The following week was delivered by the Dorset cricket team and was based around some skill stations and games, unfortunately the weather was not on their side and half way through the event it was transferred inside where some adaptations were made to still give the children the best experience possible of the game.

We then hosted the Dorset Indoor athletics final where 6 teams from across Dorset competed against one another, from the Purbeck Area we had St Marys Swanage being represented and they did themselves proud and overall achieved 2^nd place. the event as always was well delivered and was supported brilliantly by our own Yr 9 leaders who did an excellent job of getting the athletes through their events effectively. As a always the noise level was immense but again everyone had an excellent experience and we look forward to hosting this again in the future.  

From athletics to Handball. This was a pathway event so the winners were going on to represent The Purbecks in the Dorset School games final in June. We had 6 schools attend this, so were able to deliver a competition where all schools played each other, which gave everyone lots of opportunity to practice and improve as the event went on. The standard of handball was good to see and teams worked well together to move the ball down the court to give the best opportunity to score.

To help the schools improve further we spoke to them about the best way to defend and what skills they needed to keep possession of the ball, to give them the best opportunities.

 

The winners of the handball this year were Swanage primary school, so hopefully they are looking forward to the school games final. 😊 For those players that want to take their Handball further our local Club Is Pheonix Handball and I am sure that Liz would be happy to welcome any new players.

 

 

 

Earlier this year we ran a pathway competition for yr5&6 Netball, our winners were St Marys Swanage, before half term they went to represent the Purbeck Area in the Dorset Netball finals. They performed brilliantly and can up against some fantastic teams from across the county, They did themselves proud and were a credit to the school. Not only that but they only went and won. So a massive congratulations to them from all of us. I know that Mr White and Miss Lisa work tirelessly with the children and give them every opportunity to do their best and it certainly paid off here. Well done again and good luck next year. 😊

 

 

With Wimbledon just around the corner we felt it was appropriate to get the YR 3&4 tennis ready. We had over 70 pupils playing tennis during the afternoon, focussing on a skills circuit but also putting these into practice within a number of doubles games. Tennis is a massive learning curve having to think about hand eye coordination, moving your feet but also how much pressure to put on the ball. Players very quickly learnt not to WHACK it as the ball travelled much further than the reduced court size allowed.  The improvement across the festival was amazing to see and we ended up with some pretty impressive rallies. Throughout the afternoon there were lots of smiles and all went home happy. We were particularly happy that the weather held of and we were not blessed with last years final 10 minute downpour and dash. Phew.

The half term culminated in the long awaited Yr 5&6 Tag Rugby tournament, this was postponed from earlier in the year due to onslaught of rain throughout the winter. Luckily we had space to delay and we managed to put the event on the astro. Eight of our schools were able to attend this and again we managed to play a round robin tournament to enable everyone to play everyone. So maximum rugby played. It is clear that we have some rugby players in our midst and some of the drives forward and the passing was excellent. Again the amount of rugby played enabled the players to develop as a team and learn from each other. Communication improved, tactics were developed and teamwork excelled. The weather also played its part and kept us dry. It was an extremely close tournament with 3&4 place having equal points and 1&2 place having equal points so decide placing sit had to come down to points difference. In 2^nd place were St Marks Swanage and our winners were Stoborough Primary. Well done all. Also a massive thankyou to the leaders that officiated this. A tough competition with passions running high. Keeping control at times can be challenging but they did a sterling job.

That concludes Summer term 1 and we are back full speed with Yr 5&6 cricket and a packed summer term 2.

Happy holidays.

Shelley & Dan