Sport

Rugby is the priority sport for the boys at Dunottar in the Autumn term (September – December) each year. We have competitive Saturday fixtures for U12ABC, U13ABC, U14AB, U15A and an U16/1^st XV squad currently. Our typical opponents across the season include; St Johns’ Leatherhead, Epsom College, Ashford School, Royal Alexandra & Albert School and Caterham School. In recent years, we have produced a number of boys who have gone forward to represent Surrey County age group sides, as well as involvement in the Harlequins Player Development Programme. The provision for rugby is led by the sports department through Mr Benji Wroblewski, with support from professional rugby coaches with many years of playing and coaching experience. In the Autumn term, there is a Rugby Sevens programme, that operates as a co-curricular club. We host the annual Surrey Schools’ U18 and U16 7s Tournaments, and at least one team each year will attend the World-renown HSBC Rosslyn Park National Schools’ 7s Tournament.

Football is a priority sport for the girls at Dunottar in the Autumn term (September – December) each year. During this term, we enter our girls’ A teams into the English Schools FA Small Schools National Cup, Independent Schools FA National Cup and local district 7 a-side tournaments. This year, our U15 girls’ football team has reached the Semi Final of the Independent Schools FA National Trophy (date to be played TBC). We have competitive fixtures for our U12AB, U13AB, U14AB and U15A teams (Saturday morning fixtures) and our 1st XI team (Wednesday afternoon fixtures) currently. Our typical opponents across the season include; Surbiton High School for Girls, LVS Ascot, Ewell Castle, St George’s Ascot, King Edwards Witley and St Mary’s Ascot. It has been great to see how girls’ football has taken off after introducing it as one of the main sports in September 2022.

On an individual level, lots of our girls have now taken football up outside of school playing for local teams on Sundays. We also have several girls playing in academies such as Crystal Palace, Chelsea and Millwall, as well as girls who have gained places in the Surrey Schools and ISFA Schools representative district teams. Dunottar pupils have also earned places in Dorking Wanderers Youth Development Teams, as well as gaining selection for the District Lions South East Football Squad (and Development Squad) where they played against academy teams before going out to Gothenburg (Sweden) to compete at the Gothia Cup, the World’s largest youth football tournament. The District Lions squads are picked through trials from nominated pupils in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Oxford and Surrey.

In August 2020, we formed an exciting partnership with Dorking Wanderers Football Club. As a result of the partnership, pupils from Dunottar are able to attend trials for Dorking Wanderers Youth Development Teams. We also have a partnership with Dorking Wanderers Academy whereby pupils can study for their A-levels at Dunottar whilst playing on Wednesday afternoons for one of Dorking’s Academy Teams. These pupils also have training sessions with Dorking throughout the week, some of which will take place at Dunottar using our gym facilities.

The provision for football is led by Mr Matt Everett, with support from professional football coaches with a wealth of playing and coaching experience. This includes ex-professional footballer and Fulham U23 coach Mr Mark Pembridge.

Football is the priority sport for the boys at Dunottar in the Spring term (January – April) each year. In the Autumn term, we enter our boys’ A teams into the English Schools FA Small Schools National Cup and the Independent Schools FA National Cup. We also run lunchtime training sessions for boys in these teams during the Autumn term.

In the Spring term we have competitive fixtures for our U12ABCD, U13ABC, U14AB, U15AB (Saturday morning fixtures) and our 1st XI, 2nd XI, 3rd XI and 4th XI teams (Wednesday afternoon fixtures) currently. Our typical opponents across the season include; Epsom College, King Edward’s Witley, Gordon’s, Glyn,  Emanuel, Claremont Fan Court, Sutton Grammar School for Boys, Tiffin, LVS Ascot, City of London Freemen’s and Ewell Castle.

In recent years, we have celebrated success on the football pitch on both an individual and team basis. On a team level, our U15 boys’ football team beat Stockport Grammar School at Burnham Football Club in the U15 Independent Schools FA (ISFA) National Shield Final (2023-24) to make us National Champions. On an individual level, Dunottar pupils have earned places in Dorking Wanderers Youth Development Teams, as well as gaining selection for the District Lions South East Football Squad (and Development Squad) where they played against academy teams before going out to Gothenburg (Sweden) to compete at the Gothia Cup, the world’s largest youth football tournament. The District Lions squads are picked through trials from nominated pupils in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Oxford and Surrey.

