Girls' sport round-up - Feb 2020

Emma Chambers, Head of Girls' Sport, rounds up half a term of sport.

We have been focusing on two High Performance Learning (HPL) strands each term in the sports department. Last term, we focused on hardworking and creating. We chose these to set the tone for the year and to help develop pupils’ resilience and perseverance in sport (hardworking), as well as giving them some ownership and encouraging pupils to contribute their own ideas (creating). This term we are focusing on linking and empathetic. There are similarities between some of the sports that the pupils take part in and highlighting this can aid their understanding (linking). Also with pupils moving on to a different core sport this term, a focus on teamwork should help with team spirit and working for and supporting each other (empathetic).

We are now half way through our hockey season for the U8s-U10s and the netball season for the U11s-U13s. Running alongside these core sports has also been swimming and cross country for U9-U13s.

Netball

The girls have so far played a total of 42 matches along with nine tournaments across our seven teams. In their matches we are currently on a 44% win rate. This shows a challenging but balanced fixture card overall.

Inter Patrol Results:

Y7/8 Netball

  • 1st Otters
  • 2nd Tigers
  • 3rd Owls
  • 4th Panthers

Y6/7 Netball

  • 1st Owls
  • 2nd Panthers
  • 3rd Otters
  • 4th Tigers

U13s

The U13s are working really hard in training and it is all starting to come together in their matches now. The U13As have had some strong wins against Brighton College, Farleigh and Brighton College Prep and the U13Bs have won against Brighton College and Embley. They are all embracing their last year of netball at Westbourne House and the progress they are all making is excellent. They are a pleasure to coach and always give their all.  We are looking forward to the second half of the season after half term.

U12s

The U12s have been working on some tactical play this first half of term such as set plays and positioning and are now trying to implement that into their match play. They are keen to improve and have been working well in training sessions. The As have done well in their friendly matches and their tournament play is improving. They finished 2nd in the Westbourne House tournament. The Bs have had a good start with good wins against Highfield, West Hill Park and Twyford. The Cs have displayed an amazing team spirit. They enjoy themselves on the court being supportive and praising of each other. They have been resilient and persevered over the last few weeks, for which they should be commended.

U11s

The As have attended a lot of tournaments: Cranleigh, Bryanston, Windlesham and our own. Plus they have played four matches with one win in a close match against Twyford. The Bs have had one tournament and six matches. Although they have only won one match they have had very close results against Highfield, Windlesham, Twyford and Prince’s Mead. They all support each other well as a team and their coaches look forward to developing their netball further next half term.

Hockey

The U8-U10 girls have played over 20 matches and four festivals/tournaments. They have a 50% win rate again showing a broad and balanced fixture card.

Inter Patrol Results:

Y4/5 Hockey

  • 1st Otters
  • 2nd Tigers
  • 3rd Panthers
  • 4th Owls

U10s

They are a very talented and motivated group of girls and a pleasure to teach. The As won the Westbourne House tournament and finished this half of the season undefeated. There has been fluidity between the Bs and Cs and we have even had four teams out on some match days creating lots of opportunities for the girls to play. They work hard for each other, are selfless with the ball and hate being substituted! They continue to make super progress and always play with a smile on their face. The coaches cannot wait for the second half of the season and wish you a well-earned break.

U9s

The U9s have really come on in their hockey skills and match play. They have demonstrated great willingness to act on feedback during matches and have made huge improvements in their use of the width of the pitch and looking up when passing and dribbling. Their coaches are looking forward to seeing even more from them in the second half of their hockey season! 

U8s

The U8 girls have progressed well this term with their hockey, developing their stick and ball skills in games lessons. They have learnt about the positions in 7 a-side hockey and the roles involved in these. In our first match against Twyford the girls came up against some tough competition but they approached the game with great enthusiasm and tried really hard as a team. Westbourne House hosted a festival which gave the girls the opportunity to play lots of competitive matches against other schools. They have also been to PGS and played lots of mini matches. Well done on all your efforts so far, keep up the good work!

Swimming

The junior and senior swim squads have been working hard this term in the lead up to some prestigious galas. In January, we hosted our first gala of the term against Highfield and came up against some challenging competition. We had quite a few absences on the day so we are thankful to everyone who stepped up. Despite losing the gala by 33 points, students swam with real enthusiasm. As a school, we achieved 24 personal bests (PBs) in individual races and 10 relay team bests which is testament to how hard everyone had worked. More recently we travelled to Bede’s Senior School to compete in the Regional IAPS swimming gala. As this is a time trial competition, we are not yet aware of the full extent of results in relation to any National qualifying. The swim times do however highlight the students’ dedication to their swimming with eight PBs in individual races and six relay team bests.

New School Records:

  • U12 50m Butterfly - Amelie Mazrani (Highfield)
  • U11 50m Freestyle - Jasmin Hafez (IAPS)
  • U11 50m Breaststroke - Sonny Tuppen (Highfield)

Well done!                             

Cross Country

We have held our Inter-Patrol Cross Country competitions this half term and these are the results for the girls:

Y7/8 Girls

  • 1st Panthers
  • 2nd Owls
  • 3rd Tigers
  • 4th Otters

Y5/6 Girls

  • 1st Otters
  • 2nd Tigers
  • 3rd Panthers
  • 4th Owls

Y3/4 Girls

  • 1st Panthers
  • 2nd Otters
  • 3rd Tigers
  • 4th Owls

The annual Highfield Cross Country for U9-U13 boys and girls took place on Friday 14th February. You can read the fantastic results of this event in Mr Smith's round-up.