Another fantastic trip to the PGL centre for a weekend full on Netball, football and PGL activities. This is the 3rd year we have taken pupils from years 7-9 to experience a trip that encourages independence, resilience, communication, and self-management. Our pupils again behaved impeccably and showed their ability to adapt to a variety of situations. It was especially nice to get the chance to return following the postponement in recent years due to the pandemic.
Our netballers demonstrated a high level of resilience and were able to improve massively over a very short and intense period. Pupils who had never experienced a netball tournament to those who take part regular in and outside of school had the chance to show other schools what being an Etone Learner is all about. For Year 7 and 8 it was a sharp learning curve as some had not experience this level of competition before. However, they worked together and improved their netball skills and understanding throughout. It was also great to see such lovely friendships developing amongst the younger pupils and their own self-belief and confidence sky rocketing. Year 9 topped their division against 6 other schools taking them through to the semis and with an amazing comeback win in the semis they had to face the one team who had beaten them in the rounds in the final. The year 9’s demonstrated pure grit and determination to push through to the final whistle. They lost by 2 goals coming second overall but were winners with their positive attitudes, teamwork, and tenacity. We are all extremely proud of our Year 9 students.
This year was the first time we tock boys to take part in the football coaching sessions. The coaches were excellent and are based at Swindon Town so are coaching regular at professional level. The boys really enjoyed the coaching and came back to the cabins practicing any skills they had learnt or developed. There activities were Archery, Jacobs Ladder – a team building exercise and abseiling. For some of our students this was the first time they had taken part in Archery or even seen a harness. Like a girls you could see over the space of a weekend the boys develop their independence and for the year 7’s their self-management skills.
The students always impress us as staff when we take them away on any trip or fixture. We as a department are extremely proud of our sports students and we can not wait to start planning for PGL next year.
