Our approach to sport instills a love for keeping fit, having fun, building friendships and teamwork, and taking great pride in being part of a team. The calibre of training to children of a very young age is evident by the raft of technical and tactical skills our pupils develop as they progress through the school.
- Children as young as two and three years old are fully immersed in sport through their PE lessons which take place in the Sports Hall, Dance Studio or outside on one of our two large all-weather 3G pitches. PE lessons feature elements of traditional major and minor sports like rugby and netball where they begin to learn about hand-eye coordination, balance, team structure and general ball skills. Through their gymnastics classes and exercises they start to develop their spatial awareness.
- As the children move into Reception they start to take part in a wider variety of girls, boys and mixed sports activities. From Year 1, children develop their experience in team games and in specific sports including Hockey, Netball, Rugby, Football and Cricket by specialist sports coaches, two per year group.
- As well as the 3G pitches for hockey, Junior Prep has two special grass pitches on the lawns by the front driveway. For netball, Junior Prep play ‘high five’ netball matches which means that they are able to try out a range of different positions at a young age before finding their niche in the game.
- Cricket is played by boys and girls and the key skills are taught from Year one in the form of ‘kwik’ cricket. Playing with a hard ball is introduced in Year 4 and their skills are continually fine-tuned.
We have both indoor and outdoor cricket nets and these are used in all training sessions. In the Sports Hall we use a bowling machine for honing skills and cricket is also offered as an After School Activity.
In Year 2, the children experience playing some matches with Rugby for the boys and Hockey for the girls in the Michaelmas Term, followed by Football (with an with an Under 7 boys and girls tournament and Under 8 and Under 9 tournament) for the boys and Netball for the girls in the Lent Term. The Summer Term’s sports are cricket, tennis and athletics for the boys and girls. Fixtures against other schools are introduced for the first time in Year 2.
We are committed to sport for all and from Year 3 when matches are played regularly, each pupil is in a team, representing their House and School in competitions or tournaments every week.
Swimming
Swimming brings immeasurable enjoyment to our children, it builds their stamina, self-confidence and life skills, not just in the pool but in all areas of sport and day to day life at school.
All children from Kindergarten upwards receive weekly swimming lessons in our indoor purpose-built ‘learner’ pool until they graduate to our 25-metre pools with swimming galas introduced from Year 2.
From Year 3, pupils join one of the four School Houses which they can represent in a Summer Triathlon Competition that includes a competitive swim as well as cycling and running. Pupils further build their core strength and stamina as well as technique in after school swim activities.
Very able swimmers commit to rigorous squad swims from Year 3 onwards and can compete with other local schools in galas which take place throughout the year, many hosted at our school with a pool-side viewing gallery for visiting teams and parents. Our pupils achieve huge successes every year including qualifying for the National IAPS swimming championship.
Extra-curricular Sport
Outside of the curriculum, children from Kindergarten onwards can take part in sporting activities ranging from Scrummys Rugby to Contemporary Dance. In Year 3 and 4, the After School Activity Programme becomes more wide ranging with ample opportunities to try out new sports, such as Futsal, Judo, Archery, Basketball, Gymnastics, Badminton and Fencing.
To find out more about our Sports department, follow our Twitter account: @OPS_Sports
