Sports Updates

Girls’ Cricket

We are so lucky to be so close to such a brilliant, family-orientated cricket club: Hampton Wick Royal CC. I know a number of our school community are involved with the club, either playing, organising or coaching, but we would love to further develop the links.

This week, we are focusing on the girls! There is far more info at https://hwrcc.co.uk/girls/ but the important information for now: Summer training starts on Tuesday 30th April, 6-7pm! 

We would love to see as many St. John’s children there as possible. We know that the club is particularly struggling in the u9 and u10 age groups, so I’m setting an extra challenge for those in year 4 and 5! What a brilliant opportunity to be active, make some new friends and have fun in the local community.

Y5 ‘Battle of the Boroughs’ - Kingston & Richmond

On Thursday, we took 16 children along to the annual Year 5 boys and girls Richmond v Kingston Tournament. The day was run as two separate competitions: one for Y5 girls (7 a-side) and one for Y5 boys (7-a-side). The first thing to note is that the behaviour was exemplary and a real credit to school, but there was plenty more to be proud of…

The group stages were a success, especially for the girls (3 wins, 1 defeat) who came 2nd in their group to qualify for the Cup competition. The boys battled hard (2 wins, 2 defeats) and finished 3rd in the group, meaning they would be contesting the Plate in the afternoon knockouts.

Both teams were superb and only grew in confidence as the afternoon went on. 

The girls continued their early morning form and strolled their quarter and semi finals comfortably, winning 3-0 in each fixture. After 6 matches, and a very impressive 21 goals scored, we had reached the final of the Cup! To be in the top two, in both Kingston and Richmond boroughs, is an incredible achievement in itself and unfortunately the final didn’t quite go our way, losing to Heathfield, but such impressive performances and a well deserved medal to cherish. 

For the boys, our journey almost ended at the quarter final: despite a dominant performance, we couldn’t quite find the net and the game went all the way to penalties. Thanks to some cool heads and spectacular goalkeeping we won the penalties and our day continued! The semi final was a far closer match up, but we snatched a last minute goal to win 1-0. And then, we saved our best for last. In the final vs St James, it was an outstanding performance, resulting in a quite stunning 3-0 victory. The boys were naturally delighted, received their winners' medals, and we can add the Plate to our school trophy collection for this year! This along with the added bonus that, as winners, we now have automatic entry to the competition next year. Something for the current year 4s to look forward to...

A truly brilliant day where our incredible children shone once again.

END OF SPRING TERM MATCH REPORTS

Football ...

On Wednesday 20th March, our boys football team travelled to North Sheen Rec to face off against St. Mary Magdalen’s in the last 16 of the Borough Football League. The team were well prepared after a tough group stage, and started strongly. We grew into the game and a stunning goal from near the half way line, by Adam, set us on our way. The energy and resilience shown was excellent and, despite a goal from St. Mary Mag’s, we battled our way to 1-1 at full time. Being the knockout stages, that meant extra time! We regrouped, and went again, and again, and our effort paid off as we grabbed 2 goals to snag a well deserved 3-1 victory. The team were rightly delighted, but showed good sportsmanship in congratulating the opposition for a hard-fought match. On to the quarters!

Netball ...

Following this, we had our round of 16 netball game on Thursday 21st March, vs Meadlands. Our netball team's hard work and practice right from when they were in Year 5 all came together beautifully this week when they played their quarter final match after making it through from the league stages. Well done to the team and their quite stunning 15-3 victory over Meadlands!! Heady days for SJB sport. Bring on more knockout action after Easter - may it flow just like this again!

In other sports ...

As well as more knockout matches, we have more football tournaments for different year groups, and as we’re into the summer, that signals the beginning of the cricket season! We will be starting up our cricket club, and we have cricket tournaments to look forward to. 

END OF FEBRUARY UPDATE ...

Netball vs Sacred Heart, Fri 23rd Feb. 

