Excellence And Participation

In a career now spanning 27 years, working in three schools and visiting many more, I can state with confidence that the sporting provision at Newcastle School for Boys is amongst the best I've encountered.

Through the School’s PE and Games lessons and its extensive co-curricular programme, our exceptional teachers and coaches deliver both excellence and participation. These are not mutually exclusive but rather two sides of the same coin.

To deliver national and regional success at team and individual level is remarkable for a school of our relatively small size and founded only 15 years ago. Last season our senior rugby team went unbeaten in over 20 games. In doing so, they reached a national final that was due to be played at Twickenham at the end of March. Sadly, Coronavirus intervened and denied our boys the opportunity to run out at the sport’s national stadium.

This wasn’t just a flash in the pan. Our senior rugby players had previously won a national competition in 2014. Our footballers achieved national honours in 2014 and again in 2018 and our cricketers in 2016.

But these headlines don’t tell the full story. Whilst the School can offer a small number of sports scholarships each year, these successes haven’t been achieved with a large or highly targeted intake. They have been delivered through an approach to teaching and coaching that encourages and supports each boy to make the most of his sporting talent regardless of his starting point.

Most years a parent will approach me during the admissions process, having heard of the School’s growing sporting reputation, expressing that their son doesn’t like sport and that they are concerned about him fitting in. My reassurances are usually vindicated within a term or two of his joining when parents often proudly tell me that I was right and that their son not only participates but is doing well in a sport. Every boy who joins us will represent the School at sport without the need to press gang.

Some boys may feel sport is not their thing. They may feel they lack ability, interest or have had negative sporting experiences to date. But that shouldn’t mean they get sent to the furthest field, given a ball to kick or throw about and left to it. No school would tolerate such an approach in English or Maths and we don’t in PE and Games.

A number of boys who have gone on to achieve representative honours or to play a high standard of club sport beyond school have done so in some cases from modest starting points. But, as with other areas of the curriculum, we believe that in the right environment, with the right encouragement and the right attitude, all boys can enjoy and achieve success.

I regularly observe that the approach of our teachers and coaches is a different one to that adopted by many other schools. You won’t find ours bellowing in-game instructions to players from the side of the pitch. More likely you’ll find them watching and talking about the game with members of the squad waiting to take the pitch. Where’s the space? What do you notice about how the opposition are playing? What would be a good thing to do in this situation? I also see our boys managing their own regular substitutions, delivering team talks and providing feedback to their teammates.

The approach is one of learning and development – not one of win at all costs, but it’s one that delivers results. The score takes care of itself.

For most of us, the real benefits of sporting and physical activity transcend scorelines and trophies to deliver something even more valuable: wellbeing. During lockdown and since full reopening in September, we have worked hard to ensure that the boys have been able to continue their physical activity and sport. The wellbeing benefits of school sport and physical activity are more important than ever.

Sport at Newcastle School for Boys also plays a significant role in the development of character. The School’s main aim beyond supporting and challenging boys to maximise their individual academic progress is to develop boys and young men of excellent character and specifically the virtues of community, integrity, resilience, courage, leadership, and empathy.