Sports Roundup

It is always nice to be asked to write something for our alumni, and it is a fantastic chance for me to share what is happening at our school with you. With the pandemic restrictions easing, Truro School is starting to look a lot busier and, for me (having only seen one full year before the pandemic), it is wonderful to see the Truro School machine back in action.

DAN SANDERSON

DIRECTOR OF SPORT djs@truroschool.com

The opportunities that our pupils have are breathtaking, and our co-curricular offering is a real feather in our cap. Music, art, drama, cookery (oh yes, and sport) and other activities give our pupils a chance to socialise, explore a little deeper and, best of all, have fun. Speaking of fun, I won’t bore you with a list of achievements; all that can be found on our social media pages and websites (@TruroSport via Instagram, Twitter and Facebook). Instead, here is a little bit of what we are doing in PE, games and sport.

Covid could have been a challenging time during remote learning (thanks, Joe Wicks), but our department found it to be a very successful one. The focus shifted slightly and we were able to really become creative and as people looked to keep active in lockdown; the simple joy of walking, running, cycling and swimming (I hope you still live in Cornwall…!) returned with a vengeance. No teacher telling you what to do, no annoying classmates... bliss...! We, as a department, focused on creating good environments and good habits. We found the less ‘sporty’ pupils engaged with this the best, and some stunning work was submitted and new passions were formed. Since the return to school, the traditional ‘sporty’ pupils have filled their boots (and why not, sport is great fun), but the less ‘sporty’ have continued to be active, engaged and willing to try new activities. The only downside of this being that I am running out of space to facilitate it all. A nice problem to have though.

Whilst participation is fairly high across most areas of the school in fixtures (67% of pupils have represented the school in a fixture this academic year), there have of course been dips in the exam year groups. It will always be our duty to promote the benefits of sport and leading an active lifestyle, as we know that stress and anxiety can be eased with exercise, especially in teenagers (and, of course, adults, you and me included, so keep active!). Our P.E. and games curriculum gives all our pupils equal access to all that we offer. Of course, what we do is teaching our pupils the physical benefits of good activity levels, but in curriculum lessons I want our focus to be more than that. I believe that P.E. and sport is the perfect vehicle to teach our pupils about the ‘soft’ skills they will need throughout their life. Resilience, empathy, teamwork, persistence, emotional intelligence... buzz words maybe to some, but we really put a lot of emphasis on qualities such as these during our lessons. The sport/activity is the easy bit to teach, and we celebrate high-achieving pupils, but we are after more than making good sports people. We are after making good people, through sport.

In P.E., we have added outdoor education, gymnastics, handball and dance (my favourite lesson, the pupils love it!) to our KS3 curriculum. These sit alongside our rackets, swimming and health-related fitness classes, amongst others. In games, we have split the year into five sports, with boys and girls taking part in all of them.

Rugby, netball, football, hockey and striking and fielding (cricket, rounders, softball etc) all run for six weeks each. It has been a real joy to see our pupils test themselves in different and unfamiliar sports, and it is refreshing to see stereotypical attitudes being discarded. For our older year groups, they are able to choose their games lessons activities. So far, swimming, trampolining, exercise to music, fitness suite, football and oldschool ball games have proved popular, and the pupils can choose a new activity each half term. I am very keen for games sessions to be driven by our KS4 pupils and I value high pupil engagement.

Please do get in touch if you would like to know more about what we offer in P.E., games and sport at Truro School, it would be great to hear from you.

Truro School Sports is excited to welcome a new Football Head Coach, and Saints Southwest Cornwall Regional Coach, Rhys Sullivan, to the teaching team.

Mr Sullivan joins us from Plymouth Argyle, where he most recently coached the women’s team. He brings over 20 years of coaching experience to the School, and will divide his time between running the football programme at Truro School and the Saints Southwest (SSW) Regional Programme, held on Monday and Wednesday evenings at the School. These evenings sit alongside the SSW Development Centre (Thursday nights at Truro School), which supports players transitioning from grassroots football to regional centres of excellence and beyond.

The Saints partnership with Truro School was launched in September 2020 to provide education, community and sports provision to young people across Cornwall. Truro School pupils benefit from the club’s commitment to ‘developing potential for all’ both on and off the pitch.

The unique pathways it provides gives boys and girls the opportunity to both develop as players and explore a wide range of roles within the industry, including research, coaching and performance analysis. The programme runs alongside GCSE, A-Levels and C-Tech courses.

As the new football coach, Mr Sullivan hopes to build a bigger girls’ football programme for both Truro School and Saints Southwest. No doubt, his experience at Argyle will be hugely valuable, and he has already got one aspiring England women’s team prospect here at our School.

He also says, “One of the big things here is to grow Truro School’s football programme and get it known on an international level. Growth is everything for the School and for Saints Southwest. We now have an exciting, big fixture programme here, and we will be organising twice-termly competitions for Truro School teams to play against Saints’ Teams. These experiences are hugely valuable in helping to broaden experience and confidence.”

We wish Mr Sullivan every success this term, and a warm welcome to the school.

CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS 2022

It was a pleasure to host Cornwall Schools’ Cross Country Championship, welcoming schools from across the county, including Bodmin College, Brannel, Camborne SI Academy, Falmouth, Five Islands, Hayle Academy, Humphry Davy School, Helston Community College, Launceston, Mounts Bay Academy, Newquay Tretherras, Penair, Penrice Academy, Penryn College, Richard Lander, Sir James Smith’s, Redruth, Saltash, St Ives School, The Roseland, Torpoint, Treviglas, Truro High School, Truro and Penwith College and Wadebridge.

Pupils ran varied distances in their age-relevant groups: Year 7 Boys (2940m) and Year 7 Girls (2300m), Junior Girls (3490m) and Junior Boys (4045m), Inter and Senior Girls (4045m) and Inter and Senior Boys (5790m).

Congratulations to all the participants, you all ran exceptionally well, and thank you to all the organisers for putting on such a successful event.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS’ FENCING CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Public Schools’ Fencing Championships took place at the Lee Valley Athletics Centre, London, from the 15 to 17 March 2022.

All of our fencers did amazingly well, with some stunning performances and determination shown by all.

Congratulations to everyone who took part and thanks to all of the parents, staff and helpers who made the trip such a success.

TRURO SCHOOL V SAINTS SOUTH WEST

It was a pleasure to welcome five Saints South West teams to play against our School teams in January, in the first block fixture between the two sides. The games were refereed by our FAaccredited Sixth Form students, who recently completed their FA Referee Course through the School’s Sixth Form Football Programme.

Mr Sanderson, Director of Sport at Truro School, said, “We are really pleased to show our partnership with Saints South West is progressing and working well, with a morning of football for over 100 young people to enjoy, supported by parents and coaches. A special thank you to all the staff who coached teams and to the grounds staff for preparing the pitches. The catering team once again provided excellent service and made the whole event a perfect start to the weekend.”

Mr Hooper, Head of Football, commented, “It was fantastic to be able to host a block fixture on a Saturday. All the games were closely contested and played in a wonderful spirit. The highlight for me was to see nine Sixth Form students officiate their first-ever football fixture after completing their FA Referee Course through the football programme.”