Teacher of Physical Education and Outdoor Games, Mr O’Connor, shares a round-up of sport from this half term.
Fixtures
U9 and U11 games lessons have been extremely enjoyable this term with Coach Verity and Coach Laycock providing their expertise in Rugby and Hockey.
U9s have been on 2 fixtures to Bradford Grammar and Queen Ethelburga’s. We showed great skill in both, coming out with a great win percentage overall.
U11s have been on 3 rugby fixtures with a mix of both tag and contact. Again, across the board our win percentage was very high thanks to their teamwork and developed skills!
Next term the year groups swap with Coach Laycock taking U11s for Hockey and Coach Verity introducing rugby to the U9s. U11 still have some Rugby fixtures to come including the Rugby Cup at Brackenfield and the ISA North tag rugby competition at Scarisbrick – a fantastic event last year, I look forward to my first visit with the team.
Physical Education
In PE this term the students made a great start learning some new games.
Reception have been learning all about their body and the different things it can do: how the body moves and what happens to our body when we exercise.
Forms 1 and 2 have been working on their agility, balance and coordination. They have shown their understanding of these skills in sport specific games while continuing to work on their fundamental skills.
Forms 3 and 4 have been introduced to the sport of Handball. Handball, which is massively popular in Europe, is the opposite of football (if the name didn’t give you a clue)! They have been learning to swap their feet with their hands and work together as a team to learn something new. There may be an opportunity to attend a Handball ISA event next year so keep an eye on that!
Forms 5 and 6 have also been introduced to a new sport. Ultimate Frisbee. A sport like no other, with no official referees the players must learn to use sportsmanship and fair play to officiate the game themselves. They have been learning how to work as a team to get the frisbee to the end zone while beginning to understand the ‘spirit of the game’.
Swimming
All the children have really impressed me this term with their ever increasing confidence in the water during our weekly swimming lessons. In the New Year Reception will be starting their lessons down at Ilkley Pool too!
I’m looking forward to what the next half term brings including a trip to London with three of our swimmers for the Independent Schools Final! Best of luck to Lola, Noah and Samuel!
