Next Stop MCG!

Well, to say we were absolutely astounded is an understatement. The girls’ cricket team has achieved one of the most amazing feats I’ve ever known as a primary school teacher. What started as a local competition between several local schools has gone so much further than any of us imagined (although we always hoped). Having won their first tournament, the girls proceeded to the district competition, as mentioned in the previous post. A victory there secured their place at the WA finals at the WACA. So, last Friday the girls picked up their bats and off they went. You could have knocked us over with a feather when the principal announced to everyone that they’d only gone and won the whole thing. This means they’re officially the best girls’ primary school cricket team in Western Australia! The girls now have their biggest date ever – the Australian finals at the famous MCG in Melbourne where they’ll take on the other states. Amazing! Well done, girls.

New Term/Girls Soccer

Term 2 is up and running and we’ve had a great start. On the first day alone we restarted our My Place series, investigated square numbers and square roots, explored water colours with the amazing Ms Sveinbjornsson and researched some peace symbols with a view to creating our own. A very busy start!

Day 2 was very different. Whilst some students stayed at school, I took 26 girls with Mr “Awesome” Jones to play in a local soccer tournament. Nearly all the girls had never played soccer and they were up against some experienced teams. The lack of experience showed, especially during the first game when they were all fairly static, almost rooted to the spot. Some of the girls were netball players and they weren’t sure where they were allowed to go. However, as the day progressed and the girls experience grew they started to understand the game much better. By the end the defence were moving smoothly as a unit up and down the pitch; the midfield players were racing up and down to support the strikers and the defence; and the strikers were using their skill to attack the opposition. The girls worked together to mark the opposing players and to create space for themselves to pass the ball. After 5 games in hot weather on full size pitches the girls hd run themselves selflessly into the ground. Our school had two teams and while neither won the tournament (although both won games) they thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

The most amazing part of the day for me was to witness how a group of girls with little or no idea about the game worked together and developed their skills. By the end of the day they had become confident and skilled players, positioning themselves, harrying the opposition and working together as a team. It was truly inspirational and everyone was rightfully proud of them. Well done, girls!

Brooke calls for the ball.

Brooke calls for the ball.

 

 

Cricket Carnival

Last week the year 5 and 6 students (some from LA19) took place in a cricket carnival against other schools from the area. Played in scorching sunshine, it was an incredible day with displays of cricket which truly blew me away. The boys and girls were each split into two teams, first and second, and competed throughout the day against some superb opposition. At stake was a trip to the WACA (West Australian Cricket Association) cricket ground to take part in a competition against the winners of other, similar carnivals taking place across Perth. Unfortunately, neither of the boys’ teams made it. They both only lost one game all day, though this was enough to see them fall just short of the prize and demonstrates the high quality of cricket being played on the day. The girls, however, fared better with one of their teams remaining unbeaten and securing a much sought after ticket to the WACA. Well done to all the students for an amazing day of fun, sportsmanship, great behaviour and fantastic cricket.

Jayden and Hayden

Jayden and Hayden

Keenan in Action

Keenan in Action

Cross Country

This week we held the interschool cross country competition. The competition pits the four school factions against each other with the cross-country trophy and bragging rights on offer to the victors. Each student who finished gained points to help their faction win and there were awards for the first four finishers in each year level. The students from LA19 did a great job and made everyone proud. Below are photos of William (4th place) pushing through the pain barrier, and Aimee, ahead of the competition on her way to grabbing a fabulous second place. Well done to Aimee and Demi for finishing in the top four girls, William for finishing fourth in the boys and to everyone else for finishing such a grueling race!

Check out these fabulous and very personal write-ups from Demi and Georgia.

William

William

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aimee

Aimee

 

Champions!

I know it’s not all about the winning and that we should promote the idea that to participate is the real goal (which we do), but it’s great to see the beaming smiles on the faces of the students when we win. Last week we took part in a sports carnival against several other teams in soccer, modcross, netball and Aussie rules football. It was an amazing day (thanks to our legendary Phys. Ed. specialist Mr Jones) and we managed to come away with most of the trophies on offer. The Aussie rules team were successful, as were the modcross team, whereas the netball teams came a solid second and the boys’ soccer team had some very impressive wins. However, the team that I was in charge of, the girls’ soccer team, won the coveted trophy. This was a trophy that our school has never won, but we knew following our practise games (a previous post) that we were in very good shape. The girls were magnificent, winning 5 out of their 6 games, but what stood out for me was their team spirit, their sense of fair play and their desire to run themselves into the ground, draining their last drops of energy to make sure they gave their best.

It was a great moment when the girls were called up to receive the trophy and I can say that I was absolutely proud of each and every one of them.

The Champions!

The Champions!

School Sports

This week our boys and girls soccer, football (Aussie Rules), modcross and netball teams played practise games against the students from another local school. This was in preparation for our major interschool sports competition next week where we will play against teams from across the district. Unlike our previous outing where all our teams won every game, this time we were tested a quite a bit more. Unfortunately, most of the teams didn’t fare well, though none of them were actually thrashed. However, the incredible girls’ soccer team (of which I happen to be the humble coach) enjoyed a 5 to nil win. This comes after our previous game where we won 15 to nil. So far our plucky goalkeeper, Jen, has kept a clean sheet (let’s hope this continues), but that is in a large part down to the outfield players who have demonstrated skill, tenacity and courage in what have been some very physical, hard fought contests. Check out the photo’s of the girls in action.

Aimee drives the ball forward.

Aimee drives the ball forward.

Chloe makes a dash through the centre.

Chloe makes a dash through the centre.

Sports Stars

Last week some of our year 5, 6 and 7 students travelled to another local school to compete in several sports, which were: girls soccer, netball, boys soccer, modcross and Aussie Rules football. To say we were successful would be an understatement as we actually won every game. I personally am the coach for the girls’ soccer team who won with a resounding 16 – 0 score. They were absolutely brilliant, despite getting soaked by a sudden torrential downpour. I’d like to say that, as the coach, the victory had something to do with my incredible coaching skills, but these girls would have won even if they’d never been coached by anyone. For a great write-up of the game check out Aimee’s blog and her post called Inter School Soccer. Well done to all the teams for such an amazing effort.

Cricket Carnival

Last Friday some of our enthusiastic, sporty students attended an inter-school cricket carnival which was organised for us by our awesome Phys. Ed. specialist, Mr Jones. We took two teams of boys and two teams of girls and they all gave their best effort, winning most of their games. There wasn’t a trophy, the day was more about participation, enjoyment and the promotion and development of cricket in our suburbs. We’re lucky enough to have some excellent young cricketers at the school who already play for various local teams so we were treated to some fabulously entertaining displays. Have a look at some of the great action photo’s below, just click on them to enlarge. If you’d like to read about the cricket from one of the players then check out Aimee’s blog.

CricketCricket 2Cricket 3

Cricket 4Cricket 5Cricket 6