The London Irish Academy has announced a new partnership with St.Paul’s Catholic College, Sunbury to host the club'sr Apprenticeship Scheme. St.Paul’s staff have excellent subject knowledge and passion for teaching which provides exciting and stimulating lessons, qualities which are echoed in the beliefs and staff of the Academy.
Neal Hatley, the Academy Manager and former player for London Irish, said “This is an exciting opportunity for us to forge links with a major school in our community. With the partnership with St. Paul’s we believe that we can now offer applicants to our AASE scheme the perfect blend of education and sporting development”
Simon Uttley, Headteacher of St.Paul’s said “ We are delighted with this new partnership. The shared belief in the pursuit of excellence which St Paul's and London Irish share will be an invaluable asset."
We are now inviting applications for entry to our AASE scheme in September 2008. The scheme is an initiative from London Irish and backed by the RFU requiring applications from students aged 16 to apply for an Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (AASE) which will combine rugby training at London Irish with academic study at St.Paul’s Catholic College.
The Scheme will begin in September 2008 and will operate as an on-site academy for 16-18 year olds which will give aspiring players the opportunity to combine rugby training and academic studies on a daily basis.
St.Paul’s Catholic College will be responsible for the academic portion of the scholarship with options ranging from BTEC to A Levels. The rugby component of the combined development process will be delivered on site at the London Irish training ground, leading to an NVQ Level 3 in Sporting Excellence. The two facilities are situated side by side in Sunbury.
The students in the Apprenticeship Scheme will be expected to offer their services to the surrounding community in the form of supervised coaching and rugby development work. Students will undertake their RFU Level 1 Coaching and will also take a Sports Leaders Award to help facilitate their community work. The students will also work with our community development department to help organize local school facilities.
Academic and rugby development timetables will be coordinated by the AASE Manager and the club’s Academy Staff/ Development programmes will be worked out on an individual basis and will involve conditioning, technical, tactical and competitive growth.
Details of St.Paul’s CatholicCollege can be found on the internet at www.st-pauls.surrey.sch.uk
If you are interested in applying for the coming academic year (2008-2009) and you are currently in year 11 or 16 years old, please send your playing and academic CV to bj.mather@london-irish.com by June 1st, 2008.