1) represented her class in the basketball game of this sports meeting. She told the reporter that although playing basketball is tiring, she should work hard on the field and must do her best. Her teammate Feng Yuyuan said that every time the team scores and defends successfully, she is very happy, “I used to be very introverted, but playing basketball has made me more cheerful.”

Tangfang Primary School now has 3 basketball courts, and next to each court there is a metal cabinet for storing basketballs, which is never locked. In order to ensure the safety of students, the school stipulates that the first and second grades, the third and fourth grades, and the fifth and sixth grades share a field respectively. Almost every time between classes, some students go to the court to play.

Nowadays, advocating sports has become a trend in Tangfang Primary School. In addition to physical education classes, students in this school have at least 2.5 hours of exercise every day. But at first, some teachers were skeptical about “sports revitalizing schools”, and they worried that the development of sports activities would affect learning.

In Wu Xiong’s view, this kind of questioning is very representative. Schools must balance the relationship between sports activities and learning. “We advocate more self-discipline and freedom. Students must complete the prescribed learning tasks before they can play.”

Facts have proved that Tangfang Primary School has indeed balanced the relationship between regular teaching and sports activities. The average score of the students in the school has increased from less than 30 points in 2004 to more than 80 points now. As early as 2017, the Xingren City Education Bureau upgraded the school to a second-class school, which will be assessed together with the township central primary school and some primary schools in the county.

Tangfang Primary School also performed well in various sports competitions. Since 2020, the school has won 6 city-level championships, including the first place in the total score of the elementary school group in the 2020 Student Games in Xingren City, the champion of the 2021 Xingren City Youth Basketball Game (U12 Girls Group), and the 2022 Guizhou Provincial Primary School Champion. Two state-level championships including the U12 women’s championship in the basketball game (Qianxinan Division) were won.

In addition, according to incomplete statistics, since 2014, more than 100 students from Tangfang Primary School have been recruited by many middle schools in Xingren City and other places as special sports students.

Wu Xiong said that allowing children to participate in more sports can make them love life more and be more confident, which is conducive to their healthy growth.