Thank you for taking the time to read our first blog post. Challenge Inspiration is a brand new website and blog designed to help school staff plan and deliver a successful fundraising event in the shape of a physical challenge for their staff. The twist is that these events, even though aimed at the staff will intertwine with the children’s learning, as well as help your school reach out into the community.
My first experience of taking part in a school based charity event was in 2015 when I and 4 colleagues took part in ‘The 3 Peaks Challenge’ for a local charity, climbing the 3 highest mountains in England, Scotland and Wales within 24 hours. Even though I wasn’t planning the event it was clear to me very quickly that an event like this had the potential to have amazing benefits, not only to the charity we were fundraising for, but to the school, the children, the staff and the wider community.
The staff and the children really got behind us when it came to training, they wanted to know about the places we would be visiting, the amount of time we would spend traveling, how long we would be walking for and the terrain we would be covering, the list was endless. These aspects are so easily linked into the curriculum for each age group and I started to look at the event from a different angle.
How can we take an event that promotes good health and wellbeing, goal setting, team bonding opportunities, community cohesion and lifestyle changes for the staff, then use it to demonstrate all of these skills and attributes to the amazing pupils we get to teach each day?
Schools can use these events to show children that they aren’t the only ones setting goals, pushing themselves to the limit, failing, failing again, and again, until they finally succeed. Modelling how adults also struggle to take on new challenges, and how committing to something isn’t easy, especially when it’s tough, such as an endurance challenge.
However, when it’s all said and done, the event is over and those that where brave enough to sign up and take on a challenge alongside their colleagues will have taught their pupils a huge lesson:
A lesson in perseverance, commitment, team work and the benefits and rewards of hard work.
Since that first event I have planned multiple events for staff, working alongside different colleagues, schools and charities to create challenges that not only raise vital funds but also bring people together and create endless learning opportunities!
Thanks for sticking with me, over time we will discuss many aspects of staff challenges in more detail through the blog as well as other ways to promote active opportunities for staff and pupils within your school.
Click below to get the latest blog posts as they come out and follow us on social media for lots more content as well as hear first-hand experiences from team members after they took on their challenges.
Schools' Active Community Coach 