Day 10: Week 2 of coaching, and Spain V England Football!

Hola, Ronnie here,

Today we were at a secondary and primary school in Valencia. It was a brand new school so we were all really excited to meet new people (but all secretly a bit nervous too)

I was paired with Lauren in performing handball to 12 year olds. The session ran smoothly throughout the whole hour and everyone looked like they were enjoying themselves and gave us positive feedback at the end.  For my second session I was paired with Matty playing rounders with 9 year olds. The session involved a easy game for a warm-up. The warm up game we used was a throw and catch activity which improved their ability in rounders. For the next part of the session we split the group into two teams and played a game of rounders. The session was great and everyone got involved and seemed happy. We did miss a few health and safety things which Tanya helped us with. They were really easy mistakes like leaving the cones and and making sure the batting line was well away from the batting box etc. It does get hard trying to impress everyone at a new school as well as making sure all children are happy and enjoying themselves, and also ensuring that you are doing a good job as a leader. It made us realise how many plates we have to juggle, and how to manage them all and prioritise them so that there are no further mistakes.

From all these activities I have learned what it takes to be a sport leader, for example having to adapt my speaking skills for younger children who cannot speak English. Another example of how I have developed my sports leader qualifications are being able to see the sports equipment provided and apply that to leading our sessions for the suitable ages.

Today, Tanya and Chris have managed to organise a friendly football match against our rep Tonis’s football team. We are all really excited. It’ll be like the World Cup in Moncada!

That’s all for now; bring on the Football!

Day 13: Last day of coaching and Halloween!

Matty here today,

Today went into school; I was paired with Roxy for the day which was nice as we haven't worked together before, so it was really interesting to see how we could lead together. 

We started the first lesson leading sport that had an easy nature about them. As we were with primary children, we needed to ensure that the level was pitched correctly at all times otherwise we could have had 20 angry and frustrated kids on our hands! We introduced a game called tails, and then a game called stuck in the mud. This session went really well and the kids really enjoyed it and knew how to play the games. 

My second session was English with 11 year olds. In this lesson we started by singing a song called Apples and Bananas. In this song you use all the vowels AEIOU, we decided to do this song because its educational and very catchy. 

Next we introduced a game called hangman whereby you have to guess the word by using letters from the alphabet. The words the kids had to guess were to do with the subjects they were learning which was countries and nationalities. This session was good because all the kids got involved and enjoyed the lesson and games that we done. 

Tonight we all dressed up for Halloween. We brought different costumes with us that ranged from Mario to Giraffes! Not very scary but we had such a brilliant night. The owners of the restaurant thought we were crazy but laughed a long with us.

Only two more days until we leave which is sad news for us; we wish we were staying longer!

Day 8: The BIOParc Zoo

Hola, Charlie and Melissa here

First actual weekend in Valencia since we arrived a week ago. Had a brilliant lay in until half eight as we have been having early starts from getting up at half 6. The week really drained us as the weather was extremely hot so we become tired very quickly throughout the day. We didn't let this effect us whilst we was teaching as we wanted to show are full ability's towards the children/teenagers .

Transport to the Bio Park Zoo was fine. We had help from Schola Reps for directions to the Zoo which was really helpful of them. By then following with a 10-15 minute stroll through the park. which we then found out this was once a river a couple of years ago. This stroll through the park was a totally different surrounding to what we are used to.  Some of the things we noticed are; loads of fitness fanatics, their was a different lane for bikes, running and walking.

After arriving at the Bio Park Zoo, we got our tickets and got told a meeting point for a certain time. We then strolled off in different groups of our choice. Firstly we went to the Zebra's, we saw that the animals where mixed together. By taking another long stroll through the Zoo, we saw that normally in England the animals are a far distance away from us. But in this Zoo, they where very close to us near the window.

Having a walk through the park was again good looking at the surrounding. At this time though, it wasn't very packed as it was not ten o'clock in the morning.

Getting the train home was eventful, everyone was laughing and making jokes. We would of thought everyone would of been tired after walking all day, however the members of staff are a laugh. Again walking back to the hostel everyone then started to become tired after all this walking.

