The first half of this term has absolutely flown by with no fewer than 180 matches contested, 16 tournaments entered and 16 inter-patrol matches played by the girls (the boys' matches start after half term). It has been an exciting and clearly very busy seven weeks, where we have been pretty lucky with the weather. There has been lots of glorious sunshine and high temperatures, but we also had to endure some pretty horrific conditions on two of our match days, but the children’s attitude never faltered, all showing great commitment when representing the school. The children’s energy and enthusiasm for everything has been a delight to see and we hope they will continue to flourish after half term.
Boys’ Sport
The staff have reported some really pleasing development in all the teams, with plenty of success along the way, winning approximately 65% of our competitive matches. Success is not just defined in our results but also in the progress and way we are trying to play our football. Although an unbeaten season is an amazing achievement, we learn as much - if not more - from defeat so trying to find a fixture list with a balance of results is incredibly important for the all-round development of the children.
A few of the highlights of the season so far include the early victory in the Highfield football tournament where the U13A boys won the final after 19 penalties; the U11A boys' excellent victories in the ISFA regional tournament, meaning they qualify for the National Finals at St Georges Park in May, and the Lancing College tournament. A special mention should go to the U11As also for winning a penalty shoot that involved 36 penalties being taken!
The U11As have statistically had an incredibly successful season followed by the U10Bs and U9As. However the school’s most successful boys' team of the term to date is the U8Cs, winning all of their matches! An amazing achievement in what is their first term of competitive matches for the school. Well done to all the children this term, but particularly well done to the boys who have featured in those teams.
Congratulations to the following Year 8 boys, who have been awarded their football colours after some consistently good performances, some over a period of two years:
- Oliver F
- Oscar P
- Felix T
- Xander R
- Ollie A
- Jude C
A mention should also be made to our very successful cross country teams who performed particularly well at the Seaford College cross country events, with our U8, U9 and U10 teams winning the team event and Otis M winning the individual race.
Although the football season is not completely over with the odd tournament and a touring school left to play, our attention moves a little towards rugby with a number of matches heading our way after half term.
Girls' Sport
The children's energy and enthusiasm for all of the sporting events has been a delight to see and we hope to see their love and enjoyment of sport continue to flourish throughout the remainder of the term.
Despite some variety in the style of netball played (sometimes 7-a-side and sometimes 5-a-side) the U10s have been very good at adapting their game and have seemed to simply enjoy turning up and playing sport. Fortune was on their side for the U10 inter-patrol netball, which we managed to move to the sports hall in the terrible weather and where, once again, they adapted to the situation well and played some of the best netball we have seen from them this season. Unfortunately, the U11-U13 inter-patrol hockey was postponed and has been rescheduled. The IAPS hockey matches were exciting and promising and while we didn't made the finals, it wasn’t without a fight. All the girls gave every match their all and made it tough for their oppositions. They narrowly missed out in several games but the mighty U13As still came home with medals, which were thoroughly deserved.
Some further notable achievements so far this year have included the Seaford cross country events where numerous girls came home with medals including Amber E, Maddie C, EJ A, Roxy P, Alejanda de RH, Marissa E and Willow L. The U10 girls also won the overall team event.
In hockey, the U11B team won 10-0 against Highfield. The U10As have had a lot of success going home with winning scores of 14-8, 15-3 and 15-2. The U10Bs and U10Cs haven’t lost a game and can be very proud of this achievement.
I look forward to seeing what the next half of the term brings for the Westbourne House pupils. I hope to see more of the same: an enjoyment of sport, excellent sportsmanship and a few accolades gained along the way.
Thank you to all the girls for a lovely start to this academic year; let's keep the spirits up as we enter the colder months.
