Prep School Life

    Sport at Bryanston Prep

    We believe it is important to grow an interest in sport early in life and develop skills to take into adulthood.

    From Nursery onwards, we teach the physical benefits of being active but just as importantly, we support them in building self-esteem and confidence, train mental agility and develop team bonding skills.

    Sport is integral to our school life and every child has sport lessons during the week, as well as the opportunity to take part in a varied programme of extracurricular sports clubs. These include gymnastics, cross-country, riding, fencing, dance, polo and swimming.

    Often these sessions are taught by the heads of specific sports from the senior school as well as external specialists. When not playing in team matches, children are offered the opportunity to take part in extra training, also often with senior school coaches.

    Physical education

    Physical education and wellbeing

    Our PE and wellbeing programme within the curriculum consists of:

    • Functional movement
    • Swimming & survival skills
    • Developing play
    • Hand-eye coordination
    • Nutrition
    • Leadership & problem solving
    Prep school cricket

    Seasonal sporting experiences

    • From Reception, all children swim weekly at Bryanston Sports Centre
    • In the autumn term, girls play hockey and boys play football and Rugby 7s
    • In the spring term, girls play netball and boys play hockey
    • In the summer term, both girls and boys take part in cricket, athletics and tennis
    • A running club is also available in the fairer weather; either cross country around the surrounding area or the local park run on Saturday

    There’s a sport for everyone at Bryanston Prep. Whether it’s just for fun, or to train and compete at a high level, entering local, IAPS and North Dorset competitions.

    We compete against local schools on a weekly basis and enjoy the competitive spirit of being part of the local schools’ community. We regularly represent North Dorset and have competed at National Prep School events.

    A unique benefit of our prep sports programme is that those who have a particular talent and ability, have the opportunity to play for the senior school teams. We have had children represent Bryanston for Year 9 and Year 10 teams for hockey, football, netball and swimming.

    Prep school gymnastics

    Gymnastics

    Gymnastics is all about body mechanics and body conditioning. Practice might well lead to somersaults and cartwheels, but more importantly, this discipline leads to quality and control of movement. We are looking to instil the importance of basic skills done well. 

    Focus, concentration and building strength of movement leads to being able to increase the complexity of a gym sequence. Within the skills we differentiate, taking one mechanical action i.e. a cartwheel, then encouraging pupils to extend their own skills, progressing on to a round-off and from there to a round-off one-handed.

    In the gym, we explore the idea of the counterbalance. This is a great way to practise working with a partner, developing trust and supporting each other.

    We encourage our children to be confident in using their bodies, which can then be applied to other sports and aspects of our curriculum. With our older children, we draw on their knowledge of science. For example, if they are struggling to master a particular movement, we ask them to consider the physics of it, forces and angles, and their body’s possibilities.

    Extra information

    Contact us

    Ask a member of the Bryanston Prep School team a question.

    Open mornings

    We encourage parents to visit the school and hold regular open mornings.

    Term dates

    Details of events taking place during the school term can be found on the school calendar.