Sport and Co-curricular
St Andrew’s Cathedral School has an extensive sport and co-curricular programme.
Key sports include Rugby, Football, Hockey, Netball, Basketball, Tennis, Volleyball, Touch Football, Cricket and Squash.
Co-curricular programmes include debating, Philosophy, Duke of Edinburgh, Makerspace, Design and Tech, Fashion and Robotics.
– Junior School and Gawura
Our Kindergarten to Year 6 sport programme focuses on the development of fundamental movement skills. It aims to build on the programmes offered in previous years, utilising various facilities in the school and city for both summer and winter.
Our Kindergarten to Year 2 programme is highlighted with gymnastics and swimming programmes during the year, providing the students with a skill set that will serve them well in future physical activity.
We are part of All Suburbs Independent School Sport Association (ASISSA -an inter-school sporting association) for students in Years 4 to 6 to compete against other schools on a weekly basis in seasonal sports. Through our inter-school sport programme, students learn less tangible skills, such as resilience, team work and humility in a safe and supportive environment. We have a fine reputation for sporting success and attitude, which is reflected in each student’s skill development, enthusiasm, encouragement of others and conduct. We also offer optional inter-school sporting options for Saturday Sport for Junior School students, including touch football, netball and rugby.
All sports, competitive and non-competitive, are fully supervised. We also have three major carnivals throughout the year. All students (Years 3 to 6) are expected to participate at the School’s Swimming, Cross Country and Athletics Carnivals. There are opportunities for students to move on to representative carnivals and compete at state and even national levels!
Co-curricular Information
Each term, students and parents receive a booklet via email (also attached below for easy reference) outlining co-curricular activities, which will include all details on options available, commencement dates and booking instructions.
Please note that there are no after school co-curricular activities in the first two weeks of school and last week of school. Please refer to co-curricular booklets for commencement dates. Generally:
Term 1 – Co-curricular commences Week 3
Term 2, 3, 4 – Co-curricular commences Week 2
You can find the Co-curricular booklets for Term 4, 2023 below. Term 1, 2024 will be available in the first week of term.
TERM 1, 2024 Co-curricular Booklets and instructions
Thursday afternoon Junior School and Gawura sport 2024
Kindergarten to Year 2
| 2024 | Kindergarten | Year 1 | Year 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term 1 | FMS – Lets Get Moving! | FMS – Locomotor | FMS – Control Actions |
| Term 2 | Ball Sports | Gymnastics | Gymnastics |
| Term 3 | Gymnastics | FMS – Team Sports | FMS – Team Sports |
| Term 4 | Swimming | Swimming | Swimming |
Year 3 to Year 6
| 2024 | Year 3 | Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Term 1 | Basketball, Netball, Soccer | Inter-School: Boys AFL, Girls Touch Football Non Inter-School: Basketball, Netball, Soccer |
| Term 2 | Netball, Touch Football, Soccer | Inter-School: Boys & Girls Football (soccer) Non Inter-School: Netball, Touch Football |
| Term 3 | Tee-Ball, Cricket, Soccer, Dance | Inter-School: Boys Touch Football, Girls Netball Non-Inter School: Tee-Ball, Cricket, Soccer, Dance |
| Term 4 | AFL, Touch Football, Netball/Basketball, Soccer, Dance | Inter-School: Boys & Girls Cricket, Boys & Girls Tee Ball Non-Inter School: AFL, Touch Football, Netball/Basketball, Soccer, Dance |
You may be interested in more about Junior School sport
Any questions regarding the Junior School co-curricular activities please contact jscocurricular@sacs.nsw.edu.au. We also offer optional Saturday sport to Junior School and Gawura students. If you’d like to find out more about this please contact Mr Oliver Denny: odenny@sacs.nsw.edu.au.
How to register for Junior School and Gawura Co-curricular activities and Sport selection (new app instructions)
We are delighted to introduce our new St Andrew’s Cathedral School app to keep you connected with your child’s sport and co-curricular activities (excluding music) in Junior School and Gawura. Note the app is currently set up for Junior School and Gawura Sport and Co-curricular activities only. Secondary School, see instructions for using Clipboard further down this page.
First download the St Andrew’s Cathedral School app via Google Play for Android or the App Store. Note you will need your Parent Portal log in details to use the app.
See the guide to downloading and using the new, easy to use features of the St Andrew’s Cathedral School app here including handy push notifications, so you are always kept up to date.
Any questions regarding the Junior School co-curricular activities please contact jscocurricular@sacs.nsw.edu.au. Should there be any issues with your Parent Portal log in, please contact the St Andrew’s Cathedral School IT Helpdesk via email portal@sacs.nsw.edu.au. New parents will receive their Parent Portal log in details two weeks prior to their child starting school.
