Sport at Habs

Sport at Haberdashers’

We adopt an ambitious approach, enabling everyone to flourish through sport at Haberdashers’ Boys’ School. As a community, all students are encouraged to dream big, achieve success, be happy and healthy, to develop character and to have a positive view of the world.

The development of good character and values underpins much of what we do at Habs. Sport provides a wealth of opportunities for students to test themselves and it is important that we help to ensure that each student leaves us as better people. Our approach is based on people first and that everyone is welcome.

Boys’ School

Physical Literacy Health and Wellbeing

Physical Literacy

There is a clear pathway for the development of physical movement from Reception to Year 13. Much of this is seen through athletic development lessons in PE, through co-ordinated RAMP warm-ups and fitness sessions in games and co-curricular activities, and through a focus on sport specific movement. Importantly, clearly identifiable elements of social and personal wellbeing also feature.

Literacy and Wellbeing

Health and Wellbeing

Students are provided with a broad and varied sporting offer which encourages them to make better choices about lifestyle, particularly in relation to physical activity, sleep/recovery, diet and nutrition and an understanding of the positive link between physical and mental wellbeing.

Engagement

All students are encouraged to find joy in sport through fun yet challenging activities regardless of their perceived level of ability. They are given the opportunity to represent the school across a number of activities. We have teams that range from A to E and we believe that involvement in sport and physical activity is an exciting way to strengthen as a community. It creates team spirit, builds positive relationships and instils a sense of pride with both individual and team achievements beyond the classroom.

We encourage communication and look to satisfy those who are curious to try a new sport for the first time, from water polo to tchoukball. Learning continues outside the classroom as they are coached appropriately, by

our team of highly qualified staff, whilst still empowering them to courageously step outside their comfort zones.

Performance sports at Habs see competitive fixtures played within the region and entry into county and national tournaments. These sports include a focus on football and rugby in the autumn term, hockey in the spring term and cricket in the summer term. Each activity involves a substantial number of students and we maintain a full list of block fixtures on Saturdays as well as regular mid-week matches. Beyond this, sports such as swimming, water polo, badminton, squash, tennis, golf, athletics, cross-country, basketball and gymnastics also enjoy regular competition with other schools.

Curriculum and High Performance

Curriculum

Students in Years 7, 8 and 9 all receive one period of PE a week. In Year 10, they are provided with one period every other week. Everyone in the Senior School, including those from Year 11, 12 and 13, enjoy a weekly games afternoon as well.

At GCSE and A Level, students are able to choose to follow the AQA Sports Science courses. The GCSE course is popular with our students and offers two teaching groups. The A Level has very successfully pioneered the now adopted approach of co-teaching with students and staff from both schools.

The extensive co-curriculum sessions run before the start of the school day, during the lunch break and after school provide an unrivalled breadth of offer for a day school of our type.

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Performance

High Performance

Empowering our students to be ambitious and courageous, it is no surprise that several of them represent county or higher in their chosen sports. We have also seen our students, as school teams or individual competitors reach fantastic new heights as they secure places in Regional and National finals. We strive to create an environment which maximises the chances for our students to be successful and to enjoy the opportunity to test themselves in healthy competition.

The Sports department our facilities

Sports department

Our Director of Sport is supported by a PE department consisting of a Head of Prep PE, six outstanding fulltime PE teachers and a Head of Aquatics. We enjoy further high-quality support from our Graduate Sports Assistant, two Athletic Development Leads, a Prep Swim Coach and a Sports Administrator.

Within our school community, we also have several academic staff who are also involved in the delivery of Games sessions and our extensive co-curricular programme and add to our first-class coaching environment.

We have further developed valuable partnerships with the wider sporting community. We have welcomed professional coaches and support from Saracens RFC, Middlesex CCC, Watford Water Polo, EJB Gymnastics, Watford FC Community Sports and Education Trust, St Albans Hockey Club and Hampstead and Westminster Hockey Club to the school for training sessions.

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Facilities

The facilities on our 100-acre campus are both exciting and ambitious. Our sports complex, the Medburn Centre, boasts a 25-metre, eight lane swimming pool with variable depth capability, a fantastic fitness suite, gymnasium, two squash courts, a double-size McGowan sports hall, our Solai indoor Cricket nets and a climbing wall.

Outdoors, we have seven rugby/football pitches, two-all weather hockey pitches which also become 18 tennis courts in the summer, three grass cricket squares, three artificial cricket wickets (plus grass and artificial cricket nets, a 400-metre grass track, a synthetic sprint track and jump/throw areas.

Getting involved at Habs

HabsDash

A weekly, inclusive run that is open to all members of the school community, HabsDash has become a popular event in the weekly school calendar. HabsDash takes place every Tuesday using a 3.5km route around the school grounds; runners will complete three laps anywhere between 12 and 40 minutes. We welcome over 100 participates each week, including runners from our sibling school, Haberdashers’ Girls’ School. Results sheets are produced each week so runners can track their progress and work towards certificates of achievement, such as running a half-marathon, a marathon or even a double marathon!

HabsDash also boasts several special events throughout the year with themes to match, such as RainbowDash for Pride and a Mental Health Awareness Dash.

Sports Day

Our Sports Day is one of our most ambitious and biggest events of the school year as Habs Boys and Habs Girls come together for a day of sporting activity. Taking place at the Stone X Stadium, the home of Saracens, the event combines all traditional track and field events with more diverse athletic activities such as tug-of-war and obstacle course relays. A ‘community mile’ is a real highlight of the event where students and staff lap the track together to truly focus on athletic inclusivity as well as performance driven events.

Overall, over 1,000 students compete in over 100 events to ensure that every student represents their team – with a House from each school combining to create one new franchise – in at least two activities. It is a brilliant opportunity for the community to come together in a spectacular fashion for those watching from the grandstand.

Scholarships and Sport FAQs

Scholarships

We are excited to now offer Sports Scholarships at Habs. These scholarships can provide 10% off fees and successful applicants will receive opportunities such as mentoring, sport psychology seminars and training, sports nutrition seminars, video analysis and strength and condition development.

Click here to read more about our scholarships.

For further information about Habs Sports, please click here for our Frequently Answered Questions page.