What a successful 2016-17

A review of a very busy and successful year.

    

What a successful 2016-17! School Games Award

For 2016-17, our school was presented with the Gold 'School Games' Award.   Whitehall has now been awarded this for the third consecutive year.  It is wonderful that Whitehall has been recognised for the fantastic work we do in P.E. and sport and the great progress we make each year; this really does show that sport and leading a healthy lifestyle is embedded into our daily life at Whitehall.  

  

PE lessons

It was pleasing to see that P.E. lessons, and you having the opportunity to be young play leaders, was enjoyed by all.  We have also been very fortunate with the good weather which ensured that no P.E. lessons were missed due to poor weather conditions.  You all showed great dedication to your lessons and it was wonderful to see your hard work and enjoyment which clearly shows that sport and healthy living is really at the heart of our learning at Whitehall.

Sports’ Coaches

It has been wonderful to have our tennis, table tennis, football, cheer leading, dance, basketball, gymnastics, multi skills and Yoga coaches work with us again this year to run some of our out of hours sports clubs either before, during or after school. These clubs have been as popular as ever and you gained greatly from working with these professional coaches and their high quality teaching.  

In addition to having professional coaches running out of hours clubs this year, the number of staff who dedicated their time and energy to run clubs this year was wonderful.  This enabled Whitehall to offer even greater variety of sporting opportunities for our children. 

 As well as this, many classes across the school also benefited from the opportunity to have their P.E. lessons taught by Matt, our gymnastics coach, Leon, our basketball coach, Dan, our football coach and Chris, our cricket coach this year.  The feedback from the teachers and pupils on these lessons has been very positive and it is so wonderful to hear that much is being gained from these lessons.

Clubs

All of the coaches, and teachers, would like to say a huge thank you to the vast numbers of children who signed up to attend additional physical education through joining one or more of our numerous clubs on offer this year. The coaches were overwhelmed by the numbers of you who attended clubs throughout this year and the positive attitudes and commitment you have all shown. It is so good to see you all having such a responsible attitude towards living a healthy lifestyle and wanting to develop your skills and knowledge of sport.  

  

Football League and cup

The football team showed great teamwork, dedication and hard work this year in all matches and training sessions; the coaches were all extremely proud of the children. It was a tough season playing with a brand new squad. However, as the year progressed, the team began to gel and the children became more confident playing with each other. The team was unlucky with close games and the final results not always reflecting the way the team played. It was fantastic that the whole school was represented in the squad, with children from Year 3 to Year 6 making regular appearances in matches. The coaches have noticed a huge amount of potential in this new squad and we look forward to next season and beyond. 

Netball Club, League and Rallies

The netball team has had a wonderful season and the weekly club proved to be one of the most attended sports club within the school - the coaches were very pleased with how committed you all were within weekly training.  The mixed netball league kept us busy with weekly fixtures and the team grew in strength, skill and sportsmanship with every match.  After a steady start to the season, the team began to win more and more games.  The end result being us achieving joint third place in the league table.

February and March were exceptionally busy months with a girls' rally, mixed rally and boys' rally.  We were pleased to take three teams to both the girls' and mixed rally with all teams playing well.  Congratulations must go to the girls' A team who reached the quarter finals.  With the wealth of boys who attended weekly netball training this year, it was pleasing to take two teams to the boys' rally where they played very well against stiff competition.

Cross Country 

As ever we have some wonderful long distance runners who were brilliant at turning up to training before school every week - not even the chilly mornings put you off!  The coaches were so pleased with the result of the District cross country competition on Thursday 6th October where the girls' team qualified for the Borough cross country finals - well done girls.  The boys ran very well too but unfortunately did not qualify for the finals.

  

Hockey 

The hockey club is now in its third year at Whitehall and the coach was very pleased with the numbers who attended the club each week.  There was a competition in November which the children and coaches thoroughly enjoyed and our results at this event were better than in previous years showing our progress in this sporting discipline.  We are looking forward to competing again next year. 

Sportshall Athletics

A huge well done to the 18 children who took part in the Borough indoor athletics heats on Wednesday 11th January. The children took part in a range of track and field events and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The team came third overall; Miss Costa and Mr Jones were very proud of all the children's hard work and dedication.

  

Gymnastics Competition

A huge well done to the eight children who represented our school at this year's gymnastic competition at Botwell Leisure Centre on Wednesday 25th January.  The children performed their floor, vault and body management routines exceptionally well to achieve the highest scores they could to go towards our school total.  It was an event enjoyed by all! 

Health and Fitness Week

What a successful week! It was wonderful to see the children have such a positive attitude towards health and fitness; it was a packed week which was thoroughly enjoyed by all. It was fantastic to see the children enjoying a wide range of physical activities across the week. Three particular highlights were: the inter-house competition in Year 3; the traditional English dancing and the sponsored walk completed by the whole school. The sponsored walk was particularly successful, with over £1,400 being raised to buy sports equipment for PE lessons. It was great to see our school sports committee involved in running some of the activities, as well as helping the Infant School with their healthy living week. Next year's activities are already in planning mode to make it and even more successful week. 

