At St Michael’s, we are proud of the accomplishments that our pupils achieve both in and out of the classroom. We always encourage our pupils to get involved in a wide variety of extra-mural activities including a number of sporting activities.
Sport is a key way of creating inclusion amongst children. Because of our holistic approach to our pupils’ development, we recognise that their personal development is not simply restricted to the classroom.
Participation in sport helps to improve a child’s physical skills such coordination and balance. Not only does sport help to support a child’s physical development, it also helps them to hone their problem solving skills, teaches them how to work well as a team and requires a level of discipline. This is why we encourage participation from all of our pupils, no matter what their level of ability.
Sport at St Michael’s is delivered within three distinct strands; Physical Education, Swimming and Games. Games lessons offer provision for team sports including football, hockey, rugby, netball, rounders, cricket and tennis.
Undeniably, sport is an important part of school life. There have been many studies that outline the importance of sport, each with their own conclusions, however they all share common themes about why sport is important. As the pupils develop physically, sport can be pivotal in:
- developing coordination and gross motor skills
- building self-confidence and self-esteem
- developing positive attitudes
- building resilience
- encouraging teamwork and cohesion
- supporting discipline
- reducing the risk of obesity
- promoting healthy bone and muscle development.
Studies have also found that sport can enhance the learning potential of children. Students who participate in sport while studying often achieve higher results. They also enjoy a greater connection with their school through team camaraderie.
We are always looking to maximise the sporting opportunities at St. Michael’s by way of competitive fixtures against other island clubs and schools. Looking further afield we have a number of sports tours to the neighbouring Channel Islands and residential tours further afield. We feel it’s important that all pupils in Year 7 & 8 have the opportunity to be part of a residential sports tour regardless of sporting ability. Closer to home St. Michael’s hosts the Festival of Sport which welcomes around twelve UK prep schools and including the island schools there are over 300 pupils involved.
In terms of the curriculum sport is timetabled five days a week in the Senior section of the school and 4 out of 5 days a week in the Junior and Pre-Prep departments. Sport at St Michael’s has two main aims for our pupils. Firstly, it must be fun and inclusive and secondly offer the opportunity to excel at any level. Although the pupils are streamed by their ability, hence the concept of A, B and C teams etc, they are encouraged to have fun in an environment that creates a safe and enjoyable sporting experience for all pupils regardless of ability.
We are exceptionally proud of the regular sporting achievements of our pupils.
With our belief that sport is key to our pupils’ development, we are creating an astroturf- based hockey pitch and first-class cricket oval with dual aspect pavilion between the two playing areas. The development will also see the construction of a new pavilion to include bathroom and showering facilities for both home and away teams. Changing areas are provided alongside facilities for indoor entertainment and catering.The project will be completed by late 2020 and provide both current and prospective pupils with the highest quality sports facilities. Overall this initiative will provide all our pupils and teachers with outstanding sports facilities and place St Michael’s at the forefront of sports development and training on the island.
There is a calendar on our website which features all of our upcoming sporting fixtures so you can keep to date. As we look towards a very busy half term, I would like to wish all of our sporting teams good luck in their matches and to remind them that I am very proud of their achievements, regardless of the final result.