Sports Awards evening

Posted: 18th August 2022

A welcome return to a superlative event.

Bearing in mind the glorious summer of sport we have enjoyed, from the victory of the Lionesses to the Commonwealth Games and now the European Athletics Championships and the European Swimming Championships, it was wonderful to be able to welcome the return of our Sports Awards evening on Monday 4th July.  Mrs Gosling, Director of Sport, had a great deal to report on at this event:

‘It has been three years since our last Sports Awards evening and for many this is your first experience – including for Miss Lammiman whom we have welcomed to the team. This evening celebrates the sporting progress and attainment of all students from Lower II to Priory Sixth. We are proud that sport at St Augustine’s Priory spans many different areas and we are pleased we can offer such a wide variety of activities to the students.

This would not be possible without the support and hard work of a fantastic PE Department and coaching team  – thank you to all!  It also wouldn’t be possible without the commitment of all the students who are here this evening. This year has still been like no other, so thank you for turning up to all that is available, dealing with the frustration of cancelled fixtures and training and doing your best in all you do. If you do win an award tonight  – congratulations!  And if tonight isn’t your night for an award, then please do keep working hard next year. We appreciate each and every one of you.

In curricular PE this year, we have undertaken new approaches stretching our teaching and the girls. Junior students have been challenging themselves to learning key skills, which they can transfer to all activities rather than any particular game.  In Seniors, the pupils have been taught the principles of the game such as zone and player marking in different sports. This allows pupils to develop and become better at sports as they understand how transferable the skills are between games.  Later in life they will have the toolkit to approach any sport with confidence and to become involved in sport for the rest of their lives. Though this takes time, we believe it provides a much more enriching curriculum for the girls.

We have also included modules on leadership, supporting the vision of developing the whole person and understanding other pathways into sport. A new module we really enjoyed teaching was the Inclusion and Diversity unit. Girls learned sports such as seated volleyball and goal ball, and they gained a greater understanding of disability sport and different sporting pathways. Form III have recently enjoyed exploring this through project work and Lower IV produced some excellent work with their co-curricular project with the Science Department on the heart and lungs.

Lower V and Upper V have embarked on self-defence and kickboxing, as requested through the Student Council. They have enjoyed the challenges and the importance of learning these skills for later life. Priory Sixth have kept their physical activity up through taking fitness classes at Eden Fitness and, this summer, participating in boot camps and self-defence classes through our ongoing relationship with Ealing Cricket Club.

We have welcomed curriculum workshops from London Pulse Netball, footballer Branislav Ivanovic, and Jane Powell from England Cricket and initiatives such as Let Girls Play in football and The Danceathon for the charity ‘Icandance’ at Association Day. We are also proud of all the students who continue to participate in a variety of sports outside of school, such as Beatrice and Ava in Rowing, Hannah in Ballroom Dance and Jovana and Teodora in Jujitsu. We would also like to thank the Upper V and Upper VI students who have demonstrated outstanding commitment throughout their time at St Augustine’s Priory.

In academic PE, we have enjoyed teaching the A Level and GCSE courses.  The students deserve success after a tough couple of years – and have demonstrated many of the qualities of good sportswomen.

I am delighted to welcome hockey player, Evie Wood, to our Sports Awards. Goalkeeper for the GB EDP and English U21 programmes, Ms Wood has represented England at U16 and U18.  As an athlete who has already earned international caps, she is still only young and is balancing her sporting ambitions with studying for a university degree. As ambitious women ourselves, we really look forward to hearing her story and all about her journey in hockey.

Some award winners with Evie Wood

Netball

It has been quite a year for our games, and netball is no exception. We launched the Priory Netball Academy to stretch and develop students from Lower V – Priory Sixth. There were many highlights from this squad and they have made excellent progress. We are also pleased that we can support players in this squad who have played at London Pulse, Mavericks, Middlesex, and many local clubs. Though winning many matches throughout the season, dominating local competition, I am sure taking the victory in the Staff v Pupils netball match ranked highly in some of their memories!  Not a match that the staff have forgotten, but enjoyable none the less, that the pupils are now good enough to beat us.  Stella and Sienna also represented Ealing in the LYG who finished 3rd  – a great achievement.