Everyone got back and had a shower and had some free time, before getting ready for tea. Tea was delicious, we had a variety of different choices what pizza we wanted. Walking back to the hostel was again tiring. Then had about half an hour free time to chill out as we didn't have any planning to do as we done it on Friday when we had 3-4 hours free time which only took us 1 hour to do between 5 of us. Then sleep arrived!!!!

Day 12: Week 2 of coaching, with a bit of English thrown in!

Hola,

Wednesday 30^th of October, another bright early start for group B, we had to leave the hostel at 8:30am meeting Toni outside. We were two members of group B down as illness hit the group, James and Shane were bed bound all day and had to miss out on the sessions throughout the day.

The day started off with a 5-10 minute walk to the school, which is located in moncada, the school we arrived at was called San Jaime Postal Of Moncada, we were allocated our teacher classes and followed them to the classes that we were about to teach in, me and Kane were put into the class off English kids, we started off in a English lessons where a teacher produced a lesson on countries and nationalities, learning what countries speak which language. The teacher then passed the lesson over to me and Kane we then done a few games which included hangman which we kept along with the lesson aim and done hangman which the word was only allowed to include nationalities and countries, this helped the kids understand a lot easy as it was a fun way to learn. We then ended the lesson on a fun game for the kids to play which was Simon says, this game was very easy for the kids to understand which also kept them active and helped with their concentration skills.

We then changed teacher and helped with another English class supporting the teacher with her lesson plan, myself and Kane then produced a fun and active last 20 minutes of the lesson with games and songs, learning about the human body parts. This helped the kids understand body parts and where they are located in English but in a fun way.

We then left the school at 12 o’clock returning to the hostel, we had an hour of free time but we decided as a group to produce lessons plans for tomorrows days, we then left the hostel at 1 to have dinner at half past, we had really nice dinner at the local restaurant where we sat down and had a pasta carbonara with a cheese sauce, ham and bacon. We left the restaurant at 1:45pm returning to the hostel at 2pm, we had another free hour off free time where many of us went to the supermarket to refill our water supply for the next day in hand.

We returned back at the school for 2:50pm where we met Toni outside the school, as a group we got given our lessons for the afternoon, for the first hour of the afternoon we helped alongside the teacher in English exam, pushing the kids for the answers to the question they had asked but not giving the answer away without them thinking about it. For the second hour of the afternoon we had full hour of fun lesson with 8 years old where me and Kane done some fun activities with the children, behind the games there we an educational faction in them.

We then left the school at 5:05pm returning back to hostel for 5:15pm, as we received our lessons for the next day of school, as a group we spoke and planned lessons for the next day. We then received free time and started to get ready for the evening meal, where hopefully it will be another nice tea to eat.

Another day done and dusted!

Adam

Day 11: The day after our Spain v England Football match, plus more coaching

Hola, Joe here.

Tuesday 29th October

Had to meet at half 8am so Me and Adam were up an hour early to get ready as usual. Today was a lot harder getting up as we had a football match against a local team managed by our tutor Tony. It was a 7-a-side match so we started with George in goal, Ronnie, Joe Matty, Shane, James and Brad for the first half with Kane on the bench. At half time it was 2-0 to England with Matty and Shane scoring. Kane came on for Brad at the beginning of the second half. Then Spain equalised to make it 2-2. Straight from the kick off James gave England the lead to make it 3-2 to England which was the final score. Me and Shane were the key players for England.

We got the metro train at 9am and got off 8 stops later. We then jumped on the tram to the school. We got to the school around quarter to 10 with Me and Shane had a football session from 10-11 for 12 year olds and there was around 36 children. We did some wacky races as a warm up which included a relay, over under, dribbling and a hoping race. Then we got the children into pairs and did 2 vs 2 games with everyone taking part of a different 7 by 10 yard area. The winner moved up and the loser moved down with their being a bigger area for the top pitch being the ‘Champions League Finale’. We then split them into 4 teams of 9. With their being 2 pitches we had all 4 teams on at once with them playing each other once. At the end we then brought them in and asked them if they enjoyed the sessions in which they all replied ‘it was great, use were very good teachers’.