A brilliant performance against a tough and physical opposition, and we came up just short in a 4-3 defeat. The team showed great resilience and teamwork and learned lots that will help them to keep improving. The team knew they still had a chance to get another victory in their final match against Collis on Tuesday (read below to see if we managed that!).

Football vs Sacred Heart, Mon 26th Feb. 

Our girls team managed a quite brilliant 5-0 victory. The girls, who have been on fire this year, continued their wonderful season with an assured display. Fittingly, the girls finished top of the group, winning all four of their games, and can feel confident heading into the knockouts. A big thanks to Mr Gauci for his work with them this year!

The boys took centre stage afterwards and, again, played well in a tough matchup. While we fell to a 2-1 defeat, we hit the post a number of times and can consider ourselves slightly unlucky to have lost. But as we all know, that is very much the nature of sport! It always presents a great opportunity to build resilience; indeed, while the boys were upset, nothing moulds you better than defeat. Due to our positive goal difference, we are still through to the knockout stages, so there is plenty to be happy about!

Netball vs Collis, Tues 27th Feb. 

B team 6-2; A team 9-3. The teams played brilliantly with some wonderful passing, marking and accurate shooting to win convincingly in both matches.. The children should feel really proud of how they have improved and their great team spirit. We look forward to taking on other Richmond schools in the Borough tournament next Wednesday. Thank you to Ms Mavale for all her work with the netballers this year!

FEBRUARY HALF TERM UPDATE

Netball

On Tuesday, we welcomed Trafalgar for our latest round of netball fixtures. It was great to be able to host a B team fixture, alongside the A team match, which meant we had a total of 15 children representing the school. And they all did a superb job!

Our B team - many who were playing in their first netball fixture for the school - played with great spirit and determination as they recorded a well-deserved 3-1 victory. The A team played with no less spirit or determination, but unfortunately couldn’t quite come out on top against a very strong Trafalgar side, eventually succumbing to a 5-3 defeat.

Swimming

The Richmond Primary School Swimming Gala was on Thursday morning, and we took a squad of 11 along to compete against the best swimmers in the borough. The children were a credit to the school (it’s so great being able to say this so often), giving their all, supporting each other and really enjoying the occasion. Although we don’t have a swimming pool, or a swimming club, this event is still one we look forward to every year and it was great to be able to celebrate the children’s success with a number receiving medals and/or ribbons for their excellent performances, including a gold medal in the Year 4 Freestyle Girls and a Bronze in the Butterfly Boys race. They were presented with these in assembly this morning, receiving a big applause! If your child is a keen swimmer, we have a number of swimming pools local to us. Year 4 will begin their swimming lessons (at Teddington Pool) next term.

Schools Football Week

On top of all this, we celebrated Schools Football Week this week! Unfortunately the weather has delayed some of our planned events, causing some understandable disappointment, but we were delighted to see a great turnout for the Year 4s on Tuesday and Year 3s on Wednesday. The focus is of course on involvement and enjoyment, and we hope that a number of our younger players - the girls especially - will be inspired to keep playing and enjoy all the benefits that sport brings! We will finish our planned Schools Football Week activities (including a tournament across the school) after half term.

Next half term…!

Another busy half term has come to an end, with cricket, football, netball & swimming all having their moment in the sun. We are looking forward to playing our final league fixtures in netball and football after half term (as well as finishing off Schools Football Week!) and seeing if we can qualify for the next stage of the Borough Leagues. We will also update you on the results of our Inter-House Hockey Tournaments. So many of the children have really enjoyed hockey, picking up lots of new skills during PE lessons! If this is something they would like to continue, Teddington Hockey Club is based just down the road from us, at Teddington School, and is always welcoming new members.

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Cricket Opportunities in and out of school

Despite not traditionally being a winter sport, cricket has been proving very popular again to start this term. It’s great to see children still enjoying the sport so much after the whole school had cricket sessions, delivered by local coaches, last term. Our first tournament of 2024 is on Monday - The 23/24 Primary Schools Indoor Cricket Competition. We’re sure it’ll be a great day!

