Teaching sport at Russell House Preparatory School took a dramatic turn in the Summer of 2017 when the school decided to align girls’ and boys’ lessons and fixtures.

The decision was brought about for three main reasons. Firstly, there did not seem to be a clear pathway for girls to advance in rounders, the dominant girls’ sport played in the area at the time. Secondly, the England women’s team had just won the ICC World Cup and were competing favourably with Australia in the Ashes. The
national game was clearly in a strong position and, according to the England Cricket Board, cricket remains one of the fastest-growing women’s sports in the country.  

Lastly and most importantly, Russell House recognised the positivity in grouping boys and girls together in sport. Engagement for cricket went stratospheric and there appeared to be an uplift in pupil wellbeing, as the girls competed on a new level playing field (yes, pun intended). This last element fitted so well with the school’s
philosophy on striving for equity in everything it does.

However, Russell House wanted to go further. Their vision was to unite the children and play a series of mixed gender matches, the first of their kind in the district. This has now grown to half a dozen matches across different year groups up to age 11. Now, mixed cricket is firmly established alongside girls’ cricket matches against other schools local to Otford and beyond.

It has also allowed for boys and girls to enjoy match teas with each other, arguably one of the most important aspects of playing sports in schools! The tradition of cricket and prep school sport is important to Russell House. Its pupils learn how to play all sports, not just cricket, in the right manner observing the correct etiquette at all times.

Russell House is proud to offer mixed sport and to ensure that cricket and its traditions stay strong, regardless of gender. Who knows, perhaps there is a future international cricketer in the school’s ranks?