– Secondary School (Middle School and Senior College)
St Andrew’s Cathedral School is a member of the Independent Sporting Association (ISA). This is a somewhat eclectic group of schools incorporating both co-ed and single sex schools of significantly different student population sizes from 300 to 2700! In addition, member schools are as far away as Orange, Bathurst, the Central Coast and Bowral. Despite these differences, the association works!
For those sports that are not part of the ISA sports, we have either internal arrangements or have a separate competition with schools that share a similar sporting interest.
Summer (Terms 1 and 4)
| ISA basketball (boys and girls) |
| ISA cricket (boys) |
| ISA softball (girls only) |
| ISA touch football |
| Water polo |
| Fencing (boys and girls) |
| Summer hockey (boys and girls) |
| Summer tennis |
| Squash |
| Volleyball |
| Rugby 7’s |
Winter (Terms 2 and 3)
| Compulsory sport options |
| ISA rugby |
| ISA hockey (girls only) |
| ISA netball (girls only) |
| ISA tennis |
| ISA football (soccer) |
| Fit4life |
| Fencing |
| Squash |
| Water polo |
| Additional sporting offerings (not compulsory) |
| Athletics |
| Cross country running |
| Inter-school skiing including cross country skiing |
Year 7 commencing 2024
Students commencing Year 7 in 2024 will be required to select a Winter Sport offering in November 2023. A sign-up form with all sport offerings and information will be sent to families at this time.
Year 7 parents/carers and students will be contacted by sport convenors at the start of the 2024 school year with a) confirmation of their sport enrolment and b) information for Year 7 winter pre-season training and team selection trials.
Please note, Year 7 students do not select or participate in a Summer Sport until Term 3, as the summer season encompasses Term 4 2024 and Term 1, 2025. Summer sport selections will be sent to parents/carers and students in Term 3, 2024.
Winter Sport – compulsory Year 7-11
Winter Sport is compulsory from Years 7 to 11, with training beginning in Term 1 and competition during Terms 2 and 3.
2024 Winter Sport Choices are now open
A registration letter from the Director of Sport and Co-curricular Mr Ric van Wachem and the Head of Sport Miss Tamsyn Kelson was sent to new and current families in November. Click here to view and download a copy of the letter. Please register your preference via Clipboard. Registration opens 7am Friday 24 November and closes 9am, Monday 4 December 2023. See below for How to register for Co-curricular activities and Sport selection using Clipboard .
A booklet is sent in early Term 1, outlining all the co-curricular offerings for the year.
All students will be required to attend the 2024 Winter Sport Season Launch on Saturday 16 March which will also include team selection trials for ISA sports. Trials will continue through the weeks that follow at training in the afternoons. Further details will be sent out at the beginning of Term 1.
Handbooks for each sport are provided in the sports portal which will be provided once students are allocated to a sport.
Variation to Winter Sport Guidelines and Request – Should you wish to request Variations or Exemptions for Winter sport, please read this guideline and complete the form. The form should be submitted for consideration by emailing it to bcoddington@sacs.nsw.edu.au.
Summer sport – optional
Summer Sport involvement at St Andrew’s Cathedral School is optional, however participation is encouraged. Summer sport begins training at the back end of Term 3 with competition in Terms 4 and 1.
The 2024/25 Summer Sport Choices Letter from the Director of Sport and Co-curricular, Mr Ric van Wachem and Head of Sport, Tamsyn Kelson is sent to all parents and students in Term 3.
Co-curricular offerings – optional
There is an extensive range of co-curricular offerings at school and participation is encouraged. Please note that Winter Sport and any Music ensembles that you have selected take priority over any other co-curricular.
Please click the link to view the 2024 Co-curricular booklet, Year 7 to Year 12.
General information
Communication
We use an Extracurricular Management System called Clipboard that allows a simple sport selection and communication process for parents. Clipboard will be used to provide all information for each sporting activity, commencing from Term 1.
Training
During the season, students are expected to attend training sessions after school on at least one weekday afternoon and participate in Saturday games and activities. All rugby teams and A graded teams train twice a week and additional gym training sessions are available.
Middle School training is usually held on a Tuesday afternoon with Senior College training on a Thursday afternoon. The additional A teams or Firsts training is usually held on a Monday afternoon but may be dependent on venue availability.
Note that training afternoons are subject to field/court availability.