Other than giving children access to different sporting opportunities, we also hope these sessions provide a pathway into club cricket. There will be opportunities for those girls who impress to join up with the Middlesex Area pathway. We would like to advertise the following opportunities, which are available to all:

From James Watson at Hampton Wick Royal

We would like to invite any girls interested in cricket to join us at Esher College, Weston Green Rd, Thames Ditton, KT7 0JB, for training with Hampton Wick Royal. The first session will take place on Sunday 21st January at Esher College, between 1-3pm. Boys sessions will be held at Tiffin Boys, starting 14th Jan and are available for u8s -  u17s (year 3 to year 11). There are several professional players - Arun Harinath (ex Surrey), Scott Newman (ex Surrey and Middlesex) and Michael Carberry (ex England and Hampshire) - who will be coaching with us! 

For more information, or if you have any questions, parents can contact: juniorcricket@hwrcc.co.uk or j.watson@heathfield-jun.richmond.sch.uk

KICK STARTING THE SPRING TERM

At St. John’s, we pride ourselves on giving all of our children the chance to be active. The recent Active Lives Children and Young People survey, which covers the 2022-23 academic year, has shown that just 47% of children are meeting the Chief Medical Officers’ guidelines of taking part in an average of 60 minutes or more of sport and physical activity a day.

We must all ensure children have positive experiences of sport and physical activity which is fun, inclusive and helps them develop, inside and outside of school.

We had a brilliant first term of sports, not just in terms of the children’s performances, but to see the level of participation, enjoyment and confidence amongst so many of the children was amazing. This is at the heart of what we stand for.

In school, Fry were the victors in last term’s Inter-house football competition. Cavell, who were the champs in our netball competition at the end of the first half term, could only manage 2nd this time. All to play for (especially for Owen and Shaftesbury!) as we tackle hockey this term.

FINAL SPORTS UPDATE OF THE AUTUMN TERM

A busy few weeks to end the term, which has been full of sporting success across our whole school. On reflection, it has been amazing to see how much sport we have managed to fit in this term. 

Football

On Tuesday 5th December, our very excited Year 3s headed to their first tournament representing St. John’s. I’m delighted to report that they did an impeccable job of representing the school and this will hopefully be the first of many opportunities for them (and the rest of the year 3!). The day was a huge success, winning all our group games with a combination of teamwork and some brilliant individual goals. The whole squad played their part as we reached the semi finals of the main cup, only to lose to a - literally - last second goal. The boys can be incredibly proud of their performance… we certainly were!

Further Year 3 tournaments (boys, girls, mixed ability) are scheduled for early next year.

*A big thank you to TKA - The Kingston Academy - who loaned us their minibus so that we could be involved in this tournament.

On Thursday 7th December, we had our league fixtures - boys and girls - away at Collis. This is always a much anticipated fixture, especially in light of our recent success. The boys could be very proud of their performance, their resilience especially, as they battled against an excellent side, to claim a 1-1 draw, very much finishing on the front foot! This is always a tough game, and it’s great to come away with a draw.

The girls won 13-1! I think that might be a record victory…! Enough said really.

On the final day of term, we will see a match up between the NPL Cup finalists (our girls team) and the NPL Plate champions (our boys team). Should be a close matchup!

Cross Country

Back on the Friday 24th November, a team of 12 represented St. John’s at the Richmond Primary Cross Country. We have received the results back and were delighted to hear just how well they performed! Three of our girls finished in the top 50, with Juliet our highest finisher in 28th. Our boys also managed three in the top 50, with Tunde (21st), Thomas (25th) and Dylan (26th) leading the charge. As a school, once all the times from across both races were collated, we finished an impressive 7th in borough!

Swimming

Thank you to all those who signed up for the trials, which are taking place on Wednesday morning. We are looking forward to seeing how everyone gets on during our final sporting ‘event’ of the calendar year.

