Since February 2019 SoHK have delivered 94 weekly rugby and life skills training sessions to 224 individual learners (122 boys and 102 girls) at 4 low fee government schools in Cape Town.

Our rugby and life skills curriculum is based on the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) model developed by Don Hellison.

The TPSR philosophy is to develop learners inner resources so that they grow in their ability to self assess, manage their emotions, and make better choices when it comes to education, risky behaviour and their career path.

As part of our participatory approach to monitoring and evaluation we let students tell us how they’ve grown. Here’s how we do it:

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TPSR is a internationally acclaimed and researched life skills methodology.

The Journal of Sport for Development just released THIS report of another TPSR program showing signs of success in South Africa. Findings supported

“the potential value of the program in cultivating the development and possible transfer of personal responsibility (e.g., self-direction skills such as goal setting and decision making) and social responsibility (e.g., interpersonal skills such as respect, self-control, conflict resolution, and caring) behaviors. The study provided preliminary support for the contextual utility of engendering these developmental outcomes in an environment where youth are facing a major health threat (i.e., HIV/AIDS) and community challenges (e.g., gender-based violence, poverty). Continued investment in long-term sport for development programming in Eswatini is warranted.”

It’s been 5 months since SOHK officially kicked off and we celebrated with our first Inter-Schools Tournament on Friday 7th June hosted by Harold Cressy High School. In true SOHK fashion, learners were asked to plan, budget and contribute towards the setup of the big day

Despite some inclement weather, 70 girls and boys from all four schools met officially for the first time. Players friends, family, teachers, deputy heads, vice principals, principals, community liaison officers  and SOHK members attended to cheer on the squads

We want to recognise the effort and commitment all our learners are putting into developing themselves and challenging their own behaviours to become the best version of themselves.

Big Congratulations for the Taking Personal and Social Responsibility Award to Achmad Majal, Vista High School

In May SOHK learners Ahle and Lindi from Trafalgar High School and Shakielah and Micah from Harold Cressy High School went on the RX Radio show to talk all things School of Hard Knocks, their experience and hopes. They had an excellent time being interviewed by RX Radio Young Reporters!

RX Radio is a station that is run by and for children at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital. The initiative aims to create a platform for communication between hospitalised children, their families, and the health services by providing patients with the skills and support to produce and broadcast radio programmes across the hospital.

Micah said this about the experience

“It was a wonderful experience. It had a big impact on me. It was intense and nice. Just knowing that sick children are listening to what we were saying meant so much to me. It makes me feel good to know that I could make a small difference.”

In education there is a drive towards active, collaborative and peer led learning which ultimately leads to measurable improvements not just in academic performance, but also individual resilience or psycho-social development. SOHK for Schools adopts this approach.

Over 28 weeks we take our students through the ‘teaching personal and social responsibility (TPSR)’ instructional model which has been field tested and internationally recognised in physical activity across schools and community programs. The approach empowers and develops students which is central to our ethos at SOHK.

Learners will begin to learn to be responsible for the ways they conduct themselves and treat other people. Our ultimate aim is for our program to be learner centred - by the learners for the learners.

If you’d like to know about TPSR, get in touch!

When we say name a South African Rugby Legend, Bryan Habana comes instantly to mind (although as a lifelong British Lions fan, Ollie Le Roux is a close second)

So last week we were very privileged to host the former Springbok as part of the Cape Town 10’s media tour to promote this massive event. The Cape Town 10s is the world's biggest rugby 10’s tournament and hosted thousands of participants across six sports.

Vista High School is situated in the heart of the city with sweeping views of Table Mountain and was founded in 1874. To an extremely eager and excited audience of the Vista school body, Bryan Habana spoke to the students about his experience in rugby and athletics! - motivating them to take up sports, not matter what their size or their age - Bryan only starting playing rugby as a teen.

The SOHK Students had the chance to personally meet him, take photos and he even signed a few shirts! What a fantastic way to kick off the School of Hard Knocks South Africa’s first term, here’s to many more events!