Medals and wins at national championships

This term has been one full of successes; I take great pleasure in writing about all the wonderful sporting activities our children have been up to in such an uncertain time. We have had a vibrant sporting spring term with amazing highs of national competitions, wonderful mass participation and all rounded off with a busy and exciting sports tour!

We have competed in 53 fixtures this term, with the girls playing netball and boys, hockey. The progress across all year groups has been wonderful and I always love to hear parents comment on the children’s improvement when they watch matches towards the end of the season.

Boys’ ISA Hockey has to be one of the main highlights of the term. On Thursday, February 6th, the boys travelled down to Lee Valley Olympic Hockey Stadium and, after an action-packed day of superb hockey, they rounded it off with penalty shuffles. As the ball was lifted over the goalie into the top corner, the boys were crowned national champions! One of our boys was selected as the ‘Player of the Final’ and won a fully paid place on a week’s hockey training camp.

Another highlight was the girls gaining their first ever qualification for the ISA National Netball Tournament. Attending the national finals with the other 20 qualifying schools from around the country was amazing and a real privilege for the girls. They worked extremely hard in the build-up and made great progress from the regional to the national round. They came away with a wonderful bronze medal in the Bowl Competition.

As I write this review all of the amazing achievements come flooding back to me. In such a fast-paced world, we rarely take time to step back and take stock of everything. We had two Year 5 boys qualify for ISA National Cross-Country Finals. 19 children across Years 1-6 completed the 12 TriJanuary challenges and, off the back of that, we won the Schools Award. The Triathlon Trust came into school and all children in Years 1-6 had the exciting opportunity to use a bike on a turbo trainer and cycle to the space satellite and beyond, covering 1,314.27km between them!

We then had Copthill’s cross country event, when we invited 10 other schools to join us on a glorious sunny day for some wonderful racing. Children from Years 3-6 were involved with some wonderful individual places and a real demonstration of the improvement some children have made.

Our Year 5 Saxon Sports Tour to North Yorkshire was another highlight of our Spring Term, and, wow, what a tour it was! We enjoyed the welcome of wonderful hosts at Gateways School and had an amazing outdoor experience at Bewerley Park.

The children experienced scrambling, rock climbing and the leap of faith mixed in with a large amount of yummy food! The large dorms made for a perfect, friendly sleeping environment and our large coach ensured a very comfortable journey. I was so proud of the way the children behaved and how they managed the overnight stay away from home. It was a really enjoyable, if somewhat action-packed, tour.

House matches gave a fun-filled finish to the spring term for Years 3-6. There was lots of enthusiastic netball and hockey being played and some positive support coming from the parents watching. It made for two afternoons of true Copthill spirit. Lindsey came out victorious for U11 Netball with Milton securing the win for U11 boys. Milton were strong enough to be awarded first place in U9 for both the girls and the boys. Well done Milton!

I must take the opportunity to thank all of the sports staff, who have given a lot of time and effort to a very busy term. Without their enthusiasm, passion and dedication, our busy sporting calendar would not be as successful as it continues to be.

Next term we move to cricket in games for both the girls and boys, with tennis and athletics filling our PE blocks.

Mrs Gemma Alcoran