Schools across England celebrate rugby success

One hundred schools from across England are today being celebrated for helping to introduce over 130,000 new students to rugby, thanks to completing a three-year programme developed by England Rugby.

The schools, which stretch across the nation from London, Bristol, Birmingham, to Manchester, Leeds, and Exeter, are 100 of the 400 schools participating in CBRE All Schools - a programme run by England Rugby which provides state secondary schools with a bespoke three-year delivery plan and package of funding, resources and support, to help embed rugby as a sport and ethos in their school.

Each of this year’s ‘graduating’ schools adopted CBRE All Schools in 2013, and have since successfully engaged with girls and boys aged between 11 – 16 years old, and introduced them to the sport, by running rugby training sessions during curriculum time and after school, so that thousands more pupils can experience and enjoy rugby throughout England.  

With the help of these schools, the programme, now in its fourth year, has seen over 130,000 state school students last year actively participate in rugby union across England, of which 33% are female, according to research by Sheffield Hallam University.

As well as increasing overall participation to rugby union, research also showed that 70% of young people taking part were more confident as a result.  Evidence also showed that the core values of rugby had also been adopted by staff and pupils alike, with nearly two thirds (63%) of schools reporting pupils showing signs of embodying Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline and Sportsmanship, demonstrating that CBRE All Schools can also have an impact on attitudes and behaviour in classrooms, leaving a positive educational legacy.

Through the programme many students were also trained as ICAP Young Leaders, meaning they seeing numbers rise to more than 2,600 students trained across the programme and many went on to join local community rugby clubs across the UK.

Of this year’s graduating schools, there were also positive signs of sustainability, with 95% of schools continuing to provide rugby union as part of their school curriculum, and three quarters of schools have built rugby into their long-term strategy for PE, with demand for the game appearing to be student-led.

Steve Grainger, RFU Development Director said:  “It is great to see so many more people playing and engaging in rugby thanks to CBRE All Schools. The 100 graduating schools should be immensely proud of what they have achieved over the past three years. We are determined to keep the momentum up as we expand the programme further and work towards meeting our target of introducing 750 schools to the programme by Rugby World Cup in Japan 2019.”

Ciaran Bird, Managing Director at CBRE UK added: "CBRE are very proud of all the achievements that have been made by the students, schools, coaches and clubs across England in ensuring rugby and its values are accessible throughout schools at all levels. Thanks to the persistence and passion of the teachers and coaches, 100 CBRE All Schools are able to provide more children opportunities to learn and develop through the skills and ethos gained through rugby.”

CBRE All Schools began in 2012 as a legacy programme to the Rugby World Cup with the aim of attracting 1 million students, across 750 schools to the sport by the Rugby World Cup in Japan in 2019.

Each of the 100 graduating schools in 2016 was awarded a personalised plaque presented by England Rugby player Jonny May, to mark their individual achievements. The presentation was given at the England v Wales match at Twickenham today, Sunday 29th May 2016.  

To mark the occasion and celebrate the positive impact that rugby has and continues to have across the growing community, CBRE All Schools launched its’ ‘Thank You Rugby’ app, supported by England legend Jason Leonard and England international Mike Brown.

The App, http://thankyourugby.co.uk, encourages fans to get behind the sport by changing their social media “profile pictures” and “cover photos” to feature a special ‘Thank You Rugby’ message by selecting a single attribute that rugby has given to them from a selection of over ten options, which include; ‘Confidence’, ‘ Determination’, ‘Skills’, ‘Friendship’ and ‘Respect’. The message will remain there as long as the user wishes.
 
Join us today and say ‘Thank you Rugby’ by logging on to the App today http://thankyourugby.co.uk

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thankyourugby/

Twitter - @ThankYouRugby https://twitter.com/thankyourugby hashtag #ThankYouRugby.