Netball at Ipswich School
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I realised that netball was the sport I loved very early on, having been given the opportunity to learn from fantastic coaches since Year 3.
The coaches always encouraged me to push myself to be at the top of my game, both physically and mentally. This has enabled me to play to the best of my ability in friendly, regional and national level matches.
Whether you want to play just for fun or competitively, there are opportunities for everyone. I have loved my 1-1 sessions and after school training, which have given me the chance to develop and refine the key skills in match play.
In addition, the Netball Tour helped to bond all of the year groups and encouraged us to learn from each other.
Sophie C, Year 132 CIRC A 1399
Netball at Ipswich School
Ipswich School is proud of its netball history, with multiple age group teams celebrating county and regional success through the years.
Our age group teams regularly reach East Region finals. We have players in the Suffolk County Satelite and Academy squads at U13 and U15 level, U15 and U17 representatives at Saracens Mavericks and London Pulse, and U15 and U19 representatives at London Pulse. Our coaching team includes international players and highly qualified coaches.
The key objective of our netball programme is to provide opportunity for every netball player at Ipswich School to reach their own potential on and off court, whilst also having individuals and teams representing the school at the highest level possible.
We aim to challenge and engage all of our netballers through innovative coaching in both technical and tactical on-court skill development, the use of our industry leading analysis programmes, strength and conditioning programmes specific to the individual alongside one-to-one and small group coaching and whole squad sessions.
Ipswich School provides the ideal platform for all aspiring netballers to achieve their very best on and off the court and we aim to be one of the first choice schools in the area for talented netball players.
We look forward to welcoming you to the netball at Ipswich School.
Sally Carns, Head of Netball
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Our netball programme and partnerships
Our objective is to provide the opportunity for every netball player at Ipswich School to reach their own potential on and off the court. Our partnerships provides great benefits for our young players.
Netball takes place year round at Ipswich School with the majority of our training and fixtures taking place at our fantastic facilities at Rushmere.
Our cup competitions start in September and our full fixture card runs in the Lent term when there is opportunity for all girls to represent the school.
Competitions and Tours
We enter our teams in various local, regional and national competitions, as well as competing in a full local fixture card:
• Sisters n Sport Cup
• ISNC Cup
• School Sports Magazine Cup
• England Netball Schools County, Regional and National Competitions
We take our 1st VII on an annual preseason tour for training, fixtures and competitions and arrange netball tours for various age groups to Shropshire for an annual tournament and activities weekend.
Individual Sessions
It is important that all of our netballers have opportunity to develop their technical skills and set individual goals
working with our team of coaches. The netball programme at Ipswich School includes the following:
• 1:1 skill development sessions throughout the day
• Small group sessions throughout the day
• Position specific training during break and lunch
• Specialist shooting clinic weekly
• Individualised strength and conditioning programmes
• Individual development programmes set and managed with our coaches Sixth Form pupils can make use of their study periods to use the gym and work on and off the court with our netball coaches.
Sports Analysis
We aim to film all of our cup and competition matches for our teams allowing us to analyse the games with our teams and individual players. We upload the games to HUDL and hold regular analysis sessions where we develop students’ skills and ability to analyse their own game, individually and as a team. We make use of our Analysis Lounge for our team analysis sessions and to review our game footage together.
Suffolk County Netball Association
Ipswich School has been well represented at U13 and U15 level for Suffolk Netball Performance Pathway with both players and coaches being involved in the programme. Our ongoing relationship allows our girls to progress on the performance pathway and for regular feedback and development discussions.
Saracens Mavericks and London Pulse Netball
We have close links with Saracens Mavericks and London Pulse, and a number of past and present pupils are involved in the Superleague Franchise at age group level.
Hudl
Hudl is a performance analysis platform. Students and coaches can access training and games and analyse their own footage.
Parents, coaches and students are able to watch games back and review. There is the ability to share clips easily and directly with premiership academies.
Coaches can instantly give feedback to players on match days using the Hudl system, and they can access wireless streams of the game on their iPad for player feedback.
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Our coaching team
Our netball coaches have different levels of experience and areas of expertise, but we all share one thing in common: the love of netball. We are passionate about passing that on to all our pupils across all age groups.
