After three successful installments of Scottish Rugby Schools Week supported by Saltire Energy, Scottish Rugby eagerly awaits its return next month!

There’s still time to sign up, find out more HERE.

In March 2022, nearly 70,000 pupils from 619 primary and secondary state schools engaged with rugby across the week.

One area that was bustling with activity during last year’s iteration was the coastal town of Montrose.

Montrose Rugby Development Officer, Caroline Campbell whose engagement with local schools throughout the school year, culminated in various rugby festivals throughout Schools Week.

The flagship event for the week was a Primary 4 festival where 130 pupils from six local schools came together for a series of games.

Each school had received rugby sessions throughout the year in curricular time to prepare them for the festival.

The festival games were coached by Montrose Academy pupils, who are involved in the school’s Rugby Achievement Programme, having just completed a learning block on coaching skills.

Montrose Academy PE Teacher, Chris Sutton highlighted the benefits of having rugby in schools, saying: “As well as the obvious physical and mental benefits, we also see a fantastic togetherness and team cohesion amongst the students. Scottish Rugby Schools Week plays a huge part in creating opportunities to reap those benefits.

“When delivering our Rugby Achievement Programme, we ask the students to set both personal and team-oriented goals and once students achieve those goals, we look back on what it took to get there. The skills needed are often determination, organisation, effort, communication, and planning – skills they need to achieve almost anything in life.

“These skills come out particularly during Scottish Rugby Schools Week as they put their knowledge and skills into coaching.”

For Schools Week this year, Caroline is hoping to build on the success of last year’s Primary 4 festival by also having some teachers who have engaged in curricular sessions throughout the year attend the festival to game coach as a CPD opportunity.

Caroline highlighted that, “It’s important to help teachers build their confidence to deliver rugby sessions safely.

“Rugby is a simple fun game and schools can continue participating in rugby and using games in PE lessons once a Development Officer has left a school”.

Pictures: Photos from Scottish Rugby Schools Week sessions in Montrose, led by pupils and Development Officer, Caroline Campbell (centre).

A key focus for Scottish Rugby Schools week this year is to provide in person Teacher CPD across all five regions to provide educational opportunities to support and inspire teachers to deliver rugby in state schools.

Mike Logie, CEO at Saltire Energy said: “Engaging the future players of rugby and supporting our teachers through programmes like Scottish Rugby Schools Week is more important than ever.

The part that sport plays in our lives is vital and Saltire Energy takes huge pride in supporting Scottish Rugby and being involved in the community that benefits so much from this fantastic sport.

“The hope is that this initiative will become a cornerstone of schools’ rugby in Scotland following the impact it has already made since its launch.”

For more information about Scottish Rugby Schools Week including how to register your school to take part, click here.