By Will Scott, Principal at Dame Allan's Schools
School sports can be a divisive subject. For some, it evokes memories of football triumphs, hard-earned trophies, and time spent with friends, and for others, memories of cold, wet fields and exhausting cross country runs.
Often, this depended on the school you went to, and how much they valued or were able to prioritise physical education.
Writing as Principal at Dame Allan’s Schools, in Newcastle, sport is a huge part of our educational offering. We want all of our pupils to leave us with happy memories of their time in games lessons, understanding that moving their body is about much more than simply running laps of a field.
Sports build character. They help our young pupils discover true teamwork, recover from losses with courage, test themselves past their perceived limits, and discover new talents.
Every pupil, regardless of ability, can access top class sport at Dame Allan’s. From Early Years, our youngest pupils have dedicated PE and games lessons with specialist staff, progressing to learning lots of different sports as they age through the Schools – from football, to hockey, netball, cricket, dance, rowing, rugby and more. Our aim is to embed physical activity in everyday life, allowing our pupils to benefit from the multitude of social, physical and mental benefits that regular exercise brings.
Alongside a dedicated physical education curriculum, our co-curriculum allows for exploration of even more sports and games. Table tennis, fencing, padel and more help to offer suitable sporting opportunities for as many pupils as possible. Often, our parents will tell us that their child – who they would not have considered ‘sporty’ – has flourished with these diverse opportunities. They may not be a natural rugby player, but they excel rowing in our Boat Club. Or may be shy in lessons, but thrive as part of our Year 9 hockey team. It’s very much about identifying individual strengths, and encouraging pupils to have a go.
These opportunities to ‘have a go’ are often the first shoots that lead to sporting excellence for young people – having the confidence to try, try and try again. We are very proud to have many top-level young athletes amongst our pupils, including: an U16 England hockey player; several players on the Newcastle Red Bulls rugby pathway; basketball players training with the Newcastle Eagles; county cricketers, and NUFC junior footballers. Recently, our 1st XV rugby team played at Twickenham for a schools national final, whilst our netball team also secured a place in the national finals in Sheffield, in late March.
In order to create even more opportunities for all of our pupils, we have committed to continually improving our sporting facilities. Work will begin on our brand new all-weather pitch next term, with it expected to be finished in the autumn of this year. This pitch will widen access to sport for our pupils, giving them topclass facilities on-site and removing the need to bus pupils off-site for training and competitions. It will also be open for community use, supporting grassroots hockey and providing an additional income stream for the Schools.
With lots of inspiring sport on show recently, from the rugby Six Nations, to NUFC in the Champions League, and the Winter Olympics, we hope that our pupils will be brave enough to dream big in their sporting aspirations, but if their success is simply joining in a game of netball, we’re very proud of them too.
We’re here to support them, for every run, try, serve, and pass.
Find out more about Dame Allan’s Schools by visiting their website www.dameallans.co.uk or contact the Head of Admissions on 0191 275 0608