Last year just under 300,000 people participated in rugby union in England (1) and since September a hundred more students at a school in Coulsdon have joined their number.

At the start of term Oasis Academy Coulsdon joined the CBRE All Schools rugby programme, a six year project funded by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) helping the school to become a ‘rugby school.’ The funding for the first three years will be spent at the Academy, and the following three years given to local rugby club (Old Caterhamians RFC) in a bid to form links between the Academy and local clubs.

In partnership with the Academy’s PE Department, two coaches from Old Caterhamians and coaches from the RFU have established new, mixed gender rugby clubs after school on Mondays for younger students and on a Thursday for seniors. Uptake has been hugely positive with over a hundred students taking part regularly.

The exciting opportunities are not just on the pitch however; students and staff have attended coaching clinics, helping to grow their knowledge of the game and develop leadership skills. A number of senior students have already started to support a local primary school tag rugby festival where they have assisted in the refereeing and running of the tournaments and received amazing feedback from teachers and parents.

Commenting on the new partnership, Oasis Academy Coulsdon Principal Andy Booth says “We are so grateful to the RFU and the opportunities provided by the CBRE All Schools rugby programme – opportunities which so many of our students have embraced this term.”

“It is great to see both boys and girls, from every year group, try a new sport without hesitation. They are really enjoying the health benefits as well as all the core values that a team sport like rugby teaches you, and have already started to coach and referee local primary school matches. We look forward to cementing this partnership over the next few years.”

Dan Buckland, Rugby Development Officer for the RFU, added:

“It’s fantastic to see the huge success of the Oasis Academy CBRE All Schools programme within its first season. During the first three months we have seen over 100 pupils participate in weekly after-school rugby sessions and nearly every student within the academy has participated in a form of rugby union in their usual classes.”

“These sessions have been run by either the school teachers or a member of the RFU rugby coaching staff, this success has also shown in the transition numbers to local rugby club Old Caterhamians RFC. The success to date has being down to buy in from the whole school but predominantly lead by Mr Attenborough, to whom we are extremely grateful.”

The Academy has also played their first competitive match against Warlingham School. While the new team was disappointed to lose, they received only positive feedback from their Head of PE, Niall Attenborough,

“Taylor Williamson was our captain and all the boys demonstrated the core values of rugby, teamwork, discipline, respect, enjoyment and sportsmanship. These have been the emphasis of the CBRE All Schools programme, and every one of them was a credit to the Academy - they never gave up.”

Mr Attenborough has more plans for the upcoming months.

“We are currently looking into the organising of a rugby trip abroad to a professional rugby club sometime next year where we hope to take thirty to fifty students away for five days to both compete and train at a professional club.”

CBRE All Schools, launched by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) in September 2012, aims to increase the number of secondary state schools playing rugby union in England and to encourage new players to join local clubs.

CBRE All Schools has already introduced rugby to 600 state secondary schools, with plans to to extend this to 750 by the Rugby World Cup in 2019.

CBRE All Schools aims to create a positive legacy for 1 million children over ten years – making school life happier and healthier, reducing anti-social behaviour, enhancing learning and increasing self-esteem.

For more information please visit www.englandrugby.com/allschools