A GROUP of pupils of Stourport High School and VIth Form Centre are to take part in a workshop where they will design their school team’s rugby shirt.

It will then be produced and donated by Canterbury, the official kit supplier to England Rugby and official partner to the All Schools programme.

The Canterbury kit design workshops are part of All Schools, which was launched in 2012 by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) in partnership with the Rugby Football Foundation to help more secondary state school children play rugby.

From September, 100 new schools, including Stourport, will join All Schools and they will be supported to start playing rugby for the first time. That gives All Schools national representation, with more than 200 schools now participating.

As part of its investment in the programme, Canterbury will be holding kit design workshops across the UK during September and October for the 100 schools that are new to rugby.

Stourport High will have the opportunity to attend one of the workshops, where they will learn about the core values of rugby and the pride associated with the shirt.

Canterbury’s design team will share the thought process behind the design before the pupils try their hand at creating their school team’s rugby shirt.

Canterbury’s chief executive, Chris Stephenson, said: “We’re passionate about working together with the RFU to bring rugby to All Schools and are looking forward to supporting these new schools by providing kit and the unique opportunity to design their own team shirt.

“It’s been fantastic to see the impact rugby has had on the students taking part over the last year and encouraging that the schools are building such strong club links.”

All Schools aims to take rugby to 400 state secondary schools by 2015 and 750 by 2019 as part of the RFU’s Rugby World Cup 2015 legacy plans.

Steve Grainger, rugby development director of the RFU, said: “We launched All Schools to take rugby to people and places that might not otherwise have experienced the game.

“We believe rugby has the power to make school life happier and healthier, reducing anti-social behaviour, enhancing learning and increasing self-esteem for students.

“We are committed to creating a positive legacy for students through rugby and its core values.”

photo captions: 29rfulogo: Promotong rugby: The RFU logo.

29canterburylogo: Kit supplier: The Canterbury logo.