As pupils begin to return to school following the Covid-19 lockdown, Chance to Shine will be resuming delivery of the Schools programme. The charity has spent the summer working on how to equip teachers and coaches with the tools to continue giving children the opportunity to play, learn and develop through cricket in a safe environment.  

The programme has been adapted in accordance with government guidelines, offering flexibility to teachers to create a session that works best for their pupils. Whilst delivery on the school site is the preferred method, our coaches have been offered five coaching scenarios:

1. At School, Coach led - Coaches will deliver sessions in school, supported by the class teacher
2. At School, Coach facilitated - Sessions will be delivered virtually by a coach to pupils in school
3. At School, Teacher led - Teacher’s will deliver sessions themselves using online resources from the Schools’ Portal
4. At home - Teachers will be encouraged to share Cricket at Home sessions with pupils that are at home
5. At home, Coach facilitated - Coaches will deliver virtual sessions for children at home, with teachers supporting

Virtual coaching will take place in a webinar format in collaboration with the class teacher, with Chance to Shine coaches appearing via a video conference call. Schools will be given a virtual cricket taster, followed by six sessions that build children’s cricketing skills in a fun and safe way.  

The Chance to Shine team carried out a pilot test of the virtual coaching format prior to the summer holiday. The schools that took part rated the sessions as very effective, with one teacher saying, “It was a brilliant way to coach during these difficult times! They really enjoyed and learnt from the experience.” 

In the event of a school closing, schools will also have the option for a Chance to Shine coach to deliver a session to the children at home. Teachers will also be encouraged to continue making use of the free, digital resources that are available on the Schools’ Portal. 

On 18 March, after discussions with ECB, Chance to Shine halted delivery of all programmes for the first since the charity started in 2005. The charity focused on providing online 'Cricket at Home' sessions for schools and families to continue to support their children to stay active. Chance to Shine play-along videos were watched over 500,000 times and more than 7,000 online session plans were downloaded by teachers and parents. 

The Chance to Shine Street programme has recently restarted as well, with projects adapting to meet ECB guidelines regarding Covid-19. We are hoping that more sessions will be able to get back up and running in the coming weeks and months. 

Speaking about the restart of the programme, Operations Director Steve Peyman said, “We’re incredibly pleased to be resuming delivery of our Schools and Street programme. We know how important it is that children are able to stay active during this time. Our sessions have been adapted to allow all children to develop their cricket skills in a fun and safe environment. We are looking forward to seeing more children playing cricket again over the coming months.

"We're very grateful to our key funding partners including ECB, Sport England, NatWest and Yorkshire Tea, as well our fantastic individual donors and Trust and Foundation supporters, who have have all stood by the charity in these turbulent times and allowed us to continue doing the work that we do."

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