Sport

Taunton School provides extensive, state-of-the-art sporting facilities across the 56-acre campus. There are exceptional indoor and outdoor facilities for traditional team games and other sports, including three indoor sports venues, two indoor swimming pools, a well-equipped fitness suite, eight netball courts, two multi-purpose Astro Turf pitches, a dance studio, an athletics area, two squash courts and a climbing wall, as well as our grass pitches for Cricket, Rugby and Football.

We are committed to providing quality support to all of our students looking to become elite sportsmen or women or who have a goal to develop individually, to support and guide them to maximise their potential.

 A weekly programme is run each term that all students in the school are able to access, whether that be in year group-specific clubs, or within individually programmed sessions. The programme focuses on the athletic development and fundamental movement skills which promote both moving correctly and developing robustness and resilience as they develop.

Within this programme, students can develop a programme that encompasses sport-specific needs or requirements if desired.

The Rugby Programme operates throughout the school academic year and has a dedicated Director of Rugby in post. We are able to put out at least 2 teams at every age group, and have a full fixture list playing schools across the South West. We also enter the U15 and U18 Natwest Cup National Schools competitions and play Rugby 7’s in the Spring Term, entering the West of England and Rossyln Park tournaments.

We have a good team of technically experienced coaches who are all enthusiasts who want the boys to share their passion for the game. It is a sport that requires control, trust and loyalty and we expect all our players to demonstrate this on and off the field.

During the Summer term and August, the pre-season programme is in place to prepare the players for a strong and challenging fixture list.

We are supporters of Taunton Rugby Club, have links to North Petherton and Wellington RFC and are fully supportive of our large number of players involved with Premiership academies. We support Exeter Chiefs, Bath and Bristol with our player development and offer performance profiling to help our students identify strengths and weaknesses to achieve their goals.

The Hockey programme operates throughout all three terms of the school academic year and has a dedicated Director of Hockey in post, Laura Bennett. Laura who is currently an FIH Level 3 qualified coach has coached for over a decade and has experience coaching both boys and girls. We offer opportunities to play both indoor and outdoor hockey, including regular weekly fixtures against other schools and enter the England Hockey Schools National Competitions in both the indoor and outdoor competitions.

We offer a specific goal keeper club for all goal keepers to receive technical sessions, and offer 1:1 and open-pitch sessions for all students to access and use the pitches independently when they have spare time. Students can also book into specific one to one or small group sessions where they can work with coaches directly to improve. This is complemented by the ability to use video analysis of both sessions and matches to aid development.

We have links to Taunton Vale Hockey Club, ISCA and Exeter University and are fully supportive of a large number of players in the England Hockey Player Pathway. We offer performance profiling to help individuals identify strengths and weaknesses and take ownership of their development. We also offer specific club sessions to support players throughout the system.

The Netball Programme operates throughout the school academic year and has a dedicated Head of Netball in post. Provision for netball is extensive and allows students of all abilities to develop their own personal skills at recreation or team level. We have five senior teams and three teams for the Under 15 and 14 age groups. We have regular fixtures against many school teams around the South West. The school participates in the National Schools competition which takes place throughout the year. Students can book into 1:1 or small-group sessions to work on specific individual skills or attend the weekly shooting clinic.

We have numerous players playing at Satellite Academy, County Academy, Regional Academy, Regional Performance Academy, NPFL or Senior Regional League level. We also have close links with local clubs and several of our girls attend weekly evening sessions to further develop their netball.

The Cricket Programme operates throughout the school academic year, with a dedicated Director of Cricket in post. The director of Cricket is assisted by Marcus Trescothick, England’s assistant coach and Dave Roberts, Somerset CCC Coach. The winter indoor programme focuses on skill and technical, tactical and psychological development as well as a specific strength and conditioning programme, with the summer term being the predominant competition season, where pupils attend sessions in games using the 7 grass pitches and 9 artificial net lanes.

We hope that all the players will come away with the self-satisfaction of knowing that they have developed as cricketers, enjoyed the experience and made a group of friends who will stay with them for the rest of their lives. We have a good team of technically experienced coaches who want the students to share their passion and develop their knowledge and understanding of the game.

We compete in both boys and girls Cricket competitions. The boys cricket is played as block fixtures on Saturday afternoon, interspersed with the National T20 Cup matches. The Girls have both Senior and Junior (U15) teams who play a competitive weekend and midweek fixture list as well as entering the National U15 Indoor Competition and National School Sports Magazine Cup.