In August 2020, we formed an exciting partnership with Dorking Wanderers Football Club. As a result of the partnership, pupils from Dunottar are able to attend trials for Dorking Wanderers Youth Development Teams. We also have a partnership with Dorking Wanderers Academy whereby students can study for their A-levels at Dunottar whilst playing on Wednesday afternoons for one of Dorking’s Academy Teams. These students also have training sessions with Dorking throughout the week, some of which will take place at Dunottar using our gym facilities.

The provision for football is led by Mr Matt Everett, with support from professional football coaches with a wealth of playing and coaching experience. This includes ex-professional footballer and Fulham U23 coach Mr Mark Pembridge.

Netball is the priority sport for the girls at Dunottar in the Spring term (January – April) each year. Netball at Dunottar is fully inclusive, with Saturday fixtures running for our A-D teams.  Our typical opponents across the season include; St Johns’ Leatherhead, Epsom College, Royal Alexandra & Albert School and City of London Freeman’s. In recent years, the school has seen pupils progress and develop through to the Surrey County Netball Academy. The provision for netball is led by the sports department through Mrs Jo Alger, with support from professional netball coaches with many years of experience and expertise, including international netball star, George Fisher. Additional training sessions run at lunchtime for those wishing to improve their shooting skills.

Cricket is the priority sport for both the girls and boys at Dunottar in the Summer term (April-July) each year. There has been a noticeable nationwide shift in momentum towards girls’ cricket in recent years. Aware of this boom, Dunottar made the move to prioritise girls’ cricket back in 2015, and our programme has been growing ever since, with large numbers of pupils representing the school. We have competitive fixtures for girls and boys across U12AB, U13AB, U14A, U15A (Saturday fixtures) and 1^st XI squads (Wednesday fixtures). Our typical opponents across the season include; St Johns’ Leatherhead, Epsom College, Claremont Fan Court, Ashford School and Lingfield College. In recent years, we have celebrated success on the cricket pitch on both an individual and team basis. Our U15 teams (2018/19), girls and boys and girls respectively, finished as runners-up in the Surrey Indoor Tournament and progressed through to finals day in the Surrey Softball Tournament. On an individual level, in recent years, Dunottar pupils have trialled and subsequently earned selection and inclusion in the Surrey Cricket County Age Group (CAG) sides. In 2018, in partnership with Surrey Cricket Foundation, four indoor lanes of brand-new, state of the art cricket nets were installed at Dunottar School. The provision for cricket is led by the sports department through Mr Jack Myers, with support from professional cricket coaches with a wealth of playing and coaching experience.

Dunottar has been independently selected as one of the UK’s top 100 senior cricket schools, recognised for its outstanding facilities, coaching and programme of fixtures.

In the summer term, alongside cricket, Dunottar students have access to Athletics involvement and competition in earnest. Pupils in Years 7-9 will be taught and coached through the athletics events within their P.E. lessons. In conjunction with this, pupils can attend the after school athletics sessions within the Summer term, where the focus is on developing performance within specific and chosen events ahead of district and county championships. In recent years, despite a relatively lower number of pupils on roll than other district schools (independent and state), Dunottar continues to feature in the top echelons at District athletics and cross-country events, producing District and County champions each year. The athletics provision is led through the P.E. department at Dunottar, including members of staff who compete (county and internationally) as well as working within external athletics clubs, ensuring a pertinent and progressive approach to athletics.

Throughout the academic year, within the co-curricular programme, there are opportunities for pupils to develop their running technique and fitness through participation with Weekday Warriors (a before-school running club) and High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) sessions before school.

Tennis is offered at Dunottar during the summer term, as both a co-curricular offering as well as within P.E. lessons. On the school site we have three outdoor tennis courts, and one indoor court. During lunchtimes pupils are encouraged to attend the teacher facilitated pitch-up-and-play opportunities relevant to their year group, to develop their technique and ability level in a friendly atmosphere. As a school we enter local district competitions, as well as friendlies with other local schools. In recent years, Dunottar has helped develop a number of talented tennis players.

On top of the timetabled opportunities for swimming (Years 7, 8 and 9). Dunottar pupils have access to three co-curricular swimming sessions each week. Typically, Monday (after school) as well as Wednesday and Friday (before school). Swimming at Dunottar is led by Mrs Kirsty Glyn, who is a Swim England Level 2 Swimming Teacher. 

Swim sessions are open to all, with the emphasis on enjoyment breeding development. We look to enter the local district galas, as well as organising friendlies with local schools, to offer competitive opportunities for those that wish. In addition to swimming, Dunottar we offer a Water Polo club which operates in the summer term. Again the focus is on developing skill in what is often a new sport/activity for most. At these sessions, we welcome students of all ages to come along, and have organised friendly fixtures with schools in recent years.