It’s been a busy start to the year in our core sports with the junior girls competing in netball, senior girls in hockey and the boys in football. We also had matches in swimming and cross country.
Netball
The U8s have commenced their journey into the world of competitive fixtures. They have enjoyed learning how to decide who starts with the ball, how to lead the 'three cheers' and they always look forward to a good match tea afterwards. The girls have played a combination of two types of Bee Netball. They have played “flyers” (4-a-side with no positions) and “stingers” (5-a-side with positions). They have demonstrated a great improvement with their passing skills and are now working towards the concept of marking and using space on court. They all thoroughly enjoyed playing in the Westbourne House netball festival, which involved 14 teams from various local schools.
The U9s have now progressed from a mixture of “stingers” and “flyers” netball to just “stingers”. The girls have all showed tremendous enthusiasm for playing in the five different positions and are starting to get to grips with the rotation of positions. They have their own Westbourne House netball festival to look forward to after half term.
The U10s have played a combination of Bee Netball “flyers” and the full 7-a-side-game. All of the girls are beginning to show a deeper understanding of each of the positions and the importance of teamwork within the game. Unfortunately, Cranleigh’s festival was cancelled but there are lots more fixtures and tournaments to look forward to in the next half of term.
Hockey
The U11s have had a great start to the term with our three teams winning five out of eight matches. The As were thrown straight into a home tournament and came fifth. The B and C team travelled to Cranleigh on a sunny Saturday morning and played well against some tough teams. Just before half term the U11A team competed at the IAPS regionals at Eastbourne College. They came top of their group and progressed to the cup. Unfortunately, they lost 0-1 in the knockout stage but overall it was a good day of hockey and Mr Brown and Miss Cheesman were very proud coaches.
The Year 7 and 8 girls have formed five brilliant senior hockey teams this year. The 4th and 5th teams are currently unbeaten. The 3rd team have won 1 and lost 1. The 2nd team have won both of their matches to date. At the beginning of term, the 2nd team travelled to Highfield to compete in their A team tournament. Considering they were up against a lot of schools’ 1st teams, they did exceptionally well and came 4th. Definitely a team to watch out for! The 1st team has had two wins and only one loss in their matches and have competed in four tournaments. They started the season with a trip to Canford hockey festival where they came 5th overall. They competed in the U13 IAPS regionals at Hurstpierpoint College. Unfortunately, they did not make it through to the finals but showed great determination and teamwork. The following day they competed in a Cranleigh tournament and played exceptionally. They achieved the same number of points as the 2nd place team but came 3rd as they lost to the other team in their match. Just before half term, two U13 teams competed at the annual Westbourne House U13 hockey tournament. The A team played well and came 3rd overall. The B team had a brilliant afternoon against A teams from other local schools and came 7th out of 10 teams.
Football
As a school we have managed to play in excess of 100 matches already this term, winning over 60% of our fixtures. We aim to find matches which give us a balance of experiences because although we play to win, having some hard fixtures which we lose is part of the children’s learning and development.
The three stand out achievements so far this term would be victories in tournaments at Highfield, Winchester College and Stroud. The boys' U13 team won the Highfield tournament where we came back from a loss to Aldro in the group stages to beat Edgeborough in extra time in the final. The U10s entered the Winchester College football tournament last Sunday where we progressed through our group of six schools to set up a final against Twyford. A good performance saw us win the final 2-0 to claim the title in the tournament’s second year. Then last but not least, the U9s went to the Stroud tournament where we put in a number of good performances to walk away winners.
The Year 7 and 8s have enjoyed some successful weeks on the football fields. The 1st team followed up their victory at Highfield with a narrow loss in the semi-finals at a very strong Charterhouse tournament and then a very nerve racking loss on penalties in the quarter finals of the IAPS regional qualifiers.
The other senior teams have enjoyed some really close matches with the 2nd IX producing the best sets of results. The depth in quality in the senior sides of the school is really pleasing to see with all five teams playing excellent football. This was there to be seen in the hotly contested inter-patrol football event with every child playing an active role for their patrols.
The Year 5s and 6s have enjoyed mixed success but all teams playing a number of good fixtures. It’s great to see all boys getting the opportunity to play a number of matches with very clear progression seen already across the board. We sent two teams, U10 and U11, to the Charterhouse football tournament where we came up against some very strong sides. It’s always nice to play schools outside of our fixture bubble and test our skills against unknown teams. Even if they are very good! What is worth mentioning is the really pleasing resilience and team work that these years in particular have shown. Whether being successful or struggling, these boys have shown great team spirit and togetherness.
The Year 3 and 4 teams have been involved in both straight matches and festivals so far this term, playing a mixture of ‘streamed’ games but also some mixed ability, with matches against Seaford College, Dorset House, Aldro, Cranleigh, St. Christopher’s, Brighton College and Holmewood House already! The U8s have really enjoyed their first taste of competitive fixtures with the excitement clear to see for all involved. They have also played some really nice football which is always a plus! The U9s have played some great games so far with the win at Stroud a real highlight but also some really pleasing results against PGS recently.
After half term, the U10 and U11A teams look forward to the Lancing Prep Schools football tournament where we aim to retain our title. The final block match of the season is against Cottesmore school on 5 November before the rugby season begins!
At the time of writing, our Year 8 cricket tourists are in the air flying to South Africa. I would like to wish them all the best on their trip. I’m sure they will fly the Westbourne House flag and make many memories that will last a lifetime.
Swimming
A large squad of 41 pupils from Years 4-8 competed in a swimming gala against Windelsham, Hurst and Cranleigh. For the Year 4s it was their first experience of an inter-school gala and for most of the pupils it was their first experience of a competition that included multiple schools. The U9s won four races, the U10s won four races, the U11s won one race, the U12s won three races and the U13s won four races. The A team came first out of the four schools and the B team came second. But most excitingly, in the overall competition, Westbourne won the whole gala by five points. Westbourne face Highfield next in December.
Cross Country
We were thrilled to be able to attend Seaford’s annual cross country competitions this year with almost every age group.
The Year 3 and 4 competition was first: the Year 3 girls’ team came 4th with Maddie placing in the top 10. The Year 4 girls’ team also finished 4th with both EJ and Roxy placing in the top 10. The boys' teams had an excellent afternoon with both teams winning their team event! Tom M and Otis for Year 3 and Jamie S, Harry L and Louis for Year 4, all individual medals for top ten finishes.
The Year 5 and 6 competition was the following week. The Year 5 girls’ team came 3rd with Safi and Lucy placing in the top 10. The Year 6 girls’ team also came 3rd with Lily-Rose just missing out a place in the top 10. The boys teams ran competitively with Loftus as the highest placed finisher in his race.
With Year 7 away on their language trips, Year 8 was the final year group to compete. Both Year 8 teams came 2nd with Izzy and Bianca both finishing in the top 10 for the girls and Walter and Felix for the boys.
