“Sport has the power to change the world”. Provocative words and perhaps a big claim if they weren’t spoken by Nelson Mandela. The legacy bequeathed by the Olympics, the competitors and participants is simple. Sport is not just about the winning it’s everything. You could say a metaphor for life itself – the challenges, the triumphs, the doubts the enlightenment. Striving to be the best we can and enjoying the journey every bit as any destination. Sport reaches higher, deeper and further than we can sometimes imagine. It gives us the vehicle to endeavour, develop a positive mind-set and learn more about ourselves. It is enormous fun regardless of level, motivation or flavour of sport. We value all sporting endeavours and recognise achievement from outside school via our Wonder Wall.
We offer specialist PE teaching (along with music and ICT) as part of our cover arrangements for teachers’ Planning, Preparation and Assessment release. This has been particularly successful in ensuring skill development, consistency and assessing progress across the school over time. Our standards in Physical Education are high.
We are fortunate enough to have a good sized playground and a large sports field – comprising 2 football pitches, a cricket strip, long jump pit and an adventure playground. We also have a heated outdoor swimming pool with separate changing facilities. All children swim from May to July each year at no cost to parents,
Children receive two separate hour long lessons and benefit from daily ‘Wake and Shake’ sessions in class.
We offer a variety of extra-curricular clubs and enrichment opportunities. Depending on the season we offer clubs for football, tag-rugby, netball, cricket etc. Some clubs happen at lunchtime and some are after or before school. Clubs outside the normal school day require your written consent. Some clubs are free and some are charged for – particularly if an external provider is involved. We endeavour to keep the prices as low as possible so not to exclude anyone on price alone.
We also have a vibrant inter-House System which encourages participation and competition. House tournaments for football, netball, hockey, rugby, swimming, athletics etc are offered for different ages throughout the year. Some are mixed teams and some are split into gender teams.
We also compete in the annual cross country race (Mini-Marathon) held each May in Laverstock. The school is involved in many inter-school competitions within our cluster e.g sports festivals and competitions. We have a successful track record against other schools. However, we value sporting ideals, maintaining our reputation as a fair school and enjoyment above victory. We believe determination, self-improvement and team-work can be developed without compromising our standing in the community.