Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I customize the sports that are matched to pupils?
- Can I use Xoolon with my school's Virtual Learning Environment?
- How else can Xoolon benefit our school?
- How is Xoolon used with Year 6 Primary pupils?
- What is a Xooscore?
- What is the Mental Toughness Test and how is it useful?
Children can print off a certificate from the website showing which sports (from athletics to lacrosse, rugby, tennis and water skiing) are their ‘top three’, providing a useful confidence boost for those unsure of their sporting abilities.
A new feature of Xoolon for the 2008/9 school year gives coaches the ability to filter any sports that are less appropriate for their team such as geographical location or local availability.
This feature is available from the Sports Matching coach report.
Can I use Xoolon with my school's Virtual Learning Environment?The Kingswood Partnership of seven schools in Bristol is already using the Xoolon Academy as part of its StudyWiz VLE. You can download the Xoolon Learning Object, which runs in any SCORM-complient VLE system, and stores scores in your VLE. It also lets the pupils submit scores to the full Xoolon system to take full advantage of Xoolon.
The Downend School and its Active for Life co-ordinator, David Beesley, says, “This system really helps the pupils to develop a good attitude towards healthy living, and it’s giving them a solid skill for the future. We can help them to do their assessment for learning, but we can also help them with questions relating to their sporting ambitions, such as: How am I doing? Where am I heading? What can I do next? How do I set about this?”
How else can Xoolon benefit our school?Xoolon can be a key tool to help PE departments and the school achieve the Healthy Schools status and can boost overall grading in numerous areas of an OFSTED inspection, including provision of quality ICT resources and the overall well-being, health and happiness of the school community as a whole.
The data held by Xoolon can be downloaded by individuals and coaches, then used in maths lessons to create graphical representations and analyse statistics, and in biology in the analysis of sports moves and impact on the body.
By encouraging business links via online advertising on Xoolon's PE websites, schools can generate revenue by forging relationships between sports clubs, local businesses, charitable organisations within the immediate geographic area and on a national level.
The Xoolon system encourages all individuals within the school environment, from the governors right down to the pupils themselves, to work together to boost the school profile both with feeder schools, other organisations and the local media – sporting success equals column inches!
When run with Year 6 classes on their secondary school ‘transition days’, PE teachers can ensure that the term gets off to a flying start by early identification of children who are gifted or need additional help.
What is a Xooscore?The total Xooscore collates each child’s mental and physical competencies allowing teachers to record results accurately against national curriculum standards.
What is the Mental Toughness Test and how is it useful?The sports psychology or ‘mental toughness’ test developed with Sheffield Hallam University is completed by pupils and mentors and identifies mental strengths and weaknesses, areas of development and to which sports or positions (eg attacker or goal keeper) children are best suited.