School Shoot

SCHOOL

SHOOT By Arthur Kavanagh (T), Year 13

Many students, rather than taking part in a normal sport activity three times a week, organise and run a small game shoot here in the Valley. This includes feeding and caring for the birds and on Saturdays in the shoot season (October through January), we run a shoot where junior years form the beating line in selected drives, and the sixth form stand the Gun line.

The shoot purchase the pheasant poults locally and raise them from seven weeks old, releasing them into the Valley in early September. We then take up the feeding regime during our games periods and on our Friday afternoon activities slot. We are responsible for their management and the management and preparation of the shoot drives, from mending fences, styles, bridges, feeders and cutting hedges in readiness for the shoot season commencing.

After a day’s shooting, we then take part in dressing the birds ready for the freezer. This year we are also taking part in Game Food cookery lessons, in our own Cookery School kitchen. We are also given the opportunity to take part in Simulated Clay Shoot days in the Valley, which are fantastic. A lot of us find the school shoot to be a great alternative to Rugby or Hockey and really enjoy those afternoons in the Valley. If I were to choose one part of it as the best, I’d have to say that it is the friendships we have formed doing it; many of us have been doing it since Year 9 or 10. Like other activities, the shoot really helps with making friends outside your year and House. We also get lots of useful information which isn’t commonplace in the classroom, like actively looking after our environment, something that is very important to everyone in the Valley.

There are lots of activities on offer at Ampleforth, such as the shoot, but also things like the CCF and rifle shooting. I also take part in the school debating club, which is open to all sixth formers to either take part in or be spectators and the turnout is impressive. I’m also a member of the Aquinas Society, in which we discuss different matters of ethics one evening a week. With all that is on offer, it can seem as though there isn’t enough time for school work, but the options can be easily spread out to make sure that the important work isn’t set aside. I think the extracurricular activities on offer at Ampleforth really set it apart and are part of what makes it such a special place.