Sport
'All the parents we spoke to praised sport. ‘Very important and very diverse; there are girls playing on the cricket and football teams,’ said one.’'
Good Schools Guide
Why St Andrew’s for Sport?
Our ‘sport for all’ mantra gives every child the opportunity to flourish and live a healthy and active life. We are fortunate enough to have a combination of outstanding facilities and committed, highly experienced staff who ensure pupils strive for their best, but most of all enjoy their sport each and every day, regardless of age or ability. That being said, we are very proud that a number of our children are awarded sports scholarships, year after year.
Facilities
How much sport will my child play?
What sport is on offer?
Fixtures
Celebrating sporting achievements outside of St Andrew’s
Our full-sized all-weather Astro pitch is used for hockey, tennis, athletics, and co-curricular clubs like American football. Our Sports Centre has a climbing wall, 25 m indoor swimming pool, dance studio and large sports hall. This is big enough to house 5 badminton courts; the hall also has four indoor cricket nets, and ample space for indoor hockey, netball, basketball, and roller skating (obviously, not all at the same time).
We also have 54 acres of grounds, which hold ten football pitches, seven cricket pitches, five netball courts and a cross country course.
Coached by our specialist sport teachers, Nursery receives up to 1.5 hours, Reception around 2 hours, and Year 1 and 2 about 2.5 hours, every week.
In the Prep School, our pupils are coached for at least one hour of sport every day, including at least one competitive match every week.
The girls play hockey, netball, football, swimming, athletics, tennis and cricket, whilst the boys' games are football, rugby, hockey, swimming, athletics, tennis and cricket. With girls’ football increasing in popularity, it was introduced to our sports timetable in 2021, and we are currently exploring options for girls’ rugby. Swimming is also available throughout the year in our 25 m heated indoor pool and all children swim every week. For major team sports, girls and boys are usually taught separately.
Our co-curricular programme offers even more diverse opportunities including dance, dodgeball, golf, fencing and taekwondo.
Matches are generally on Wednesday afternoons for Years 5 – 8 (Middles and Seniors), although younger pupils, Years 3 and 4 (Juniors), often play on Fridays. Teams are run from Year 3 (under 8s) to senior level (under 13s) in a wide variety of sports including athletics, cricket, cross-country, football, golf, hockey, lacrosse, netball, rugby, swimming and tennis. The high number of School fixtures arranged during the school year ensure that the maximum number of children have the opportunity of representing their school in a team, irrespective of their ability.
A number of our children achieve sporting success outside of St Andrew’s, including Berkshire and Oxfordshire District and County cricket player pathway, District and County Team selection (girls and boys), Regional Qualification for show-jumping and dressage, and at the National cross-country championships. One of our pupils became National Champions with her dance partner for DRF Rock and Roll.
