Parents-Information-Handbook-2016-2017

Page 119
Section 4 - Life Beyond the Classroom
Sport
These competitions all count towards the House Shield, which is awarded annually. All pupils are
encouraged to take part in House competitions during the year as part of their commitment to the extracurricular
programme.
Physical Education plays an important part in the extra curricular-programme. A major emphasis of the
programme is including the ‘sport for all’ alongside the pursuit of excellence and School representation in
the major sports teams. These include rugby, boys’ and girls’ hockey, netball, football, cricket, tennis,
rounders, swimming and athletics. Ratcliffe has a very strong reputation for the quality of its sports
teams and all pupils are encouraged to join in. The School has a number of students who represent their
County and also some who compete nationally. Practices take place after School, with inter-School
fixtures on Saturday mornings and afternoons and occasional mid-week matches. In addition, we try to
offer a wide range of activities for pupils to enjoy, including basketball, badminton, fencing, Tae Kwon
Do, golf and the use of the fitness suite (students in Year 10 and above), life saving and swimming
training. The School also has a very active equestrian team that regularly competes in local and national
competitions. Whether or not pupils are a beginner, an expert or keen to learn and improve, they are
welcome to try any or all of the activities.
Being selected to represent the School in a sport is an honour and a privilege. If a student is selected for a
team, the School expects that they will be available to represent the School in all fixtures. If there is a
reason why a student cannot participate in a fixture, parents must let the School know by following the
procedures set out below:
1. Firstly, a letter must be written by the student’s parents to their sports coach, explaining the reason
why their son/daughter is unable to play. This should be done at the earliest opportunity, and where
possible, no later than two weeks prior to the fixture date. The sports coach will contact parents or,
where a Graduate Assistant is the coach, the Head of that Sport will contact the parents to discuss
the request.
2. If, in the unlikely event that agreement cannot be reached, the parents will then be required to
communicate with the Director of Sport. The Director of Sport will discuss the request further to
resolve the matter.
3. If the matter remains unresolved following a conversation with the Director of Sport, he will
contact the Headmaster and share the request with him. The parents will then be asked to
communicate their request to the Headmaster. The Headmaster may meet with parents to discuss
the matter further or contact parents by letter or telephone.
4. Parents are respectfully reminded of their commitment to School Sport as outlined in the Parent
Contract.
Section 4 - Sport - Senior School