As I write, this afternoon, we’re looking forward to starting rugby. Mike Marchant, of Peter Symonds College, will be here this week to lead sessions on contact and the breakdown through the age groups to help our players be effective and safe. Mike is a coach of immense experience on the rugby circuit. His son Joe recently played for the Barbarians against the mighty All Blacks! (read more)
On Saturday, we have a fixture with Horris Hill. Both of us are just starting rugby, and we are going to run the fixture as a joint training session with a coached/conditioned game with any rule adaptations as appropriate.
- All the U13 (Year 8) and U12 (Year 7) contact rugby players will be involved.
- As they only have a small number of U11s (Colts, Year 6) we will take just the one squad.
- All Foals (Year 5) will be involved as they are at home.
- Under 9s (Year 4) will be available for collection from 1415 after a Games session.
- U13 Hockey, U13/U12/Colts Touch Rugby, Colts Rugby not in the match will be available from 1530 after a Games session.
Just a reminder of… personal protection items needed until Easter.
- Mouthguards, as applicable below, will be needed from Monday 28th November.
- Shin pads for all pupils in Year 3 and up – please keep these in school for the hockey component of Alternative Invasion Games.
- Mouthguards for rugby for all pupils in Year 2 and up.
Mouthguards are recommended by the RFU in all formats of the game including TAG rugby and other forms of non-contact rugby in case of accidental collisions. We also insist that boys in Year 4 and above have a mouthguard when playing contact rugby and for Year 3 and up when playing hockey as part of the PE programme.
OPRO no longer visit the school to fit mouthguards, but information is included with this newsletter about their new instant custom fit mouthguards, should you wish to get one of these. Other mouthguards are widely available from sport shops or online.
Opro Poster here
Opro Information leaflet here.
- Please see my recent SchoolPost letter about rugby/hockey here.
Christmas Holiday challenge?
As we approach the end of term, please consider working towards the Pilgrims Way Virtual Challenge, Winchester to Canterbury over 214km or 133 miles. The Pilgrims Way is an actual walking trail, however, the idea of this award is to log any distance based activity to work towards this distance goal.
You could walk, run, cycle, swim or any activity that builds distance. Once you have shown Mr Short your completed log, you will receive a badge which could be ironed on to your Pilgrims’ hoodie. There is no time limit. Copy this spreadsheet to log your distances.
From the LDWA (Long Distance Walkers Association) website:
The Pilgrims Way is an ancient track between Winchester and Canterbury. It is an historic pilgrimage route to Canterbury Cathedral in Kent, home of the shrine of the martyred archbishop, St Thomas Becket. It follows a major chalk ridge through scenic countryside, taking in characterful towns and villages and historic churches. Though not itself a single promoted long-distance path, it is approximated by two promoted routes, the St Swithun's and North Downs Ways.
The route's naming varies in using an apostrophe (or none) - as Pilgrims' or Pilgrim's or Pilgrims.
News of the Inter-Set football Tournaments will feature next week.
Year 7 & 8 Swimming Gala at Twyford
This was a very close and competitive event. Sebastian N and Daniel D were fantastic in the opening individual medley, placing 2nd and 4th respectively. First places were also achieved by Edward B in the Year 7 backstroke and freestyle, Sebastian N in the Year 8 breaststroke and freestyle and Kunfayo O in the Year 8 butterfly.
The Year 7 A squad won the freestyle relay and the Year 8 squad won the medley relay by some distance. It was a fantastically enjoyable event with all swimmers making excellent contributions. We look forward to the IAPS regionals in February. AJS
Andrew Short
Director of Sport