Cricket 

On three Fridays this term, we have had a coach - James Watson - in from Hampton Wick Royal CC to work with every child in the school on some fun cricket skills, drills & games. It has been a wonderful opportunity for us, and we hope it has inspired some young cricketers at St. John’s! The club is very local to us and we have had informal links with them for many years now. They have a thriving juniors section, which all would be welcome at! If your child has expressed an interest at all, please contact James directly at j.watson@heathfield-jun.richmond.sch.uk. 

We have our first cricket tournament of the year, an indoor event, in January, so we look forward to hitting the ground running when we return! Schools’ Football Week (5th - 11th February) isn’t far behind.

As well as these, we look forward to many more fixtures and tournaments in the new year. 

And thank you to all parents who have supported us with our sport this year - it’s very much appreciated. 

We are passionate that all are given the opportunity to stay active and, while we have plenty of opportunities (whether half-termly house tournaments, many club offerings or outside visitors to promote sports e.g. cricket), please make sure you are encouraging participation and that your child is part of a club.

OTHER RECENT UPDATES

Another week, and yet more success to celebrate for our school and its sports teams!

Netball

On Tuesday, we had our first netball fixture of the season, vs SMSP. The passion and determination of the children really stood out as we battled to a 4-1 victory. The smile on their faces after victory says more than words could but we were really proud that they started the season in such a positive fashion and we can’t wait for more fixtures (and the borough tournament!) after Christmas.

Don’t forget, there are still spaces in our netball club - Mondays 3:15 - 4:15 - if you would like to sign your child up.

Football

After the success of the girls last week, it was time for the Boys Football Tournament this week and what a day it turned out to be.

After a challenging group stage left us with two defeats and two draws, morale among the squad was slightly low. We still had the ‘Plate’ to battle for though, and we did that in style. To reach the final, we had to win 5 on in a row, which we managed through a combination of penalties, golden goals and straight victories. The resilience and energy on show was quite incredible as we dealt with every challenge thrown our way.

To reach the final, of the plate or the main cup, is such an impressive achievement and so we were already bursting with pride as the final got underway. The boys brushed aside any nerves to contest a tight match. We were clearly growing into the match but couldn’t find a breakthrough in normal time. As penalties approached however, we are able to grab the winner, sparking some wild celebrations, along with impressive sportsmanship!

The whole squad played their part and can be rightly proud of their achievements. And a big thank you to all the parents who came along to support and cheer the team on - much appreciated, as always.

Looking ahead

We have our first Year 3 tournament next week, along with a final football league fixture of the year, vs Collis. This then leaves the swimming gala trials (see link here if you haven’t already signed up) to wrap up a quite sensational term of sport for the school. We are so pleased that so many children are involved in the fixtures, tournaments and all other sporting opportunities they get during the school day. While some people may think sport isn’t for everyone, if your child isn’t yet involved, please encourage them to sign up for something! 

We know that sports help children from a young age in many ways, from developing their social skills by making friends, learning how to deal with conflict, and celebrating shared success with others. We have a wide range of sporting (and non-sporting!) clubs so please make every effort to sign them up for one.

SJB LIONESSES GO ALL THE WAY

Last year, St John’s got to the final of both the boys and girls Richmond football leagues. This week, our new girls team got all the way to the final of the Borough Cup. Rather than the league which takes the whole year, this was a knockout tournament over an exhausting day of non-stop matches against some brilliant teams. The girls were such a credit to our school and continue the excellence we are seeing in our children’s sporting endeavours. Very proud of our team and of their coach Mr Gauci.

CROSS COUNTRY SUCCESS

We were delighted to take a large group of budding athletes to the borough cross country event today. Our great thanks to Mr Fletcher who came in on his day off to support the team. Results are shared until later but the children were a great (if not slightly muddy!) credit to the school.

DOES YOUR CHILD SWIM COMPETITIVELY?

