Sports at Amesbury

At Amesbury, sport is a large part of our school. Throughout the years at Amesbury, children have access to a wide range of activities and sports that promote physical ability, confidence and teamwork. It is our goal by the end of Year 8 that each pupil will have explored all available options with the intention of discovering something they truly love. We believe when children are able to develop their passions in an environment they are comfortable with and the teachers know and recognise their talents, they can be supported to reach their goals. This may be through one-to-one coaching or competition entry. We use the final two years at Amesbury to encourage the exploration of interests so when it comes to the time our children leave us for pastures new, they have a clearer understanding of where their passions lie, along with an ingrained love for sport and for keeping healthy.

Only open to Year 7 and 8, our pupils can take part in sports including health related fitness, Tchoukball, trampolining, lacrosse and athletics. Year 7s have access to our unique ‘health and fitness’ module, which develops into the ‘strength and conditioning’ module in Year 8. These modules are excellent development points for our Amesbury athletes wanting to take their knowledge of fitness to the next level. Within these modules they gain great understanding of their bodies and analysis of body movements within sport. This knowledge comes particularly useful to our pupils aiming for sports scholarships, putting them above the competition with their knowledge of sport. We are continually investing in our PE curriculum and have recently purchased rowing machines for our eldest pupils to use in their health and fitness and strength and conditioning classes.

In Year 8, those particularly passionate about sport have the opportunity to be Team Captain in their chosen sport, for one term of the year. Within this role they will support the teacher in regular tournaments and assist with writing match reports. It is a role with much responsibility and equips our pupils with excellent leadership skills.

As a school, we are continually developing our curriculum to make it as enriching as possible for our children. Even those not wishing to pursue team captain can still gain valuable leadership skills in the Lent term, through their ‘leadership’ module in Year 8. Our pupils assist PE teachers in delivering the PE curriculum to our younger years. This is an aspect of the Year 8 curriculum our pupils particularly enjoy, allowing them to develop compassion, communication and leadership. This module summarises in a project putting all their new skills into practice. This coming year the pupils will assist in hosting an open morning football tournament. The valuable skills learnt in this module also greatly benefit our pupils in their journey towards their ‘Amesbury Award’, which you can discover more about here.