Boys’ Prep Sport | Surbiton High School
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Boys’ Prep Sport

At Surbiton High Boys’ Preparatory School, we are committed to cultivating a deep-rooted love for sports amongst our pupils. We firmly believe in ‘Sport for All’ whilst striving for excellence for every boy. Whether you play for the U11A or U8D team, the focus is always on allowing every pupil to participate and enjoy all facets of sport whilst they are with us. We aim to ignite that passion in every boy, inspire them to persevere when they struggle and challenge them further when they succeed. We strongly feel that lifelong involvement in sport and exercise comes from developing a passion at an early age.   

Through a broad range of activities, the PE curriculum underpins and compliments the Games programme by taking a personalised approach to every pupil. We teach technical skills, develop tactical understanding and build the pupils’ theoretical knowledge of health, fitness and nutrition. This approach brings to life our ethos of providing ‘a sporting choice for all’.

Every week, every boy in KS1 receives a 60-minute PE lesson and a 60-minute Games lesson. This also includes a 60-minute swimming session a week with our specialist coaches at Hurst Pool. We host local borough tournaments in both football and rugby, allowing our younger boys an opportunity to experience competitive sport within a fun environment.

From Year 3, this increases to a 60-minute PE lesson and two 90-minute Games afternoons. All boys will represent the School in competitive fixtures throughout the year, with an extensive fixture list against schools such as Hampton, Twickenham and Wetherby Prep.

To view our sports fixture calendar, please click here.

Sports Newsletter – Spring 2024

 

GAMES

In our Games programme, we focus on the three core sports of football, rugby and cricket. This provides a structured framework for skill development, competition, and camaraderie, fostering a love for sports that extends beyond the school gates. We build connections with local schools, enabling us to enrich our PE programme, providing opportunities for pupils, and contributing to the overall development of a sports culture within the community.

On top of our three key sports, we offer sporting opportunities in athletics, cross-country, gymnastics, hockey, indoor athletics, skiing, judo and tennis.

When the boys reach Years 5 and 6, they have the opportunity to attend the annual Sports Tour, which has previously seen us visit Manchester, Cardiff, Paris and Madrid.

Autumn Term – Football

We encourage all our pupils to believe in their ability and to be comfortable with the ball at their feet. Our football programme involves a mixture of fun drills/games aimed at improving the key essentials of dribbling, passing and shooting. Small-sided matches are actively encouraged, as we feel this is where the majority of learning can take place. We have regular competitive fixtures from Year 3 and enter teams in cup competitions across the county. Our home matches are played at the fantastic Hinchley Wood sports ground, which is certainly conducive to playing good football.

Spring Term – Rugby

Introduced as early as KS1, all age groups are taught key skills and game understanding as they move through the year groups. From KS1 to Year 3, the pupils play tag rugby, before being introduced to contact rugby. The School ensures they follow the RFU rules for contact rugby and place player safety at the forefront of all we do. Our rugby fixture list is extensive, with some high-profile fixtures in the calendar. We enter local county competitions across Surrey and have hosted a Year 3 Tag Rugby Tournament in the Kingston Borough for the past four years.

Summer Term – Cricket

Cricket has grown significantly in the previous three years and although a predominantly summer sport, cricket has become a sport that is played across the whole year at the Boys’ Prep. We run a winter training programme for Upper KS2 at Esher College in the Spring Term and carry out small skill sessions on site for Years 3 and 4 during the same time.

We are extremely fortunate to able to use the wonderful facility of Esher Cricket Club during the Summer Term. Located a short coach journey from School, the club allows us full use of a six-lane net facility, outfield and grass wickets.

The Boys’ Prep are delighted to have developed a partnership with Buffalo Cricket, who provide us with top quality cricket equipment to further enhance our cricket programme. We are also proud to be ‘Friends of Surrey’, an affiliation that allows us to visit the Kia Oval to watch high quality professional cricket.

GAMIFICATION IN SPORT

At Surbiton High Boys’ Prep, we adopted a range of sport pedagogical approaches across a range of sports and strongly believe this caters for all needs, allowing for a varied method of teaching to be utilised across both key stages. A recent approach adopted is that of gamification. This method of teaching has enabled the department to keep lessons engaging and fresh, by using game-like elements in applications of real-world activities.

This has enabled maximum levels of engagement for all pupils in the School and helped to enhance the competitive experiences the boys are exposed to. As a department, we feel that enhancing purpose and providing meaning to all lessons allows the boys in our care to feel that what they are doing matters. With this, motivation improves dramatically, focus is maintained consistently, and progress is made much quicker.

SPORTS LEARNING JOURNEY

The programme from Reception to Year 6 changes to incorporate different skills and sports to ensure that the boys development continues during their time with us. We aim to provide an outstanding journey in sport with moments that will stay with them forever and a love of sport that can continue throughout their lives.

An example of our PE curriculum can be seen below:

Reception Fundamentals Gymnastics
Year 1 ABC-SAQ Gymnastics
Year 2 Gymnastics Dance
Year 3 Badminton Invasion Games
Year 4 Health Related Fitness Hockey Outreach
Year 5 SAQ Invasion Games
Year 6 Invasion Games Health Related Fitness

 

SPORTS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMME

The Sports Scholarship programme is aimed at athletes who wish to pursue the possibility of an 11+ scholarship and provides them with the opportunity to prepare themselves as best as they can.

The programme develops the boys’ fitness levels through long-distance running and interval training, alongside speed work with hill sprints and speed gate sessions. To ensure progress, we regularly test the boys with assessments like the Bleep Test, Time Trials, and speed tests, pinpointing areas for improvement. 

This comprehensive approach aligns with what secondary schools seek in awarding sports scholarships.

The programme runs two mornings a week at 7.30am.

SPORTS DAY

Every year, the preparatory schools host their annual Sports Day at our Hinchley Wood sport facilities.

KS1 pupils are part of a 11 stationed carousal, comprising of jumping, running, agility, bouncing, and throwing skills.

KS2 pupils are part of a more specific athletic disciplined afternoon, comprising of four field events, and two track events. This culminates in the ever popular sprint finals, and house relays.

Co-Curricular Sport Clubs

We offer 60+ sports clubs. These are run by the sports department or external coaches who come into the School to lead the sessions. From beforeschool, lunchtime or after-school clubs the breadth of sports on offer keeps everyone physically active and enables the boys to experience a range of new and exciting activities.  

On top of the traditional clubs such as rugby, cricket and football, the Boys’ Prep offers other opportunities such as swimming, judo and a newly developed water-polo club.

Achievements

Muddy’s Best Schools Awards 2024 Finalist – Passionate About Sport

We are delighted that Surbiton High Boys’ Prep School was a finalist in the Muddy’s ‘Passionate About Sport’ award category.

Toby Blood, Head of Sport at the Boys’ Prep stated:

 I am incredibly proud of the Boys’ Prep PE department for being recognised and becoming a Finalist in the ‘Passionate About Sport in Prep Schools’ award. This achievement is a testament to the hard work of the entire team.”

School Games Mark – Gold 2022/2023

We are delighted to announce that the Girls’ Prep and the Boys’ Prep have been awarded Gold standard for the School Games Mark for the sixth year running. This award is given to reward schools for their commitment to the development of competition across their school and into the community. The events have been superbly run by the Kingston School Sports Partnership and particular praise to Rebecca Middleton who is Chief Organiser for the borough. We have enjoyed hosting numerous events at Hinchley Wood Playing Fields this year and will look to continue the good work next year.