Rugby Masterclass!

The sun shone on Tuesday 11th October for our Rugby Masterclass as we welcomed Year 5 students from four local schools to the Park for a morning of specialist sport.

Our Sports Department were well supported by Leighton Park students taking Sport CTEC and their Sports Leader Award Level 3, many of whom are also Sports Scholars and play in our first teams representing the school competitively.

The morning was devised by our keen rugby playing staff, Ellie Smales and Sam Bowers, and included training in passing directly and sideways, tackling, exposure to rugby training equipment and a mini-match. The visiting pupils from Farley Hill, Whitley Park Primary, St Teresa’s Catholic Academy and Caversham Prep all enjoyed learning something new.

Nikki Peters, Head of St Teresa’s commented, “The way all coaches interacted with the children was great. I was really impressed with how enthusiastic and committed the children were. They gave every activity their all.” Nancy, a St Teresa’s pupil, agreed, “The match was my favourite part because it was really fun and cool!” “It was amazing and exciting” added Mabel. Everyone agreed that ‘tackling the sausage’ during the training was a highlight as was the opportunity to get a bit muddy! Others felt that the real hot dogs were better than the foam cylinders, clearly preferring the snacks over sport!

Kully Gill from Caversham Prep found it a useful chance to ‘build a community link helping pupils to look forward towards secondary school transition’ as well as learning ‘key skills of the game. “It was a great experience to play rugby” reflected her student, Thomas.

Sarah Honor from Whitley Park also recognised the opportunity for students to gain ‘new skills, develop teamwork and self-confidence;’ concluding that it was a ‘very successful’ event.

Alex B (Year 5) from Farley Hill Primary agreed, recommending, “Definitely do it next time if you have the chance!”

You can see more images of the morning on our flickr gallery.
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