The summer term has started our cricket fixtures for both the girls and boys teams. We’ve had excellent numbers for all the teams which has been fantastic to see along with the rapid progress of skill development.

Several games for the year 9s and 10s girls have been a washout due to the weather as it seems to be particularly favourable of Thursdays. However, the weather finally held out and the year 9’s finally got the play. Their first two games were close and came down to the last ball, keeping their cool while batting they won by 1 run in each game 34-33 and 25-24. Their second game they game against strong hitters and lost by three runs 49-46.

The year 7 and 8’s have been lucky and managed to play all of their league matches. Special mention to the year 7 girls cricket team who have won all of their league games by an impressive amount of runs, 55-39, 51-41, 68-42 and 52-17, their last two games they managed to get both teams out completely with some superb bowling and catching, accuracy from Grace G & Lucy M proved a winning combination with Claudia H having a good batting innings throughout, improved confidence from Maya D saw her consistently improve throughout this half term. The year 8’s have similarly done well, improving on their first performance where they unfortunately lost 43-49 and 33-47 but came back strong with their final two winning 60-47 and 50-31, consistent improvement from Amber V in her bowling from start to finish, this group of girls holds some strong cricketers playing at club with Tabatha D’s solid outfield arm an the quick reaction of Izzy G at wicket the team have continued to gel and grown in numbers.

The boys cricket teams have managed to dodge the weather and played all their fixtures with some very tight games throughout the year groups. The Y7’s are developing a large and strong squad of players showing a great love and enthusiasm for the game so it bodes well for future years. The Y8’s have played some epic fixtures, with their last game against the Downs resulting in a last ball victory after losing 3 wickets in 3 balls. The Y9’s maintain an unbeaten start with a strong batting and bowling performance throughout the side and the Y10’s are showing off some excellent cricketing ability with some great individual performances standing out during games.

The VI team also played two matches this term with several students from other year groups playing up such as Ollie S, Theo S, Tom S, Leon T and the youngest Jack R in year 7 which is an excellent achievement. They first played a tough game against Reading Grammar School who were a well experienced team, however our team stepped up and gave them a run for their money. The team fielded first keeping Reading to 190 runs for 4 wickets with some tight fielding and a great bowling spell from Mathew O taking 2 wickets for 24 runs. Sam K and Tom S also took a wicket each. After tea it was time to chase, there were some good individual batting scores with Tom S scoring 44 runs, Oscar F 34 and Theo S 22 runs. However, it wasn’t quite enough and the team finished on 128 for 4.

The year 9 football team continued their success from last term and played Emmbrook School in the County Cup Quarter Final where they won 2-0, this meant they played Ditton Park Academy in the semi final. A narrow biting game resulted in penalties against a strong keeper meant that unfortunately the team were unsuccessful in getting into the final. However, a huge congratulations to all of the players who played and they all did tremendously well to make it to the semi finals.

As usual the rest of our clubs are also attended with high numbers, athletics on Wednesday’s wins the competition as we had over 90 students attending one week. The impressive numbers meant we had a huge selection for the District Athletics held at Palmer Park. All the students were impeccably behaved representing the school and numerous students made the podium. Rowan Y came third in javelin, Theo S second in 400m, Max A claimed gold in triple jump and bronze in 1500m, Ollie S came second in long jump and Charlie C in triple jump, Ant W came second in 800m. Emma L claimed gold in javelin and Tabatha D came third, finally Jemima W took silver in hurdles and also in long jump. As a result of their success Emma, Max, Charlie, Ollie & Ant have all qualified to represent the West Berkshire team on the 6th June, we wish them all the best for their events. The athletics team also continue to show the school values during training where students are committed to supporting each other and improving their technical events.

Whilst Newbury Relays were washed out we look forward to them during the final term, the second half term also bringing the Year 7 district event, final team selection will be made during the first training session, please make sure you attend to be in consideration for the Year 7 team.

We look forward to celebrating the year's sporting success next term with Sports Presentation Evening in June.