We are delighted to be entering a team into the Richmond Swimming Gala again this year, which will take place in early February. If your child is in Y4, Y5 or Y6, is a very strong swimmer and would like to take part in trials, please click here to let us know (please read the blurb at the top of the form carefully).

Y5 Girls Football Tournament @ Richmond & Kew FC / Sports Update

Well done to a number of our year 5 girls, who went along to their first tournament of the year on Thursday, hosted at Richmond & Kew FC.

As always, we were delighted by the commitment they showed, the encouragement they gave each other and the pride they took in their performance. We had plenty of success as we topped our group and made it into the ‘top’ half of the draw, giving us an opportunity to compete for the main cup. Unfortunately though, we were defeated in the quarter-finals. Lots to be proud of for the team, as we remember: Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn!

Upcoming Football Events

We have the following tournaments in the diary for Autumn 2:

• Wednesday 15th November - Girls ‘NPL’ Tournament, Bushy Park Sports Ground

• Wednesday 29th November - Boys NPL Tournament, , Bushy Park Sports Ground

• Tuesday 5th December - Year 3 Boys Tournament, Richmond & Kew FC

Other sports news (and there is a lot to look forward to!)

Of course, we offer much more than just football at St. John’s.

• We are looking forward to the Richmond Borough Primary School Cross-Country on Friday 24th November, which is just open to those in Year 5 and 6 (we will be selecting the team based on trials in school).

• This term, we also hope to have our first netball matches of the year; there is still space in our netball club if you would like to join!

• We will also be hosting cricket workshops during school time in the coming weeks, supported by Hampton Wick Royals Cricket Club.

• And finally, details will soon be released about the Richmond Borough Swimming Gala. If you are a keen swimmer, then do keep an eye out for a notice about that…

Sports Leaders

We have now appointed our latest group of pupil leaders - our Sports Leaders. Their first job was to contribute to the St John’s Sports Code of Conduct, which exemplifies what we want to see in all sports, whether representing the school at an outside event, during PE lessons or when playing football (or other sports, of course) at break and lunch.

Please find it here: SJB Sports Code of Conduct

More on the Sports Leaders in the next couple of weeks, as we hope they will be making an appearance during the HWINS Sports Week.

Sporting Fixtures

One group who most definitely displayed these sports values were our year 4 girls, 8 of whom went to a football tournament at Kew Association Football Ground on Thursday. They showed brilliant sportsmanship, all got stuck in and, most importantly, had a brilliant time. We played 4 games, all in a friendly spirit, losing 2 (by just 1 goal!) and winning the other 2 comfortably. After such a great day, we’ve no doubt that they’re feeling inspired to keep playing football whenever they can! They definitely went above and beyond for the school. 

And our final piece of sporting news: last Thursday, we had our first league fixtures (game that are typically played by our ‘A’ team - made up of year 5s and 6s) of the year, against SMSP:

Double victory for SJB in first league matches of the year

Hot off the back of the Lionesses’ impressive showing this summer, our girls team made a superb start to the season, as we look to make the finals in consecutive years. 

Overcoming an early setback, with trademark resilience, the girls turned a 0-1 start into a 4-1 victory! Every player was superb but Ines, on her debut, never stopped running and made every challenge (and more!). Mentions also for Lucy, who scored a hat trick in her first match for the school team, and Holly, who battled through a couple of injuries to lead the line superbly at the back.

It looked a tough act to follow for the boys, who had waited patiently for their turn. There was a nervous excitement as we took to the field and battled to a 0-0 scoreline at the half, soaking up some early SMSP pressure. We could see the confidence building though and, in the second half, we were unstoppable, jumping out to a 3-0 lead and playing some superb football! We saw out the rest of the match comfortably to secure the victory. It is hard to single out anyone in such a strong team performance, but credit to our goalkeeper William, and defenders Lachlan and Jasper, who all played their part in keeping a clean sheet. Plus credit is due to Thomas who never stopped running up front and came away with two goals.

A great start to the season!