Sport

Sporting activity plays a huge part in helping us to provide a well-rounded education for our pupils. Sport provides clear benefits in developing physical health and fitness, nurturing an ability to work within a team and fostering leadership skills. We also believe that through sport, pupils develop some of the personal qualities enshrined in our behavioural charter, such as the humility to accept victory and defeat with equally good grace and the courage to put up with hardship and face adversity.

Sport at Abbotsholme involves much more than the regular PE and games lessons. Many pupils play in competitive fixtures, mostly held on Wednesday afternoons; indeed our small size as a school means that a much higher proportion of our pupils are involved than in some larger schools. The main team games that are offered throughout the year are as follows:

AUTUMN TERM: Rugby  (boys) Hockey (girls)

SPRING TERM: Football  (boys) Netball (girls)

SUMMER TERM: Cricket  (boys) Rounders (girls) Tennis (girls and boys)

Whilst our school is small, our ambitions are large. We have links with clubs and organisations outside school, such as Derbyshire cricket and Burton Hockey club, which help us to provide high quality coaching experiences for pupils and to provide pathways for our pupils for further development outside and beyond school.

We offer a full range of sports tours and trips for pupils in all sports over a 2 year rotation; these can be anything from a UK based long weekend to an overseas tour. These trips are open to all pupils and help to give them wonderful opportunities to develop their sporting ability, boost their personal confidence and enable them to develop to their true potential as fulfilled ambassadors of the school.

Whilst there is plenty of scope for development of sporting excellence, we also hold dear the notion that each pupil is entitled to grow and develop as a team sports player and to aspire to represent the school, whatever their ability. We thus follow an inclusive approach, in which everyone with an interest is encouraged to be part of the team squad.

For those pupils whose passion lies outside the conventional team sports, there are ample opportunities for sporting development in other areas, during our Wednesday and Friday afternoon programmes, which include activities such as basketball, fencing, fly fishing, farming, horse riding gymnastics, tennis and ultimate frisbee.

During the school week there are daily lunchtime activities and evening clubs available to all our pupils, which can be anything from an inter-house tournament to fun swimming sessions or professionally run cricket net sessions. We are extremely fortunate to have wonderful facilities: extensive and stunningly beautiful playing fields fringed by the River Dove, floodlit tennis courts, an outdoor heated swimming pool, a large indoor multi-surface sports hall, a squash court, a well-appointed fitness unit and an equestrian centre.

Our dedicated teachers focus their energies on developing each and every pupil’s sporting achievements and performance.