Sally Carns
Head of Netball
Level 3 coach
Head coach of Guernsey Netball and head coach of Tucan Netball Club
Regional Umpire
Current coach mentor for Suffolk Netball
Former coach Netball Scotland development academies, England Netball Somerset county squads, England Mixed Nets squad
Qualified umpire, statistician, technical official, assessor, mentor, selector, scout and coach
Experience working in key roles at Commonwealth Games 2014, Netball World Cup 2019 and other major international netball events
Niamh Creighton
Former U17/U21 Scotland player
Former coach U15/ U17 Netball Scotland
District Squads
Former Netball Scotland Supercup team player and assistant coach Netball Scotland Supercup team UKCC2 level 2 coach
Bev Hudson
Qualified UKCC 2 netball coach and working towards C grade umpire qualification
Current coach Suffolk Netball League Division 1 team
Former county, pathway & regional player
Jen Hyam
Qualified UKCC 2 netball coach and qualified C Grade umpire
Currently plays Division 1 netball
Helen Wilkinson
Level 1 coach and working towards the INTO officiating qualification
Leah Nolan
Former Wasps U17 Player
Former U13 Staffordshire County Assistant Coach
Chair of Youth Advisory Group for Netball East RMB
Qualified UKCC Level 2 Netball Coach
Qualified C Award Umpire
Currently playing Division 1 netball
Jess Hambira
Primary school teacher with a degree in Sport Science
Working towards Level 1 netball coaching award and INTO officiating qualification
Currently playing Division 2 netball.
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Our school
Ipswich School is the top independent school in Suffolk and one of the top ten in East Anglia (Sunday Times Parent Power).
Founded circa 1399, it has a long-standing educational heritage and is the only school to be mentioned in one of Shakespeare’s plays.
Our students achieve excellent examination results and progress to top Russell Group universities, including Oxbridge. Most importantly, our students are happy – reaching their potential, supported by outstanding pastoral care and part of our friendly community.
Ipswich School offers bus routes across East Anglia, bursaries and scholarships, and options for weekly boarding.
Our boarding houses are situated in historic grounds in the centre of Ipswich and neighbour Christchurch Park.
The school is located close to the Suffolk heritage coast and is within an hour of London Stansted Airport, as well as the cities of London, Cambridge and Norwich.
Academic provision
Tutors keep a close eye on each individual student to ensure that they balance their activities and are happy and fulfilled. In the Sixth Form our offer expands to new A Level subjects not taught at GCSE level, such as Economics and Psychology, as well as a BTEC in Sport and Exercise Science.
In 2023, over 1 in 5 pupils achieved grades 9-7 in all their GCSE exams, and 63% of GCSE exams were graded 9-7. 100% of students achieved 5 or more GCSEs at grade 4 or above, including English and Maths.
At A Level, over 80% of exams were graded A*-B, with over 1 in 6 graded A*, and we had a 100% pass in all 26 subjects offered at A Level. In addition, 70% of our BTEC students achieved Distinction or higher
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“Netball at Ipswich School has been a highlight of my time in the Senior School and Sixth Form. I value the support we get from coaches through both training as a team and also individually in one to one sessions, where we get an opportunity to improve our individual match play and fitness.
It offers many opportunities to experience high level match play and also going on tours. I particularly enjoyed the tour to Leeds last year.
The netball staff offer the perfect balance between intensity, determination to improve and fun.
Kate W, Year 13“
One of my favourite things about the netball programme is the 1-1 programme, as it is a session tailored to individual positions and needs, with a coach that is very experienced in that position.
It is so helpful as you get the chance to work on specific things, and I always feel that I improve so much in each session.
The video analysis of matches that we get is also brilliant, as we get feedback on things that we did and can develop them in the sessions.
Petra T, Year 137 CIRC A 1399
To find out more about the netball programme at Ipswich School email: netball@ipswich.school
For Ipswich School admissions, speak to our Admissions Team: admissions@ipswich.school
Ipswich School. SEPTEMBER 2023. All information correct at the time of printing. Ipswich School is a Registered Charity 310493