Athletics and Sports Day
Westbourne House has had a very successful season in athletics with pupils placing in a significant number of events: Westbourne House athletics meeting, Hurst Girls' Athletics meeting, Hurst Boys' Athletics meeting, Hurst Junior County Athletics, K2 Athletics and of course the success at the National Athletics Finals in Nuneaton. It was fantastic to be able to participate in so many events again and pupils were excited and inspired to compete at these highly competitive events.
Notable results from the National Athletics Finals event were:
- Jake T 2nd in U14 Hurdles with a new personal best (PB) and new school record 12.99s
- Willow L 4th in U12 Hurdles
- Louie L 1st in U14 Javelin with a PB and new school record – 39.77m
- Louie L 4th in U14 1500m with a PB and new school record – 4.41.00
- U13 Girls Relay Finals 6th with a new school record 56.9s
- U13 Boys Relay Finals 4th with a new school record 54.45s
- U14 Boys Relay Finals 3rd with a new school record 50.35s
The Junior Sports Day was a great success and it was lovely to see the children enjoying a fun and eventful afternoon. A total of 85 PBs were achieved on the day from the students in Years 3 and 4.
Results from the day:
- 1st Owls
- 2nd Tigers
- 3rd Otters
- 4th Panthers
The Senior Sports Day was also a huge success, again with pupils across Years 5 - 8 achieving numerous PBs. A number of students also achieved new school records. A huge well done to all of them; what a spectacular day to find that extra speed, distance and strength in front of the cheering crowd.
New school records:
Year 5:
- Vivien O’S - Javelin 13.32m
- Monty F - Shot Put 5.81m
Year 6:
- Oliver A - 1500m 5.30s
- Willow L - Long Jump 3.22m
- Hettie H -Shot Put 5.00m
Year 7:
- Walter de L - 1500m 5.32.60s
- Esme R - Long Jump 3.10m
- Adi S - Javelin 18.50m
Year 8:
- Jiayou L - Shot Put 9.44m
Final results:
- Otters 1st
- Panthers 2nd
- Owls and Tigers joint 3rd
It has been so wonderful to see the great commitment from all the students across the school in athletics. Their enjoyment and hard work were seen across the season and paid off in all events they attended. Plenty of medals and certificates were awarded and we couldn’t be prouder of them all.
Girls’ Cricket
A fantastic end to a fantastic year for girls’ sports with countless ‘firsts’ and teams going from strength to strength. It would appear Westbourne House School has set the way for prep school girls’ cricket and we are immensely proud of our pupils and staff for everything they have done and all of the hard work they have put in this term.
We kicked off the half term with an interesting day of fixtures where the heavens opened and the fixtures were sadly abandoned. I’m sure they will remember running from the rain and hearing the thunder for a while to come! In the second half of the season, the girls were successful across the teams. The first mention must go to the unbeaten Girls’ First XI, who went from strength to strength showing determination, resilience and hard work throughout their season. A wonderful team of girls with a wonderful positive attitude. Well done for setting the bar so high and being such excellent role models to the younger years. Equally the U11A team has won every match this season and they should be proud of themselves for their focus on tactical awareness and fielding, which ensured their success.
A special mention also to the Girls’ 2nd, 3rd, 5th, U9A and U8 Grey teams who all lost only one match throughout the whole season – an excellent effort by all of them.
All girls across the year groups have shown a real passion and enjoyment for cricket and have worked hard on their tactics and understanding of the game. It has been a real pleasure being part of such an exciting year of cricket.
Boys' IAPS Cricket Finals
With huge excitement the boys’ 1XI cricket team set off to St Peter's School in York. Staying overnight in a hotel, the boys were congratulated on their behaviour by members of the public. Fergus and Louie joined us after their county matches. Louie scored a hundred that day.
St Peter's is a very picturesque school right on the river. Our first opponents Taunton School made a very good start and built a large total for us to chase. Our ground fielding remained good under intense pressure. Then it was our turn to bat; throughout the season Louie and Fergus had never faltered in the same match, one of them going on to make a big score each game. Both were bowled playing no shot leaving us a mountain to climb. Although we rallied well, good innings by Lachlan, Nicholas, we fell way short of the target set. Taunton School ended up being the overall winners. The boys learnt a lot from this game and could see the level they would like to achieve and were very inspired by the standard of play.
After lunch we played Bedford School in the 3/4 playoff and decided to bat first. In the heat we made our opponents toil as our two top batsman put on a partnership of 190. Louie finished on 149 not out. Bedford started well until Archie took a vital wicket. Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals but the run rate was still good. All the bowlers gained rewards from some accurate, line and length deliveries as Bedford’s effort faltered. A brilliant win and medals for coming third in the country. This rounded off a brilliant adventure, one the boys will never forget.
Headmaster Mr Barker travelled up with the team. He commented: “It was brilliant to be up in York supporting the boys’ 1XI team. They did incredibly well to reach finals day and attain this level of cricket. In their second match – the third/fourth playoff – they had the opportunity to show their true colours with some outstanding teamwork. Overall, it was a fantastic experience for the team and everyone at Westbourne is very proud of them."
South Africa Touring Match
Cornwall Hill from Pretoria, South Africa, toured again this year and our very kind parents hosted their boys for two nights. We will being playing them again in October as part of our South Africa trip. It was a very close match between two evenly matched teams. Cornwall made a respectable total after both Archie and Lachlan have bowled good spells. Oli was again outstanding in the field while our stand in wicketkeeper did well also. We just failed in our run chase with Archie top scoring on this occasion. Many new friendships were formed and it was great to see things really returning to normal after a torrid couple of years.
Parents v Pupils
The parents versus pupils match was a huge success this year with the dads, and two great mums, coming out on top for the first time in many years. Well done to all making the day very special with bragging rights and memories a plenty.
