1. Current Issues in Sport
Public Schools

2. Learning Outcome
Be able to describe or explain public schools and their contribution to your sport

4. What is a public school?
A public school in England and Wales is an older, student selective and expensive fee- paying independent secondary school which caters primarily for children aged between 11 or 13 and 18
The term 'public school' are in fact private sector not public sector
Traditionally, public schools were all-male boarding schools

5. Can you think of any today?
Harrow
Rugby
Eton
Merchant Taylors
Charterhouse

6. **TASK**
What do you think these schools were like?

7. Controlled by trustees Divided into houses becoming hub games
Public Schools
Strict discipline
Boys boarded
Bullying
Controlled by trustees
Divided into houses becoming hub games
Boys only
Fee paying
Upper class only
Harsh treatment

8. Tom Brown’s school days

9. Values Headmasters instilled their own values into the boys
Well known headmasters include Thomas Arnold 1828 – 1842 Rugby School
What values did the public schools aim to instil in the boys through schooling and sport?
Athleticism
Muscular Christianity
Well behaved
Disciplined
Good etiquette
Fair Play
Honour
Respect

10. Muscular Christianity
Main values
Athleticism
Muscular Christianity
Devotion to the playing of sport with moral integrity
Physical
Pursuit of physical endeavour
Appreciating the value of fitness
Accepting discipline
Playing tough but fair
Team work and team spirit
Accepting authority
Sportsmanship
Playing honourably more important than winning
Performance dedicated to God
Which athletes do this?

12. How did sports emerge?
Boys took what they knew about sport from their towns to their new schools, and discussed it with other boys
In order to play a game against other boys, rules were made, so all boys could play in teams, and competitions could be set up
As the facilities and grounds in each school were different, each school created rules to suit its facilities
Eaton and Harrow developed the idea of dribbling with a ball, and helped make the game of football
Tall posts at rugby school were combined with the handling rule and altered the game of football to form rugby
Eaton had many court yards with walls, which helped develop the rules of wall tennis (squash) and lawn tennis

13. Continued.. The rules of the games were decided and written down
This was known as a ‘Melting Pot’ of ideas
As the boys were literate they could write the rules down, adding information about how the game should be officiated, sanctions and what teams should wear
This is known as standardisation
This was the basis of all future technical developments and the reason why boys could develop inter house competitions

14. Why was sport used in public schools?
Social Control
As bullying often occurred between the boys, sport was used as a means of social control
The house system allowed boys of all ages to compete in healthy competition
Some became Leaders – example?
Some became Role Models – example?

15. Preparation for leaving school
Sport taught the boys
Leadership skills through captaincy
Discipline through abiding by rules
Decision making skills
Organisation skills
Communication skills
These were all characteristics that sport instilled into the boys and values that should be still used today

16. Changes Public Schools made to sport
Standardisation – the standardisation of rules within schools meant that inter house competitions could happen, and away fixtures could occur between schools
As the rules spread, more competitions began to happen, more regularly
Codification – as old boys went to university, they began to form clubs. They started to form the national governing bodies and wrote down the official rules for each sport
Melting pot – this was the second melting pot of ideas, which formed the basis of the sports we still play today

17. **TASK**
Write down in paragraph format how sport has changed from popular recreation to public schools thus far