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Year 7 Coaching: What Elite Athletes Can Teach Our Students About Thriving

Recently, our Year 7s explored the concept of high performance in their Coaching sessions. They examined the habits of elite athletes and discovered how these principles are universal – critical for achieving success not only in sports but, crucially, at school too.

It's fascinating to observe the profound parallels between the relentless pursuit of excellence in elite athletes and the journey of learning within our schools. While the arenas are vastly different, the underlying habits that drive success are strikingly similar. This coaching lesson asked students:

What if we consciously integrated the "athlete's mindset" more deeply into student life?

Athletes commit to rigorous, purposeful training, breaking down complex skills and repeating them until mastery. For our students, this means fostering a culture of active, focused study – not passive reading, but actively solving problems, summarising ideas, and testing their own recall. Embracing these early builds powerful cognitive "muscle memory," making learning more efficient and recall more effective.

Essentially, athletes understand that peak performance isn't just about exertion; it's about intelligent recovery. Adequate sleep, proper nutrition, and mental breaks are non-negotiable. By championing routines like sufficient sleep and scheduled downtime, we help students recognise that a well-rested brain is a more effective learning tool. For our Year 7s, establishing these healthy habits builds resilience and avoids burnout, setting a sustainable pace for their educational journey.

Moreover, the athletic journey is one of constant performance analysis and radical adaptability. Athletes are relentless in reviewing efforts, identifying weaknesses, learning from mistakes, and embracing feedback. For our students, this means encouraging critical reflection after assignments or tests. Teaching them to see a lower mark not as a failure, but as vital data for improvement, this mirrors an athlete's ability to turn a setback into a springboard. This early cultivation of resilience and a growth mindset empowers them to continuously refine their approach.

By embedding these high-performance habits, which our Year 7s have explored as universal keys to success, we equip them with more than knowledge. We provide the self-awareness, strategic thinking, and emotional resilience that define true excellence, enabling them to get into their groove earlier and thrive, not just in school, but in all their future pursuits.

Hear from some of our Year 7 students and what they are doing to set up for success.

When I have an important assessment coming up, formative or summative, I like to sit at my desk, revising and memorising everything that we’ve covered in a specific subject for an upcoming test. Things like snacks and listening to music (Especially the Coconut Mall theme from Mario Kart) tend to help me focus on the task at hand. I usually spend around thirty minutes to an hour every few days (Or every day if there is a test soon) revising just before bed, as it is scientifically proven that studying before bed can heighten the chance of retaining and memorising information.
Romy Dugdale 7E

It is very important to have good study habits so you can not only get good results on your tests but be prepared for various events in your life. Some way you can look to improve studying and preparation for your classes could be using flash cards, also doing different assigned tasks your teacher has given you or just practicing at home. Something you might like to do before you have a test could be looking at different notes you took at home and practicing different question you may be asked in your assessments. If you don’t remember or know something about a certain topic you are learning, always be sure to ask a teacher or parent to help.
Damon Busuttil 7B

During coaching we have learnt about ways to train for success and ways to organise/prepare yourself if you have an assignment coming up. Some things I do to prepare myself can include making flashcards, revising class notes, checking Seqta to see if I have any homework that needs to be completed, putting devices on do not disturb when studying. Some ways I think I can improve could be by asking the subject teacher any questions or concerns I have about the upcoming assignment/tasks.
Victoria Apostolikas 7A

Jordan Miller
Year 7 Leader