Penryn College Partnership Continues

We are delighted to officially announce its continued training and mentorship-based partnership with Penryn College

Penryn College released the below press release on the partnership.

The renewed partnership means that the College and the club will be working together for a second consecutive school year, with pupils continuing to benefit from high-quality training sessions led by Pirates’ players, alongside invaluable player-student mentoring sessions, focusing on the importance of education, careers, and more.

Additionally, the collaboration sees the Pirates first-team squad continue their weekly training sessions on the school’s state-of-the-art synthetic turf pitch.

Of course, rugby is at the heart of the Penryn College-Cornish Pirates partnership, but a scratch beneath the surface reveals that it involves so much more, as Penryn College Director of Lifestyle and Community, Richard Tucker, revealed.

“The partnership goes a lot deeper than only being about rugby,” said Mr Tucker.

“The Pirates players are great role models, who champion academic progress, positive attendance, and conduct.

“There are also opportunities for pupils to discuss career progression pathways, supporting the key messages the fantastic PE & Lifestyle staff communicate every day.

“The feedback from students, parents/carers, and wider school staff regarding the programme has been so positive,” added Mr Tucker.

Indeed, Cornish Pirates players and staff have also experienced the positive outcomes the partnership has produced, as Pirates Joint Head Coach, Gavin Cattle, explained.

“It’s great when you’re connecting with your community and connecting with aspiring students,” said Cattle.

“I think it gives the players a tyre pump in that they know they’re being looked up to – and there is a responsibility in and around that,” he added.

And Cattle highlighted one of the school’s events, during which the Pirates players spent time reading with students, as one of his favourite moments of the partnership to date, noting the advantages for pupils and players alike.

“One of the surprising moments especially was last year’s Reading Week – just seeing some of our players outside of their comfort zone,” said Cattle.

“Kids can relate to different backgrounds, different approaches to school, different mindsets – plus it’s a good thing in general with players looking outside of rugby, coming back to school, looking at what they could’ve done differently, and their learnings from it,” he continued.

With the 2023/24 partnership well under way, one of the main elements of this year’s programme has been developing additional targets for students, with a key focus on two areas, as Mr Tucker revealed.

“This year, the programme is far more bespoke and designed to have even more of an impact,” said Mr Tucker.

“Also, an important area – alongside the rugby development – is the development of leaders.

“In future weeks, this will lead to a mentoring programme which will see players linking up with specific students with a theme of raising aspirations.

“Playing sport across the country and being around the very best role models can be key to raising aspirations – and we continue to be committed to opening the eyes of young people to the vast opportunities that are there for them to grasp.

“We then hope to inspire even more young people to join the great community clubs we are lucky enough to have in the Penryn area,” concluded Mr Tucker.