Trent College: U11 Tag Rugby Festival 2024
Our U11 Tag Rugby Festival provides the opportunity for pupils from local state primary schools to learn and play tag rugby in a fun and supportive environment.
A squad of 12 Year 6 pupils from each school were invited to join us for an afternoon of tag rugby. They all had a bespoke coaching session led by our 6th form students, followed by the opportunity to play a series of short matches against other primary schools attending.
The event ended with trophy presentations and a hot tea for all participants.
Aims
The aim of the festival was to provide an opportunity for children from local primary schools to meet and take part in a fun and friendly afternoon of tag rugby. There was an opportunity to develop and learn new skills through the coaching session at the start, and then to work as a team to showcase all they had learnt in the matches that they played.
The need was to provide the experience of playing tag rugby to children in our local community, providing appropriate pitches, specialist expertise and equipment for the game to be played in a fun and safe way.
For the festival to be a success, we needed 6 teams of pupils to attend, from schools in our local community. 60 pupils, 5 staff and 45 parents attended the event.
Background
The festival was introduced in 2020, as an additional sporting element for the primary school programme of events and activities co-ordinated by the External School Liaison Manager at Trent College.
It has run annually since (except in 2021 due to covid restrictions), led by the Director of Sport, Mr Mahony, and the Head of Rugby at Trent College.
Trent College is passionate about, and dedicated to, sharing it's facilities and specialist staff with external schools and partners in the local community.
Resources
The festival ran from 1.15pm to 4.00pm, so Trent College rugby pitches were used for the whole afternoon (2.5 hours).
There was 1 non-teaching staff member, and 2 teaching staff members dedicated for the afternoon to run and support the festival.
6 Year 12 Trent College students supported the festival through coaching and refereeing, and working with the primary school children.
The External School Liaison Manager managed the invitation and booking process communicating with schools, alongside working with the Estates and Catering teams to ensure the festival could run smoothly.
Refreshments were provided for all competitors, staff and visiting parents from 1.15 to 3.15pm.
All 60 pupils were given a hot tea at the end of the day in our main dining hall, and a buffet tea was provided for the 45 visiting parents.
Trophies were handed out for a player of each team, and a player of the tournament. Every child received a certificate of participation and a sports water bottle.
Impact
"Thank you for a wonderful afternoon. Our children loved the experience and I thought the coaches were excellent and made the experience a positive experience for the children." PE Lead, Bramcote Hills Primary School
"Thanks for a great day last week. The feedback from our parents and pupils was very positive." Deputy Head, Bramcote CofE Primary School
"It has been a brilliant afternoon. The children have loved it and really enjoyed playing tag rugby against the other schools." Year 6 teacher, West Bridgford Junior School
Pupil Involvement
60 mixed Year 6 pupils, aged 10-11, involved from 5 state primary schools, and 5 members of staff.
Frequency
The U11 Tag Rugby festival runs annually. This is the 3rd festival we have held, each one involving around 60 Year 6 pupils from local state primary schools.