Ronnie and Matty then had a session on rounders’. They then did an adapted version by kicking a dodgeball. Then Roxy and Shane had athletics and Lauren and Adam did handball. James had to go home at lunch time as he was sick and turned ill. At lunch we had a school dinner which was Spanish Omelette  and pasta.

We then took the Tram back to the train station and got the 5:15 train back to Moncada. For tea we had lasagne at 8pm and went to the supermarket at around 9pm. We arrived around back at the hostel around half 9 and did a few session plans for the next day till around 10:15. After this we got into bed and I put on Saving Private Ryan until I got to sleepy.

It was a good start to our week J

Day 9: The Aquarium

Hola, Charlie and Melissa here,

Today we had a better lay in as we had to meet downstairs at half nine. As of yesterday it was nine, so we had about 15 minutes extra sleep, which makes a difference from how tired we have been.

After this meeting point down stairs at the common room, we then walked to the metro as a group. We had to wait around 5-10 minutes for the next train to come which wasn’t bad at all. Normally we are waiting around at seven in the morning freezing cold on the other hand we was sitting at the metro today really got. After arriving in Valencia itself we had a short walk to the Aquarium.

The walk to the Aquarium was really good as well; we saw a massive science museum which was huge outside. Saw loads of magnificent buildings around us, however we didn’t even realise this was the Aquarium itself.  Outside of the Aquarium was little, then by following with getting our tickets and splitting up into our little groups. We noticed that there different area based on the different areas of different things.

Firstly we went to see the dolphin show this was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Seeing the connections with the leaders for the dolphins and the leaders themselves was astonishing. It is un-real how clever dolphins actually are. We also saw sharks, tropical fish, penguins etc.

After seeing all of these animals we had a short walk to the different mall based around the area we were in. The mall was massive, it had around 4/5 floors we had a look on each floor including; cafés, clothes shops and also eating areas. After walking a short distance back to the metro we then stupidly missed the train so we had to wait a little while.

Getting back to the hostel we had a team talk and then had free time to either just chill out or to get showers ready for tea by eight. Then by taking a stroll to tea, had dinner and came back to the hostel to get ready for bed.

Day 5: Coaching day 2

Hola Jack, Brad & George here

Second day of coaching and everyone is already starting to feel tired. As we are in Group A, a typical day for us starts with a 6am wake up call and 2 metro journeys to a secondary school in Valencia for a 8am start. It is pretty tough but the school is worth the travelling and early get-ups.

Today has consisted of coaching a number of different ages ranging from 5-17 years old. As a group we have found that the primary aged children are a lot more draining as they require more care and attention, as well as a lot of energy! we spend the siesta time planning more sessions and working hard to improve our skills, so we don't get a chance to have a nap. Whereas they recharge their batteries and come back to us in the afternoon full of beans!

After finishing coaching basketball, handball and multi sports until 6pm we are all feeling tired. So two metros later we arrived back at the hostel to shower and get ready for our dinner in the restaurant. As we have already planned for the next day, we didn't need to worry about this so the time getting ready was very relaxed and laid back which is a nice change of pace.

After our dinner of pasta we now have some free time to relax, so some of us went to the supermarket, whilst the rest of us wandered back to our hostel and relaxed in our rooms, catching up with Group b and seeing how they are getting on in their school.

We have learnt that this routine is quite tiring, and exactly how important it is to get lots of rest and time for ourselves so that our batteries are recharged too!

We are all looking forward to tomorrow, not the early wake up call but the Valencia game.

Adios

Jack, Brad & George

Day 4: First day of coaching

Today we went to a Spanish Secondary School in Moncada and it was really different to what we are used to. We worked in a school that had a good amount of equipment but is completely different in comparison to our academy. It made us think that we don't need so much to have a good, enjoyable session.

 We also met one of the Spanish teachers, Carlos who was incredibly respectful and understanding to us and also was brilliant with helping us with the children. We found that this was a common theme throughout the school; everyone was really nice and helpful and friendly, which made our experience even better!

