Cricket provision expands and plenty of Sports Day triumphs

It’s been another strange and crazy term, but I have to say a huge highlight was being able to give our children access to some fixtures again. Lots of work went into the planning and delivery of the fixtures and I want to extend my thanks to all the staff involved and the numerous local schools who had a hand in making it possible. It worked really well, and allowed all of our Year 4, 5 and 6 children to enjoy fixtures against Brooke Priory, Witham Hall and Stamford Junior School. With our cricket transition really progressing, we have seen all boys and girls from Year 3 to Year 6 learning cricket in this summer term. Next year will see our Year 5 and Year 6 girls have exposure to hardball and all girls and boys will wear a new T20 kit so that there is no differentiation. A very exciting culmination! I have been so proud of how the girls have taken the cricket on board and made wonderful progress; the future is exciting! We were so lucky with the weather in the fortnight of house matches. For cricket we play over two sessions - the first with two houses drawn out of a hat and the second with the two winners of those matches in a final and the other two teams in a third/fourth play-off. Years 3 and 4 house matches saw a final of Casewick vs Milton and the girls’ winner was Casewick with Milton winning the boys. Years 5 and 6 house matches saw a girls’ final of Casewick vs Burghley and a boys’ final of Milton vs Lindsey. Casewick took the girls’ win and the boys had a Milton win. In an exciting addition to the sports calendar we have been able to offer Year 6 self defence classes in the summer term. Children have been working on techniques to get out of particular holds and grabs as well as learning how best to deal with certain situations. Lower School Sports Day saw a new approach this year to work within Covid-19 restrictions, but I loved the changes! Having two separate events kept the pace for the children involved and allowed them to relax and fully enjoy the event with the two year groups being so close in age. A double-ended track gave access to all parents to have a great view of the races and the finish line as well. Upper School Sports Day was spread across the morning and afternoon and again allowed staff, parents and children to enjoy a slower pace and have a chance to support and encourage those around them, as well as compete themselves. We had field events in the morning and track in the afternoon. A number of records were broken; I must mention the huge 4.06m by Henry that is now the new Year 6 boys’ long jump record! Another highlight for the leavers was that all competitors in the Year 6 boys 600m race broke the old record, which just shows what a fast paced race it was. This year, Lindsey took the trophy and were crowned Sports Day Champions. Our visit to Inspire2tri in Manton was a wonderful treat for the final week of term. This was to reward the children who completed the Tri-January challenge individually way back before the world changed! The children accessed the newly built Rainbow Trail. The Rainbow Trail is funded by an "Inspire the Community" grant awarded on 1st May by the Lottery Community Fund. The children used the Trail for some competitive games before watching some of the community use the Trail for a rehab session. There was some wonderful feedback from a parent, who said that “having to make and initiate conversation with older people was a wonderful life skill for the children.” Sport can be a medium for so many new skills! We have certainly had an action packed Summer Term and it has been a pleasure to welcome parents back to watch some of the excitement. I hope everyone has a restful break and is ready for a full fixtures calendar when we come back in September.