At St. Margaret’s we consider sport to be an integral part of education and development and we are proud to be ISA Outstanding Sport for All Award 2021 finalists and to have been awarded the 2nd place trophy in the 2021 ISA Limitless Skills Series (a national online competition during lockdown).

Pupils have a full sporting programme, taught by specialist sports teachers, and we encourage healthy competition in PE and Games.

PE & Games

PE in the Early Years concentrates on developing ball skills building to small-sided games; athletics-type activities and gymnastics, in conjunction with work on apparatus. Football, netball, rugby, swimming, golf, cricket, badminton, hockey, athletics and cross country are all introduced as pupils move through the school. From Year 3, we offer traditional sports during Games lessons, which are not gender specific – we openly encourage our children to choose the sport that they are passionate about, whether it be netball or football, hockey or rugby.

All our Year 3-6 pupils take part in golf lessons with a PGA professional at the neighbouring Gosfield Lakes Golf Club course as part of the curriculum.

The School has close links with Gosfield Cricket Club, providing a high quality and picturesque setting for matches. The Braintree Hockey Club provides an astroturf venue which we use for hockey training and fixtures.

Matches & fixtures

The ethos of the Sports Department is to encourage all children to enjoy their sport and to obtain a high level of general fitness. During fixtures there are opportunities for all pupils irrespective of ability. Children are placed into teams in an environment that they should find challenging but that they can cope with. Though our A teams are selected on ability, matches are arranged to suit all abilities. If you would like to read our Team Selection Policy, please click the link below.

St. Margaret’s has a strong tradition of sporting excellence and success. The school competes in regional and national Independent Schools Association events, and regularly represents the eastern region in national finals.

Sports Scholarships

In 2021, two Scholarships for Sport were awarded to independent senior schools in the region. In 2020 there were five, in 2019 there were six, in 2018 there were four and in 2017 there were six awarded. A wonderful achievement for the Sports Department.

Sport for Fun

In September 2021, we introduced a new ‘Sport for Fun’ initiative, where children still learn the skills for sports we offer, but they do not play in competitive matches against other schools. The scheme is designed to ensure the wellbeing of pupils who do not want to compete in matches but wish to play against each other and still benefit from parental support at the match and enjoy a match tea!

Clubs

St. Margaret’s also offers a variety of clubs before and after school as well as a lunchtime multi sports club. Pre school clubs include cross country and the main sport of the term: football, netball, rugby, hockey, cricket, cross-country and athletics. After school clubs include golf, yoga, ballet, fencing, multi-sports, gymnastics, futsal and badminton.