Rugby

We are extremely pleased to see that rugby is a sport that is being enjoyed by so many across the school. It was fantastic to see so many new faces at training sessions this year and we are so proud that our children are trying new sports. We were delighted that we were able to field multiple teams in three tag rugby competitions this year.  We entered both the district and borough Year 4 and 5 competitions this year with two teams at each competition. The coaches were extremely proud of how well both teams played throughout the competition. Even though the majority of our squad was made up of Year 4 children, they played confidently against bigger competitors. We look forward to seeing these children play next year and act as mentors for the new Year 4's.   Whitehall Junior School were proud to host another Year 6 tag rugby competition. The tournament, which consisted of 12 teams, was held on Monday 26th June. With rugby being such a popular sport in our school, we were delighted to field three teams in this competition. All of our teams played really well and it was great to see them putting everything they have learnt in training into action. Congratulations to the A team who successfully made it through to the semi-finals. After an extremely tight game which went into extra time, Whitehall were unfortunately pipped at the post. Although we did not win the tournament, it was fantastic to see the A team go home with a bronze medal. 

Swimming Gala

On Thursday 4th May, eight children represented our school in the District swimming gala.  All the children swan very well in their heats and five qualified for the finals with two children being awarded with medals - well done! 

Sports Day

Sports day had been exceptionally difficult to organise this year due to the poor weather resulting it in being cancelled and then the second date being exceptionally hot. However, perseverance paid off and our sports day took place on Wednesday 21st June. The whole school donned their PE kits and embraced the day with sheer motivation and eagerness to earn valuable points for their house team.  Years 3 and 4 completed their field events in the morning session which was followed by whole school sprint races and Years 5 and 6 concluded the day by taking part in their field events in the afternoon.  All of the children fully enjoyed the events and strived to win as many points as they could for their house teams. The results of sports day are as follows:

4th place = Frays 

3rd place = Chiltern 

2nd place = Colne 

1st place = Mill 

Congratulations to Mill and Adam and Mya as house captains; they were proud to accept the shield on their team's behalf. We would like to say thank you to all the children, staff and families for your understanding of the difficulty in getting sports day executed this year and a very big thank you to all the parents who came and supported their children.

Quadkids Athletics

On Wednesday 28th June, ten children from Years 5 and 6 competed in the annual Quadkids athletics competition and Hillingdon Athletics Stadium.  Each child took part in four disciplines:  sprint, long jump, vortex howler and 800 metres run.  Each child performed well in their events and the team achieved fourth place overall - well done!

Rounders

On Wednesday 28th June, a team of ten children represented the school in the District rounders competition which was held at Ryefield school. They played three group matches against Hillingdon, St Mathew's and Rabbsfarm. The team played very well and showed to have really progressed in their skills however they did not progress past the group stages. Well done to all the members of the team for showing great team spirit and sportsmanship!

Inclusive Festival

On Wednesday 28th June, 10 children from Whitehall attended an inclusive sports festival at Harefield Academy. The children thoroughly enjoyed the experience and it was fantastic to see them fully engaged in the activities. It was excellent that the children got the opportunity to play some sports which are currently unavailable in school PE lessons. Some of the sports the children participated in were Tri-golf, table cricket, bocce and sit volleyball. The teachers that attended have gained some excellent ideas for bringing more inclusive sports into PE lessons and clubs.  

District Sports

District Sports was held on Thursday 6th July and twenty-nine children, from Years 3 - 6, represented Whitehall in this competition which was held at Hillingdon Athletics Track - competing against eight other schools. Each year group had different running, throwing and jumping disciplines to complete in addition to a relay. All of the children performed their events exceptionally well and enjoyed doing so in a stadium full of supporters cheering them on. A special mention goes to the following children who came away with a medal for their event: Dominic - Silver medal in the Yr3 50m sprint race, Tanayah - Silver medal in the Yr4 60m sprint race, Maalik - Gold medal in the Yr3 speed bounce, Alex - Bronze medal in the Yr3 tennis ball throw, Arifullah - Gold medal in the Yr5 vortex howler throw and Riane - Gold medal in the Yr5 vortex Howler throw. Even though medals were not won by all participants, all of the teachers are proud of your achievements in this competition as well as the progress made during weekly training!

 

  Sports Assembly

Congratulations to all those who received a medal for representing the school in a competition this year. The number of you who received a medal, or several medals, was astounding which really highlights how much sport is a part of our everyday life here at Whitehall and how much we enjoy, and gain a lot from, sport. A special thank you must go to all the dedicated teaching staff for running clubs and competitions throughout this year! The fact you were able to see during this assembly how many of the school staff still participate in sport as adults we hope is inspirational to you all.  It was lovely to award so many medals and show what  can be achieve in sport if you work hard to succeed.

We have reached the end of the Summer Term and we have so much to be proud of. We are elated by this year's achievements but we are just as excited about the new successes to come!

Mr Cumming, Mr Jones Costa.