Every girl matters

At Moreton Hall School, PE is an important part of school life. Here's what they have coming up in their sporting calendar...

Posted by Rianna Newman | September 03, 2017 | Sports & Leisure

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• #physical-education
• #athletics
• #education
• #independent-education

Sport for each and for every girl; this is the philosophy at Moreton Hall in Shropshire. The approach to sport is all about the individual. A totally bespoke approach; from carefully managed programmes for aspiring elite athletes, to the overall enjoyment of sport for a student’s physical and mental wellbeing.

It is a school that has been on the sporting map for a long time, due to their continued success at lacrosse on a national and international level, with students playing for England and Wales. This passion and dedication to lacrosse has expanded across the whole sporting field. Sporting success is not just about elite achievements but the benefit of physical education being part of your everyday life at school – and when you leave. How sport is approached at Moreton, exemplifies how they value each and every girl, whatever their capability, and ensure that they are engaging in sport relevant for their ability and potential. In an environment such as Moreton provides, no student is lost – they are encouraged and developed at the rate that works for them. 

Elite initiative

As a girls-only school, the sports department has the time, passion and drive to ensure that the high-performance athletes are equipped to shine in their chosen field. There are some exciting initiatives that have recently launched and some that are about to launch. Last September was the first year of the ‘Elite Sports Scholarship Programme’. Students that are successful on this day can be awarded a scholarship for entry in advance of their year of entry and this will be held for them. They also benefit from then partaking in an ‘Elite Scholarship Programme’ until they join Moreton – with top-quality training from international, regional and highly specialist coaches; lacrosse, hockey, netball, athletics, swimming, golf, tennis, cricket, cross country and athletics.

Totally dedicated

When a sports scholar joins the school she joins other sports scholars and aspiring sportswomen on the ‘Dedicated Athlete Programme’; launching in September 2017. They will have a programme developed specifically for them, around their school and home life; training, nutrition, functional movement screening, targeted strength and conditioning workshops, mental training workshops and visits to key institutions to meet with talent pathway athletes. 

In addition to this there are yet more new developments at Moreton Hall. A Golf Academy is starting; to enhance and develop the existing golfers in the school, to attract new talent and to encourage others to join in with the sport.     

Golden opportunity

On 28 September, 10 of the senior ‘Dedicated Athletes’ will be fortunate enough to attend the Girls for Gold Conference in London, where Judy Murray and Frank Lampard will be keynote speakers. They will be inspired by Olympians, meet other focused young women and learn more about how sport is for fun but can become a career path for them in various ways. 

Taking talent on tour 

It does not stop there! Sports tours are in the calendar for 2018 and 2019. Year 7 and 8 girls are off to Prague in March 2018 to play lacrosse and hockey, lower 5th through to upper 6th are heading to California in July 2019 for lacrosse and hockey. 

Alison McDonald, Director of Sport at Moreton Hall said: “This is an exciting phase for the development of sport at Moreton Hall as we are building programmes to ensure that the students that have a passion for all things sport, understand what they need to do to achieve their goals. At the same time – we emphasise the value of health, wellbeing and physical activity for everyone. Our aim is make sure that we focus on the individual in everything – and deliver on our senior school mantra that ‘every girl matters’.”