P-12 Co-curricular Program

P-12 Co-curricular Program By Mr Steven Fryer, Director of Sport & Activities

Overwhelming pride in wearing the Blue and Gold is a familiar emotion for Toowoomba Grammar School students, as is abundantly evident in all our boys, from Prep to Year 12.

This emotion and passion for the School is the essence of our TGS culture and defines what it means to be a TGS student.

The launch of the 2022 - 2026 Strategic Plan creates an exciting opportunity for our co-curricular program, which links perfectly into the “character and wellbeing” pillar. The development of good character for TGS students is at the forefront of the Strategic Plan, underpins all our program planning and provides the Sport and Activities Department with a crystal-clear vision for how we intend to deliver our cocurricular programs.

Character Development

Student character growth and development are the primary focus of our rich co-curricular offerings. Character is defined as the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual, and our co-curricular experiences are shaped purposely to enhance these qualities. These activities are a wonderful medium for a student to express his individual character, and our programs have a strong emphasis on sportsmanship and team building. Resilience is another quality enhanced through all co-curricular programs, focussing on students’ awareness of situations, their emotional reactions and the behaviour of others. These are high expectations for TGS students and life-long learning experiences that emphasise a phrase in our School song, “Toowoomba Grammar always plays the game”.

Fun and Engagement

The development of a diverse and engaging co-curricular program must incorporate student engagement objectives. There is significant evidence to suggest that when students are actively engaged in activities, they have a happy disposition, and their overall wellbeing improves. We are fortunate to regularly witness many examples of happy and engaged students participating in a variety of musical showcases, cadet bivouacs and GPS sporting matches. Other examples of our wide-ranging programs include the Mountain Bike Club, the Camp Draft team and the Show Cattle team.

Performance and Results

While we strive to do our best in all competitive settings, winning is not the driving factor in measuring the success of our co-curricular programs. Pressure to perform will always exist inside and outside a school setting and comes from a variety of external and intrinsic factors. We see winning as the by-product of successfully enhancing the students’ character qualities and engagement levels. It is not the driving influence. There will be times when specific teams or groups will strive harder for performance success, which will increase the external and intrinsic pressures on students to perform. These experiences, both positive and potentially negative, will help students to build resilience and to flourish when they leave school. The success of our programs can also be measured through the level of engagement in activities post-school. Witnessing our Old Boys’ participation in sports or performing arts validates our strategy of providing skills for life.

The successful delivery of any co-curricular program requires three key elements:

» Coaching and skill progression » Facilities » Competition

The strength of the GPS competition has enabled TGS to progress in all three elements, to the point that our sports and performing arts programs are the strongest across the Darling Downs and regional Queensland, which is a unique point of difference for TGS.

Our coaching staff, tutors and teachers, over 220 dedicated men and women, are the backbone of our co-curricular programs, helping our boys strive to achieve their goals. Their specialist skills, pastoral care and commitment to the School provide our students with the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of learning experiences. Their experience, combined with our state-of-the-art facilities, will ensure that our programs will continue to grow and strengthen.

The creation of a Prep to Year 12 Sport and Activities Department, a key action within the Strategic Plan, is currently being modelled. The primary focus is to align the skill progressions and pathway opportunities of all TGS students. From our youngest Prep students to our Year 12 boys, our programs will strive to provide opportunities for students to experience, engage and develop during their TGS journey.

One exciting example of the Prep to Year 12 modelling is identifying Long Term Athlete Development initiatives throughout the School. TGS focusses on development-based programs where we aim to provide all students with the tools and the skills to learn. This starts in our younger years, where all our sporting programs are now focused on developing basic athletic development. This is highlighted in both sports training sessions and Health and Physical Education-based activities, fine tuning basic movement patterns. This is vital in developing successful athletes in years to come. As the students mature, our sporting programs evolve to include athletic development opportunities, skill progression at training and physical development.

Our strength and conditioning programs have tripled their productivity this year, providing all students access to personalised programs to enhance their physical and athletic development, no matter their individual goals. In addition, students who are focused on achieving their sporting goals and aspirational dreams have programs written specifically to fulfil their specific needs and workloads, enabling them to enrich their potential.

The Sport and Activities Department will continue to strive toward delivering our vision through the introduction of a number of key initiatives over the coming years. We are committed to enhancing the opportunities for our students through a one School, Prep to Year 12 approach.