Sports

Sport forms a major part of Staines Prep’s commitment to fostering all aspects of child development. A broad range of exciting sports offered to each year group encourages healthy competition and a love for physical activity.

Reception | Lower Prep School | Upper Prep School | Talented Sportspeople

Reception

Your child explores and learns about their world through their natural enthusiasm for movement and we encourage this during PE. They start off working individually but begin to play with other pupils in pairs and small groups. By watching, listening and experimenting, they develop their skills in movement, coordination, control and communication and enjoy expressing themselves in a variety of situations. We also help them understand the importance of physical activity and making healthy choices for their wellbeing.

Reception pupils receive two 30 minute lessons a week by a specialist PE teacher. A typical year includes lessons in gymnastics, movement to music, bat and ball skills and an introduction to athletics in time for sports day in the Summer Term.

Lower School

In Lower School your child develops and becomes increasingly confident in the fundamental movement skills they established in Reception. They access a broad range of activities and engage in competition against themselves and others, whilst co-operating in a range of increasingly challenging physical situations.

Your child will master basic movements including running, jumping, throwing and catching, as well as developing balance, agility and coordination. They will develop simple tactics for attacking and defending in team games and perform dances using simple movement patterns.

Pupils in Year 1 receive two 30 minute lessons a week, with Year 2 receiving one 30 minute PE lesson and two 30 minute Games lessons.

Games

In Year 2 Games lessons, children are taught together in mixed-sex groupings. the children will be taught the skills of netball, football and tough rugby during the first two terms. During the Summer Term the boys and girls are coached together for cricket. It is here that the fundamentals of sport-specific skills begin to be taught, focusing on attacking and defending but also sportsmanship and fair play.

Swimming

From Year 2 your child will take swimming lessons which focus on water confidence and developing their swimming strokes. We take full advantage of our close proximity to Spelthorne Leisure centre to utilise these excellent facilities.

Upper School

In Upper School your child is given the opportunity to apply and develop a broader range of skills. They learn how to use them in different ways and are encouraged to communicate, collaborate and compete with one another. We nurture your child to improve their performance in different physical activities and sports, and help them learn how to evaluate and recognise their own success.

Our PE and Games Lessons cover running, jumping, throwing and catching. Pupils play competitive games such as badminton, basketball, cricket, football, hockey, rugby, netball, table tennis and tennis; develop flexibility, strength, technique, control and balance through athletics and gymnastics; perform dances using a range of movement patterns and most importantly they will be encouraged to compare their performances with previous ones. This enables them to demonstrate improvement and to achieve their personal best.

Pupils in the Upper School typically have one 40 minute PE lesson and two 1 hour 20 minute Games lessons a week.

Games

Our aim is for all pupils regardless of ability to represent the school in competitive fixtures against other schools. Pupils are monitored closely and grouped with pupils of a similar ability, meaning their experiences are enjoyable whilst taking place in a challenging environment.

Staines Prep does not view the result as the most important issue: we believe it is more important to develop pupils over time and then positive results will follow. The school offers a clear pathway that allows each pupil to develop socially, physically and mentally whilst upholding key values such as teamwork, sportsmanship and fairness.

Our approach to Games differs from that of other prep schools given that we offer a range of traditional sports to both boys and girls. We are proud that from Year 3 our pupils may choose their pathway. This helps to foster a more positive attitude to sport and a lifelong enjoyment of physical activity.

Swimming

In Year 3 pupils will have one term of swimming, increasing to a term and a half at Year 4 and 5. Pupils will continue to develop their water confidence whilst being taught front crawl and backstroke technique, focusing on correct breathing and stroke patterns.

These swim lessons feed into our own Inter-House Swim Gala, as well as local swim galas, such as the popular Spelthorne Swim Gala. Pupils are chosen to participate after time trials within lesson times.

House Competitions

All pupils will be given the opportunity to gain valuable points for their house by participating in various house competitions in the year. These include swimming, football, netball, rugby, hockey, cricket, table tennis and athletics, to name a few!

Talented Sportspeople

At SPS we strive to be inclusive within all our sports, and to this end we want to ensure that all the needs of our pupils are met. To drive our talented players we enter our pupils into various high-profile local competitions that will stretch and challenge them:

• IAPS tournaments for netball/swimming/judo/table tennis
• Old Vicarage Netball tournament
• Spelthorne Swim Gala
• Surrey County Cup for Football and Cricket

This is in no way an exhaustive list and we are constantly improving our range of competitions and fixtures!