Finding a sporty school for our family.

[TheKentFamily]

Hello!

Can anyone please help us, we’re looking to put our Niece and Nephew in to a private/independent school that specialises in sports. Unfortunately, we have not been able to get a response from lots of schools in London. They are 6 and 4 and are quite sporty. Can anyone direct me to any specific schools in London but more importantly, direct contact information e.g. email address of any: Head of Sports, Sports Coordinators, ExtraCurricular Coordinators.

Thanks so much x

At 6 and 4 they may seem quite sporty but they are little kids. Habs boys and girls give the children opportunities to partake in many different sports but they may decide to learn a musical instrument or become artistic. Or just concentrate on science and win a Nobel prize.

I don’t think any schools for that age would ‘specialise’ in sports. They will want the children to try lots of different things, sport, music, drama etc.

Hi all,

Thank you for this information! We of course want them to try everything, I think our main problem at the moment is trying to find the right person to speak too, the staff directories are very vague and not getting much help over the phone.

Would be very helpful if it were possible to speak to anyone from the extra curricular team regardless of the activity!

Thanks as always x

I agrees, very few schools specialise at sport at such a young age. Would it be worth finding specialist senior school and seeing if there’s junior schools attached to them?

Alternatively, send them to a regular independent school, and find good sport clubs out of school.

Milfield (in Somerset) is probably the top sports school in the country and has a pre-prep and prep department.

I think the Senior school with a junior branch route seems the best!, would you recommend any particular schools in the London area ? Would love to speak with someone directly and not go through the gen enquiry/switchboard route x

Prep age schools don’t really have specific extra curricular staff. You just need to take a look round the schools and ask questions when you’re there. There probably isn’t a particular person to speak to which is why you’re not getting much further than the school secretary or receptionist!
Are the children boys or girls? The big all through London schools tend to be academically selective which may or may not be an issue.

Check goodschoolsguide.co.uk or londonprep.com.

Why don’t you sign up for some open days? Sports staff might well be available at those. Otherwise, I think you might be limited to speaking to the admissions team. Looking at a school that website will give you a feel of which sports they offer. None will do external fixtures until Yr3 (7+) and some might wait until Yr5 (9+).
However sporty a school is, so much depends on the rest of the cohort. If your child is a football star but there are only a few children in the year, then there won’t be much choice as to who is in the football team. Even if a bigger school, you might find that they’re just not a particularly sporty year. Or you might find that those serious about sport are doing external clubs rather than school ones as they want specialist coaching.

Londonpreprep.com, typo earlier

My daughter is 6 years old and currently attends a very active independent school in the North of England. While the school strongly encourages physical activity and offers a wide range of extracurricular opportunities, it focuses on providing a well-rounded education at this stage rather than specialising in sport.

When we were looking into school places, we contacted the school by phone and attended their open week to get a real sense of the environment and ethos.

I do find it quite surprising that some schools aren’t getting back to you. With the VAT changes on school fees now in place, and so many independent schools under financial pressure — some even closing — you’d expect them to be more responsive to enquiries. If you’re not hearing back, it may be a sign the school is struggling or possibly in the process of closing

Milfield is also a boarding school so would suit families based elsewhere.

Don’t be a pain in the backside pushy parent. Let them try everything and see what they excel at as they get older. And just so you know in our all inclusive comprehensive, which is inclusive to all, we have 2 under 18 England golfers, a snowboard champion, England Equestrian team riders, UK sailing team members, county champions at 100 metre and cross country, England swimmers and our under 16 football team beat every school in the district. We have 2 girls going to Premier football teams, an apprentice McClaren driver…..etc
do you get the picture?

They normally have a contact for the admissions team on their websites - these are the people who will be able to tell you when open days are, how to book a tour/visit, how to apply for places. Look for the admission team contact details, you don't need to contact specific staff members like the head of pe/sports, they won't be in a position to support prospective pupils/guardians and are more likely to ignore random emails or forward them to the admissions team anyway.

I'd have a look at The Good Schools Guide, muddy stilletos (not sure if they cover london too but they do the cotswolds and Oxfordshire) and The Times have a list of the good independents with details of what they're like. All independent schools normally do lots of sports, with great sporting facilities, pools etc and they're generally more sporty that state schools and all of them will offer great facilities and extra curricular activities, so I'd visit a few and get a feel for what else would suit your niece and nephew as well as just sports (teaching styles, size, facilities, culture, academics, trips, opportunities, where pupils go next, core values, religious/non religious - these things are all very important and will shape their school experience, you should make sure the school is a good fit in a broad range of areas)

Thank you all for your help - lots of clarity on this now

You need to go through the admissions team you can’t just ring direct the sports teachers etc if the kids don’t go there plus I don’t really understand what you will get from speaking to them anyway for such young children. How far out of London do you want to go? Further out obviously likely to have better facilities and more space. They are so little and who knows what they will be good at. Our son adores sport but had no interest in art at 5 or 6 he refused to even colour in. He has just gone to secondary and it was only in the last year of primary that he suddenly became really interested in art in year 8 and is getting a grade 8, def not from us as neither of us can draw a stick man so best to have an all rounder school that encourages everything so they can explore what they love/are good at.

Millfield is the school for sport.

Any good independent school is going to encourage a broad range of extra curricular activities. The key thing is where do you live? Do don’t want to be crossing London every day. You will need to speak to the Registrar of the school. Look at the ISC and IAPS webpages and search on your area.

Look at preps too. I feel that they are the best, better than through-schools.

I wouldn't overlook grassroots sport outside school.

I know this sounds daft - but for London schools, check that their playing fields are on site, or at least easily accessible, rather than miles away.

I don’t know any specific schools to advise @TheKentFamily but I agree with others – go and look at possible schools (location and commute must come into it here) and see what they say.

Most private schools will have a good sports offer tbh but you can ask about this when you visit.

They are very young anyway – just for reference and as a couple of examples, junior football (matches but no leagues) starts in year 2 and competitive athletics not until a child is 9 – and even then opportunities are limited. So they may have to wait a bit before they can compete or even train very much tbh.

I would assume any schools not getting back to you is because you aren’t the parents? Even if you’ll be contributing financially, the contract will be with the parents so they’ll want to deal with them.

Don't be ridiculous! You sign up for an Open Day and go visit the school like everyone else. Sports teachers aren't going to be ringing aunty and uncle about their Olympian 6 and 4 Yr olds. This is the fastest way to put kids off sport for life..

(Work in independent school admissions)
Not sure what response you are expecting from contacting sports staff? Look at schools’ websites for admissions processes and to find out what facilities, sports provision and ethos they have, go visit, choose the one you thing they will get the best opportunities at, whilst meeting the admissions criteria and being able to get there. You won’t get a scholarship if that’s what you are thinking - sporty 4 year olds might not be sporty 14 year olds and VAT has killed a lot of financial support. Still, sports provision is massively better in independent than state so it’s a good place to start, but the right school for each child overall, not just sport, is the most important thing.

Most decent London schools are super competitive to get into, you approach them, they don't approach you 🙄