Departments

Physical Education

Our comprehensive curricular programme is grounded in the pursuit of ‘sport for all’. We strive to encourage participation through a variety of sporting programmes, ensuring that every student seeking a competitive or social atmosphere can find their place. Unlike any other subject, PE’s main medium is human movement, so it is all about learning through action. It is a vital part of a young adult’s total education. Not only does it have huge physical implications but also contributes to many aspects of the students’ learning and development. Leadership, sportsmanship, fair play, officiating, analytical minds, evaluative approaches and communication are at the heart of all PE lessons at St Paul’s.

Students playing lacrosse on the field.

Curriculum

In the Lower School, all students will take part in lacrosse, netball, athletics and swimming as their core sports. Alongside this, they will also get the chance to try various other activities, for example fitness, dance, gym and basketball. As they progress throughout the school, students will be able to rotate through a range of sessions, including squash, yoga, rowing, Zumba, tennis, water polo, volleyball and more, in addition to the main sports of netball, lacrosse and athletics. The aim is to ensure all students can find the sport that suits them and develop an enduring commitment to an active lifestyle.

Students playing netball at the Pavilion.

Facilities

The facilities at St Paul’s are outstanding. The main school site hosts our sports hall, equipped for badminton, basketball, gymnastics, football, netball, volleyball, tennis and trampolining, and with a large viewing gallery upstairs.

Our multi-gym and fitness studio are state of the art and after an induction session, students in the VI-VIII (Years 11-13) can use this facility during their free time to develop their fitness. The fitness studio is complete with a sprung dance floor, yoga/gymnastic mats and two flat screens with Apple TV, making it versatile for many of the clubs we have on offer.

Next door is the multi-gym, complete with four treadmills, stationary bikes, ellipticals and ergo machines as well as weights and kettlebells for both strength and cardiovascular improvement. A short walk away is our 25 metre, six-lane indoor competition swimming pool. This is a fantastic aquatic centre, which is also used for lifesaving training, synchronised swimming, water polo and diving, and has a large viewing area upstairs.

Next to the pool, we have our newly renovated pavilion and sport specific courts, which facilitate an array of sporting opportunities. The new pavilion has two classroom spaces complete with Apple TV and an indoor training and weights centre. In the winter there are two lacrosse pitches and four netball courts, while the summer months transform the facility into an athletics centre, with a six lane 300 metre track plus specific areas for all of the field events, four rounders pitches and four tennis courts. For rowing we use the facilities at Fulham Reach Boat House and Tideway Scullers for the V-VIII (Years 10-13), both of which are located on the scenic River Thames. We have a range of boats and rowing is offered both in the curricular and extracurricular programmes.

To explore our sports provision beyond the classroom, please click here.

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Physics

Physics