The school has strong relationships with many of the local cricket clubs in the area and we sponsor the junior section of Taunton Deane Cricket Club. We also have a number of players involved in both District and County Cricket, so our relationship with both Somerset Cricket Board and Somerset Cricket Club is fundamental in moving our cricket programme forward.

In 2022, 27 senior schools students were selected to various County Cricket programmes and pathways (Somerset, Devon, Cornwall, Wiltshire), including 5 girls, of which 2 have been selected for the Western Storm Academy.
In 2023, 28 senior school boys and girls were selected to various County Cricket programmes and pathways (Somerset, Devon, Cornwall, Wiltshire), including four pupils being on the Somerset and Western Storm Academy.

The Tennis Programme operates throughout the school academic year, and has a dedicated Director of Tennis in post. Opportunities to train and have 1:1 sessions all year around enable tennis players to develop throughout the year, culminating in a full fixture programme in the summer term. The experienced coaching team consists of both full and part-time professionals who are available for individual and group coaching sessions seven days a week.

Each year we enter teams into Senior students’ competitions such as the Aberdare and Glanville cup, whilst completing a full calendar of competitive boys and girls fixtures. Teams also play in the local West Somerset league, giving our students the chance to compete against the best tennis clubs in the county.

We have links to the Taunton Tennis Centre at Blackbrook and have a number of players representing Somerset County.

We fully engage in an athletics programme throughout the summer term, with a long-standing tradition of producing excellent athletes over a number of years.

Participation is high, with a large number of students representing the school regularly over the season at weekend fixtures and ESAA competitions, both team and individual. 

The training sessions combine specific fitness, skill and technical sessions within all of the events, with specialist coaches running each of the disciplines.

Students are encouraged to participate in a number of different events, but can also specialise.

The Swimming Programme operates throughout the school academic year and has a dedicated Head of Swimming Development. With weekly team training slots, students can access swimming sessions to suit their level of development.

The programme is set up in a variety of formats to suit all levels of swimmers, with links with Taunton Deane Swimming Club to create an overall swimming programme that caters for swimmers at all levels.

We enter the ESSA Relay Championships and Bath Cup, and have a regular fixture list against schools in the South West – including the Meade King Cup.

Football is played in both the Autumn and Spring terms, enabling students to either fully focus on football for two terms or combine football with other sports within the school during different terms. Our three teams play a large number of fixtures, including in the ISCA League, against other schools and colleges in the region. 

We also have strong links with both Somerset and Taunton Area football at U18, U16 and U15 level. In addition, a number of students play for local football teams, and we have had players join ISFA national teams.

Basketball is played in both the Autumn and Spring terms, enabling students to either fully focus on basketball or combine basketball with other sports within the school during different terms. There are regular fixtures throughout both terms, and students compete in the South West Independent Schools League.

We have had players in the past representing Taunton Tigers, a local team with many different squads at all levels.

Squash is played in both the Autumn and Spring terms. We enter both the National Schools Cup and the Somerset League, and play a number of friendly fixtures against schools in the South West. There is an option to sign up for 1:1 coaching.

Cross Country season is predominantly in the Spring term, but Run Club happens in all three terms, enabling students to actively run together at a variety of levels. The competitions are very varied, with the option of participating in road and hill races of varying distances, and the National Schools Competition.

We have a number of students who represent the school in a variety of equestrian disciplines — competing in many of the NSEA events around the South West and qualifying for the national stages of competition.

With a dedicated member of staff to support the Equestrian team, the number of riders and competitions entered has steadily increased over the years. 

Students can also participate in Horse Riding throughout the games programme on Thursday afternoons, which are based on mixed abilities taking part in a varied range of skill and technical sessions — this is available to riders at all levels.

As a school we promote healthy, active and social wellbeing as primary lifelong participation attributes in sport.

In addition to offering the athletic development sessions, we recognise that students like to access the fitness suite for different individual reasons. Therefore, students can access the fitness suite throughout the games programme, which involves mixed abilities taking part in a varied range of skill and technical sessions with qualified fitness instructors. This may be to support them with the development of training programmes, or simply to develop their knowledge of a range of exercises. There are supervised sessions in the evening for boarders to attend.