Growing up I used to marvel at the speed, skill and domination of the West Indies cricket team and especially their fast bowlers. When a wicket would fall, they would run down the pitch and receive ‘high fives’ from their teammates – that looked like the team to play in.

In this week’s assembly the power of the ‘high five’ was brought into clear focus by a brilliant assembly from Mr Swires and Mr Woodhall’s tutor group. They focused on the importance of teamwork and more specifically, the power of your teammates when something went wrong. They focused on the former NBA basketball player, Steve Nash, who became renowned in his career as the player who brought the glue to the team, the one who consistently showed care and consideration to every teammate with his 239 touches per game. The touches in question were not of the ball but of his teammates and the subsequent study from the University of Berkeley was able to see that the teams with the most positive interactions – the high fives, the arm around the shoulder, the tap on the back – became the best predictor of performance because it promoted cooperation, soothed stress and built trust between teammates. Steve Nash was not only an instinctive leader, but his approach rubbed off on himself, allowing him to be considered as one of the greatest point guards to have played the game. 

Sport is a vital part of TPS and it is something which lots of children love and look forward to. I marvel at how every pupil tries their best and at the end of the assembly I asked everyone to reflect on this – your teammates will make mistakes but are they likely to get better because you have criticised them or because you have taken the time to give them a high five and a word of encouragement? How we respond when someone is down should be the mark of our community and I can now fully understand why the West Indies were so formidable – as a player your teammates literally had your back, no wonder they could bowl so fast!