At St Mary's, we offer our pupils a plethora of sporting opportunities. All children have the opportunity to take part in a minimum of two inter-school competitions by the time they leave in Year 6, ranging from inclusive events held at St Mary's to attending the Somerset Finals after a qualifying round in the Sedgemoor area.
We have three tiers of events on offer to our pupils:
Most Inclusive
Open to everyone who would like to take part (but can be limited due to the nature of the event). Competition is only important if you want it to be.
e.g.
- Cross Country is open to all children that would like to attend in KS2. We recently had over 70 pupils representing the school and St Mary's are 2024's Sedgemoor Cross Country Champions!
- The Year 6 year group are going to attend an afternoon per class at the Bridgwater Bowling Club in the Summer term.
- The St Mary's Aqua Splash Festival held annually in December is open to children less confident in the water but want to take part in competitive water-based games.
- The London Mini Marathon held onsite for all children to take part in.
- Our Sports Day, which includes team events for House Points and a choice of competitive individual events open to all children wanting to take part/compete.
Inclusive but competitive (Friendly Fixtures and Tournaments)
Restricted to a limited number of pupils (usually due to the nature of the event) and the aim is to compete. The team is chosen based on individual's effort and the ability to take part following the rules etc.
e.g.
- Tag Rugby competitions held at St Mary's, inviting other schools to take part in a friendly event.
- The St Mary's Swimming Gala held annually in January is inclusive for all children to take part, with the expectation that they are able to swim 25m in a competitive situation.
- Football tournaments and fixtures organised against other schools to provide opportunities to develop skills.
Competitive
Events that require a team to be chosen to represent the school, competing against other strong teams. This usually involves qualifiers to a county finals.
e.g.
- The Bridgwater Schools Swimming Gala is held annually and is attended by the best swimmers in the town and surrounding area. For this event, entering children that are not completely water confident could lead to a safety risk and potential for the event to de-motivate themselves due to the fierce competition. Trials are held for this event.
- The Bridgwater Netball League requires a small team of dedicated netballers to compete against teams across the town.
- The Area Sports Athletics, held in the summer term against most schools in Sedgemoor. We have won this event for the past two years.