Our sessions were Basketball, Acro-Sport and Rounder’s. With the Acro-Sport, we weren't so sure on what it was so we had to sort of adapt it into a dance session which went really well and the children enjoyed themselves. It made us realise that we also can adapt and try new things in compromising situations. The Basketball was good because it gives the children a chance to learn numbers in English because of the session we had. Rounder’s was brilliant because the Spanish don’t know what it is so they were really up for learning a new sport and they really enjoyed it. Overall, we had a brilliant days worth of sessions and gained a lot of insight into the Spanish way of life within education.

We are really hungry now though so really looking forward to dinner tonight, and more planning :)

James & Kane

Day 3: Meeting Schola for the first time

Today we went into the Schola academy and met the director of Schola Laura, an Toni who is our mentor. We were all feeling a bit nervous as we didn't quite know what to expect. We had heard a lot from UKLC but it never prepares you enough as you have your own thoughts on what it's like and what to expect. 

We went into the classrooms and planned out our sessions in our groups. Toni helped us with different ideas and games so that we had a good variety of activities. 

After that we went into the local park facing Schola and performed our sessions, and our session was rounder’s. We had to imagine in our heads that our fellow group members were Spanish children so that we could practice our speech and how slowly we say things. It was hard at first because the group were our friends and it does become difficult trying to pretend and speak to them as if they are Spanish, mainly because they kept laughing at us! But we managed to work it out and deliver a good session.

After delivering our session we got the other groups session delivered to us and we had to evaluate as well as take part, we had to give them feedback on ways they could improve but also on positives about their style of coaching. We found the peer assessment really helpful as we were able to help everyone else develop their skills and become better sports leaders.

After we finished, we went back to the Hostel to carry on planning and preparing activities as we now had our timetables and schedules from Toni. It was weird at first as we were still really excited about being in Moncada so it took a while for us to settle and concentrate. 

Once we had all our plans sorted we had some down time so most of us had a siesta (when in Spain...).

Then we all went for dinner at Piccolina. The restaurant is really nice and compact but it has a real family feel for it. 

When we got back to the hostel, it was early to bed ready for our first day of coaching!Overall, we have had a really enjoyable and productive day. I think we are all now understanding the differences in cultures




James & Kane

Day 1 and 2: Arriving in Valencia and Site Seeing

Day 1 & Day 2

Hola! From Bec and Lauren

Yesterday morning (Saturday 19th October) we flew from Manchester airport to Alicante at 6am!
The flight was only short, but due to being tired most of us slept on the way. After arriving at Alicante we got a coach to Moncada, the journey was 2 hours but we were all entertained by the music the coach driver was playing, we were surprised that they listened to English music.

We arrived at our accommodation which an old nunnery, it's a nice place and is clean and has wifi!!!!
After being put into our rooms we settled in and unpacked. We then went to restaurant where we shall be eating all the time for our lunch, it was pasta! Later on we all met Sophia who took us on a tour around Moncada showing us the metro stations where we will take the train into Valencia often, the schola office and some local supermarkets where we got some goodies for the week!
Earlier on we chose pizzas for tea and they were nice. Because we were all tired from travelling we had nice earlier nights ready for an earlier start.

Today (Sunday 20th October)

This morning we had breakfast and got ready for our trip into Valencia and met at 8:45am to go and get the metro to Valencia. We had a tour of Valencia and visited the torre del mica let (the bell tower). To get to the top we had to walk up a lot of stairs but it was worth it to see the view. After that we had some time for shopping!!!! I bought a Valencia football top for when we go watch the game in the week and Bec bought some post cards and family gifts. Mr foster bought a silly hat and everyday if who ever did the silliest thing has to wear the hat. Unfortunately that was me!! I stood in dog poo and now have to wear the hat for the whole day. Walking around Valencia in it got me some looks haha. I'll bite my tongue though cause I'll find it hilarious when one of the lads have to wear it! We just got back to the accommodation and will be going for tea later on hope it's something nice (fingers crossed).

Lauren & Bec