Plenty of competition in house tournaments

It's been a rollercoaster of a term for the Sports Department, from the excitement of getting children back on the pitches, to finally being able to host and travel to other schools for fixtures. We were making exciting progress towards normality. Then, sadly but unavoidably, COVID forced us to miss our two ISA tournaments of the Autumn Term. This was really hard for all involved and has certainly given the children even more desire to hit the ground running with our spring sports. The New Year will see the girls move on to netball and the boys on to hockey. Years 3 and 4 had their first house matches of the season and the parent support and encouragement was brilliant. It is always tricky for the Year 3s to step up to playing with the Year 4 children but they did wonderfully well, getting involved and enjoying their sport. The Year 6 house captains had their first chance at working with the younger ones, and really impressed. Encouraging and making sure everyone had equal amounts of time on the pitch, they really represented Copthill in a wonderful light. This year's hockey winners were Burghley and the rugby was won by Lindsey. We enjoyed a chilly afternoon for the Year 5 and Year 6 house matches but, thankfully, the rain held off! The boys participated in house touch rugby, which was very closely fought and played in great spirit and sportsmanship. The top two teams were equal on points which meant that the competition hinged upon tries scored. Milton took the trophy with 4 tries more than Casewick 19-15. The hockey tournament was another close event and I was really pleased with the skills the girls displayed. Lots of people stepped up and really worked hard to cover the large pitch. Burghley came away with their first hockey win in 8 years! Swimming has been welcomed back onto the timetable for Years 2-4 and the pool has been a hive of activity. All the children have made huge progress since being back in the water and the teachers have been really impressed with the effort and attitude shown in lessons. We have successfully assessed all the Year 4 children and will now sign them off to welcome the Year 1 children to join the programme in the New Year. After the disappointment of missing this term’s ISA events we are looking ahead with positivity to ISA netball, boys’ hockey, football and cross country for the upcoming Spring Term. We also have exciting plans in place for the Year 5 Sports Tour, including a new logo jointly designed by three Year 5 girls. Well done girls and thank you, Year 5, for all the wonderful designs. I would also like to take this opportunity to wish Mr Woodward all the best as he moves on to a new job after Christmas. We will miss him around school; it will certainly be quieter!