Though the season has been disrupted at times, many fixtures have still been played with A-D fixtures in some year groups, which gave all the opportunity to play. It has taken time to rebuild but, towards the end of the season, we saw some great results, which the girls deserved after much hard work. We hosted the Society of Heads U15 Tournament where the U14A team lost out on goal difference to take the win! Our junior High 5 Netball tournament was also a success. We have enjoyed taking students to watch London Pulse at the Copper Box, which was a great opportunity to see Netball played at elite standard.

However, the Paris tour was a highlight of the year and we were so pleased we could make it happen, taking 54 girls to train and compete. Hangma won the U14 Player of the Tournament and the U12 and U13 teams made their respective finals. We look forward to the next instalment for the U14/U15 teams in October.

Some award winners with Evie Wood

 Hockey:

We have welcomed Miss Lammiman to lead and drive the Hockey programme this year and we have seen great numbers at the clubs across the school. Recently, the girls watched international hockey to develop their understanding of elite sport and I know having Evie Wood here tonight will inspire many more students to take the next step to club playing.

Individual successes were Ava representing London in the U14 age group and Evie and Marie-Helene selected for Ealing in the LYG.

Other highlights were the U12 team winning the Francis Holland tournament, the U13B team finishing second in their tier of the Middlesex rounds and the U16 teams playing their first indoor competition after two training sessions and finishing 3rd. We know there will be many exciting things to come, including a Hockey tour in 2023.

Football and Cross Country:

Football and Cross Country continue to be growing sports at St Augustine’s Priory. Come rain or shine there are always many girls running first thing on a Friday morning. In October, the Ealing Cross Country Squad SAP placed joint first place with some fantastic results with Margault, Marie-Helene and Bella finishing 4th, 5th and 6th in the Year 7/8 race and Isobel finishing 3rd and Evie 8th in the Year 9/10 race. These girls went on to compete at English Schools where Margault finished 9th and Isobel 13th.

Some award winners with Evie Wood

Lunchtime football club is extremely popular.  The girls also enjoy their Friday sessions and these have been crucial in bringing the standard of the game on for our girls. In Football, we have increased the number of fixtures and even played some weekend matches against Acton Wildcats in both Seniors and Juniors. We are seeing a greater transition to clubs and are looking forward to seeing the girls progress next year. The highlight for many was the Society of Heads Football Tournament, where we welcomed teams from across the country and where we entered both U12 and U13 Teams. The U13 Team showed real determination and commitment and they won the final 1-0.

Dance, Gymnastics and Cheerleading:

It was such a treat to have the Dance and Gymnastics Showcase return and see many different genres of dance from Latin to street and some incredibly flexible moves in the gymnastics. Many students such as Cyrus, Scarlett, Natalia and Ayla performed solos demonstrating their incredible ability and one we are pleased to support.

Our cheerleading squad, Dynamite, have had a great year and this year we opened the squad up to Upper I. There have been many new recruits and the complexity of the routines has really developed. They have held strong their first place in the LDCA Cheerleading league, winning the Pyramid Off and placing in other competitions. They are very committed and we are very proud of the hard work they put in.

Summer Sports:  Cricket and Athletics:

 

 

The summer started to feel a bit more normal, with many events we enjoy taking place. We have developed a relationship with the ECC (Ealing Cricket Club) who have coached the girls throughout the year; it has been great to hear that many girls have made the transition to club sport.  We had some great results in all year groups from Lower II to Seniors and, last week, the u12 team got to the semi-final of the Godolphin and Latymer Tournament and the U13 team came joint second.

We have seen many highlights in the Athletics season, participating in the English Schools where we finished 7/20 in the Year 7/8 Competition and 4/20 in the Year 9/10 competition. Through this, many of our athletes went to the Year 7/8 Middlesex Schools where Ealing finished 3rd.

For many, Sports Day was the highlight of our year. The Juniors enjoyed a great day testing themselves in nine different disciplines. All the students worked hard.  Aniela was awarded the Victor Ludorum and St Gabriel’s House won the House competition.

It was a hot day for the Seniors at Perviale for their Sports Day, which showcased all that our students are capable of.  Eight records were broken and two were equalled and there were many very competitive races.  The Parents and Priory Sixth team won a highly contested relay at the end. There was a joint Victor Ludorum award for Ire and Sienna and St Michael’s House were the House winners on the day.’

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