Sports

Year 1 learned some basic yoga poses and breathing exercises in their movement/dance lesson today. The poses and movements Steph taught them are very beneficial for developing strength and flexibiity as well as giving the children some time to pause and focus on their breathing and thoughts in their... otherwise busy day! As we have a slightly adapted timetable at the moment, our lower years pupils are having sport and movement lessons every day.

13 Students spent the day at Twickenham Stadium, where the activities started with games aimed at developing understanding of the different fitness requirements of the various positions: Speed – Endurance – Power – Agility and Strength. One game involved selecting animals and super heroes in what... might be their best positions, from which a formidable team comprising Spiderman at full-back; a bull, rhinoceros and grizzly bear in the front row; cheetahs on the wings and The Hulk at No. 8 emerged. Catching and passing would have been the main limiting factor, but they would have posed an intimidating physical challenge for their opponents.

Years 1 and 2 took to the pitch this morning to learn new rugby skills ahead of the start of the Rugby World Cup. It was the perfect introduction to the sport for some of our younger pupils and an opportunity to put the world cup into context. The pupils played ‘steal the egg from the nest’ to hone... their skills in ball control, they ran a slalom with the ball and scored a ‘try’ at the end to start to build their sense of how the game is played. The groups will continue to expand their knowledge of the sport as they work together over the next six weeks.

Pupils in Years 12 and 13 are being coached in non-contact boxing as part of the Autumn term clubs programme at Hampton Court House. Director of Sport, Roy Headey, is working with the small group of sixth formers to build their technique as well as giving them all important instruction in hand-wrapping... and conduct to ensure all the students are safe. Each sixth form boxer is given their own wraps and gloves as part of the programme and they follow a specially crafted programme which will guide them through basic technique before moving on to more complex combinations. The later start time in Years 12 and 13 means the pupils can take part in lunchtime clubs and activities. The newly formed boxing club is not only giving the sixth form new skills and techniques but provides an aerobic and anaerobic workout for the whole body.

The girls in Years 9 to 11 enjoyed their first rowing lesson of the year. The high ratio of coaches to pupils means the girls receive intensive coaching during the two-hour period they spend at Molesey Boat Club, with a mix of rowing on the river, technical training in the indoor tank and functional... strength work in the gym.

The sun was shining on another successful Middle and Upper Years sports day yesterday. This year the event was held at school with a selection of new events for pupils and their families to enjoy. Our school houses; Garrick, Halifax, Twining and Wright competed in track and field events for years 5 &... 6, 7 & 8, and 9 to 13 heats and finals. Old favourites like the 200m relay, javelin and sprint races were accompanied by new competitions such as shot put relay, 60m sprint and triple jump. The focus of this year was not on results and medals but on technical merit with prizes awarded to individuals who demonstrated the best technical competency irrespective of their place in the competition. The highlight of the day was the final event, the five minute run, which was new for 2019. Four representatives of each house ran as many laps as possible for five minutes with points distributed for the amount of laps run. The competition was nail-biting as the narrow point difference between each house meant there was a jostle for places throughout the afternoon but as the final scores were announced it was clear that the winning house was Wright with 637 points.

Children from Pre-Nursery to Year 4 took part in the sponsored run on Wednesday 22nd May to raise money for the first school in France to be set up within a refugee shelter, in Ivry-sue-Seine. This camp has welcomed families since 2015 and the school helps the children to learn French and adapt to French... culture. The children generally stay between two weeks and two months in this school before finding a more permanent place to stay and integrating into a public school. Unfortunately, the children’s shoes are usually in very poor condition when they arrive at the refugee shelter, having travelled far from Africa or the Middle East to escape war and famine.