Proficiency Course
Proficiency Course
Boys and Girls – Ages 9-10
Course Objectives
1. Children will be brought through a structured curriculum in each Life Skill designed to allow them to progress to more advanced levels.
2. The Goal setting concepts learned in the growth course will be progressed during the Proficiency Course. The wisdom of learning to take responsibility for how you experience your life will be developed throughout the course.
3. All sessions will be fun, engaging and experiential in nature with the learning philosophy of "see one do one" employed through out the course.
Course Structure
The 4 Life Skills are Cookery, Self-Defence, Sports Development and Survival Skills.
The course is split into 2 separate but connected terms. Each term is 12 weeks in length.
Within each 12 week term, your child will receive a minimum of 24 hours of exposure across the 4 Life Skills, accumulating 6 hours of tuition in each Life Skill.
The course curriculum will be progressed over the 24 weeks (the two 12 week terms), however, a child can choose to take part in either the 1st or 2nd term or progress from the 1st to the 2nd seamlessly.
The curriculum for each term is different and progressive in nature.
Developing Resilience and Ownership through each Life Skill.
Why we use Goal Setting
Goal setting terminology has become synonymously linked with business and a mentality of forcing and striving for success, however, its origin is much more balanced in nature.
Goal setting, in its untainted form, is a self-reflective behaviour that encourages us to think about what we would like to create in our lives instead of drifting with societal norms. It enables us to practice focusing energy and attention on an area of life we wish to transform.
Goal setting can be frustrating and undermine a person's opinion of themselves if the goals they are setting are not in line with what is most important to them.
That is why it is crucial, when setting a goal, to make sure the person can see how the achievement of the goal is of benefit to them in an area of their lives they value the most.
When we can see how an activity/goal we are engaged in, directly benefits us in an area we really value, the activity/goal itself tends to become more important to us. In turn, we become more resilient in the activity/goal to the inevitable obstacles that appear, and the probability of achieving this goal increases.
In summary, the first step of the goal-setting process is to encourage the children to write down 1 or 2 things they love doing most of all.
At the beginning of each session, children are encouraged to use their Life Skills Academy Goal Book, to note down a couple of specific things they would like to get better at or accomplish. This is a playful activity, it is child-led and child-centred. The Experts will help the children through the process and be guided by participation levels. Time is allocated at the end of each session to do a short recap and reflection on any goals the children may have set. This time is used to talk through any thoughts the children have in relation to their goals.
Again this is a no-fuss, playful activity. Children can engage with this as much or as little as they like. As outlined in step 1, this stage is important in order to increase the relevance and importance of the activity in the perception of the person setting the goal. The more we perceive a goal to be in line with something we love doing, the more we increase the probability we will follow through and achieve our objective.
As children, one step at a time, begin to take ownership of little outcomes, the more grounded they become in their ability to control the controllable's. This is a precursor to developing a strong sense of self-belief and self-reliance.
Individual attention
If you or your child wishes, Gavin, Stephen or any of the experts will work with them on an individual basis to set little personal achievement goals based on their ability level in order that they can see and feel real and visible progress.
Times and Locations
Time: Saturdays from 12pm to 2pm
Locations: The course will be split between Blackrock College, CBC Monkstown and Loreto Foxrock.
A closer look at the 4 life skills
Self-Defence
What Your Child Will Experience
The main focus will be on building a mindset and a practical skillset within the philosophy of self-defense in an engaging and fun learning environment.
The more certainty and self-awareness a person has in their ability to make good decisions in a potentially challenging scenario the more likely a positive outcome will occur.
Cooking Skills
What Your Child Will Experience
Our Lead Expert, Fiona Stevens, carefully selects each recipe for each session based on the needs and ability of the class. Children will experience cooking a wide range of simple, healthy and tasty dishes as well as a couple of desserts that they can share with you at home.
Sports Development
What Your Child Will Experience
A balanced attitude towards the highs and lows which a child will experience through participation in sport is essential for the child to experience the many benefits therein.
Athletically gifted children who have difficulty dealing with success and failure often drop out of sport altogether. The same happens to children who may find themselves out of their depth among their peers. They label themselves as "not sporty", create a disempowering association and drop out.
As educators, we must try our best to coach children through the numerous pitfalls which may result in children missing the opportunity to experience achievement within the limits of their body's physical capabilities.
Sports development has been created to allow children to perceive achievement based on their individual ability level and to experience "sport" in a more rounded way. This experience is as important for the star of the team and as it is for the child that feels out of their depth in traditional sporting environments.
Survival Skills
What Your Child Will Experience
Our Lead Expert, Del Logue's approach to learning in an outdoor environment is hands-on with a focus on inclusiveness, participation and fun. Del places particular emphasis on finding aspects of enjoyment for each individual. There will be something for everyone in these sessions.