Venues
Our key sporting venues include St Andrew’s College Oval, Wentworth Park, Noel Martin Sydney University and Moore Park. Visit our website for more information on our facilities.
Bus transport
Bus transport will be provided on training afternoons to and from any offsite training venue. On Saturdays for sporting events outside Sydney Metro area, the school provides bus transport to and from the venue. If sport is within Sydney metro area, students will be required to make their own way to and from the venue.
How to register for Secondary School Co-curricular activities and Sport selection using Clipboard
Clipboard – for co-curricular registration
We use an Extracurricular Management System called Clipboard for parents to select co-curricular activities throughout the year.
Test your login details first: To help parents prepare to make their child’s co-curricular bookings using Clipboard, we require parents to test their Parent Portal login details on the Clipboard Login website – please click here.
As a new parent, you should already have received instructions about how to log into the Parent Portal from our IT department:
- If you have your login details (username and password), please refer to the instructions here.
- If you cannot access the Parent Portal, you will need to reset your password, so please refer to the instructions here.
Once co-curricular bookings open, you will be able to click through to the Co-curricular and Sport (selection) tile on the Parent Portal and start the co-curricular selection process. Please refer to the step-by-step procedures guidelines here.
Please ensure you have successfully practiced logging into your Parent Portal page, so you are prepared to complete the co-curricular activities selection process in a timely manner. Some co-curricular activities are very popular and since there is a limit to the number of places available, some activities fill up very quickly when the booking window opens. Nevertheless, please do not worry – just sign your child up on the appropriate waitlist and we’ll endeavour to find them a spot to accommodate their preferred activity. When you use the waitlist option please do NOT book your child into another activity on the same afternoon, this causes a lot of double bookings and students are missing out on activities. We are able to fulfil over 95% of booking requests by the time we have added extra staff or extra classes to those activities which have extra demand.
Should there be any issues with your Parent Portal log in, please contact the St Andrew’s Cathedral School IT Helpdesk via email portal@sacs.nsw.edu.au or phone (02) 9286 9555.
Duke of Edinburgh’s Award
The Duke of Edinburgh Award is a leading structured (non-formal education) youth development programme, empowering all young Australians aged 14 (Year 8) -24 to explore their full potential and find their purpose, passion and place in the world, regardless of their location or circumstance. The Award is a fully inclusive programme and has no social, political, or religious affiliations. At St Andrew’s, students are invited to join the Award as soon as they turn 14, or at the beginning of Year 9.
For more information regarding the Duke of Edinburgh Award please contact our St Andrew’s Cathedral School Award Coordinator: Michele Hall – mhall@sacs.nsw.edu.au.
Tours
St Andrew’s Cathedral School throughout its history has embarked on tours throughout the world. These have included Choir, Music, Outdoor Education, Language, Sport and subject based tours. These tours provide opportunities to extend the students breadth of knowledge, experience, world understanding and an immersion into cultural diversity.
Along with the actual learning that occurs there is something immeasurable about time away with peers and those in year levels above and below that adds to the experience that students receive. The provision of opportunities for students to participate in experiences in the wider community, national and international settings is a means of reinforcing and supplementing the curriculum offerings of the School and of enriching the student’s personal development.
Students can actually see and enrich their knowledge of places and people they’ve learned about in the classroom. They gain a deeper understanding of real-life situations and trends more so than a book can ever convey.
Along with professional skill development, students also have the chance to try out the languages they’ve studied with native speakers. They can build independence and confidence as they explore new places and local customs.
Perhaps most important of all, students gain new insights into their own culture, their place in the world, how privileged they are and come away with a more global perspective.
International tours at St Andrew’s tend to operate on a biannual basis. History and Service Learning trips, however, run every year. The Year 11 European History tour is directly related to the HSC syllabus and the Service Learning is aimed to provide continuous regular support to the community with which we work.
Tours contribute immensely to the general tone and fabric of our school. The comprehensive tour programme incorporates both domestic and international tours. These tours operate across year groups and through various departments including History, Music, Drama, Sport, Outdoor Education, Community Service and Languages.
To know what future tours have been confirmed and to learn more, click here.
Tours – Odd Years
| Date | Tour |
| Easter/April Holidays | Music |
| Language | |
| June/July Holidays | Outdoor Education (Developing Country) |
| September Holidays | History Tour (Germany, Italy) |
| December/January Holidays | Community Service (Tanzania) |
Tours – Even Years
| Date | Tour |
| Easter/April Holidays | Drama |
| Language | |
| June/July Holidays | |
| September Holidays | History Tour (Germany, Italy) |
| December/January Holidays | Community Service (Developing Country) |
| International Ski Tour |