Sport
Sport is an exciting and central part of every girl’s day. We are proud to punch well above our weight in competitive sport at local, district, county and national level. All year groups have fixtures throughout the year in our major sports of hockey, netball, tennis and athletics, as well as many other sports, including cricket, swimming and squash. There are regular House competitions in most sports.
Facilities
We have a stunning range of facilities and superb specialist coaching staff. There is a 6-lane/8-straight athletics track with external field areas, two floodlit AstroTurf pitches, which become 21 tennis courts in the summer, two further floodlit tennis/netball hard courts, three further floodlit tennis hard courts, a grass football pitch, and a 25m heated indoor swimming pool.
The Orchard Centre
The Orchard Centre is our state of the art indoor sports complex, comprising a main sports hall accommodating four badminton courts as well as indoor basketball and netball, a fitness suite (with 22 cardiovascular machines), two glass-backed squash courts, and two dance studios, one of them mirrored.
Junior Sport
In Year 7, all girls take part in our four major sports, hockey, netball, tennis and athletics, but also do gymnastics, swimming, cross-country and cricket. From Year 9 onwards, other options are available, including the fitness suite, basketball, volleyball, badminton, zumba, yoga, pilates and football. Individual tennis and athletics event coaching is available all year round. There is a huge range of other optional paid activities, including karate, fencing, trampolining, squash, ballet and modern dance, and we are able to make arrangements for coaching in other disciplines, such as golf, polo and table tennis, as required.
Senior Sport
From Year 10, most girls choose either hockey or netball to play competitively, but can also continue with tennis, athletics, swimming, squash, rounders, cross-country, or any of the other activities that are available. Every girl has the opportunity of up to two hours of sporting activity every day, and the Heads of House and tutors oversee their weekly timetable to ensure that they are maintaining a healthy balance in their lives. We run a programme of leadership activities and Sports Academy talks on topics such as nutrition, sport psychology and injury prevention. We take interested girls to the Girls Go Gold conference, and to international sports fixtures whenever possible. There is a trip to Flaine every year for the British Schools Ski Races competition, and a hockey and netball tour to South Africa every two years.
