Posted on: December 8th 2017
It’s Christmas and I can’t believe that my first term at Norfolk House School is over already. As the saying goes, ‘time flies when you’re having fun’, and the Autumn term has been fun! We have played over 20 matches this term, entered four tournaments and over 85 of our students have had the privilege of representing the school. Phew!
This is only the second year that our girls have played football in their PE lessons and their skills and confidence are clearly growing. This is reflected in our ever improving performances and the enthusiasm the girls display in lessons and club practices. Our first few games this term were cagey affairs, with the girls being very cramped up on the pitch and displaying little tactical knowledge. As we fast forward to the ISA tournament in November, all the teams played a much more attractive brand of football with the Form 6s really shining. A second place for them really demonstrated the improvements that they have made and the hard work they have put in. The Year 4s finished with convincing wins against their last few opponents and have the makings of a brilliant team.
Any termly highlight reel also has to include the Year 3s who played in the Year 4 ISA tournament and came 4th! They competed with, and beat, girls older and more experienced and show great promise. The biggest turnaround however must go to the Year 5s. With only eight girls in the year, they were all lucky enough to get selected. The girls created a really strong bond on the field, with most of the girls playing their first ever game of football. They did struggle at the start of the year, but finished with a very impressive performance and win in their last game of the year.
This was also our first ever season of contact rugby and the boys approached the game with relish. The enthusiasm in lessons was reflected in us putting on another bus for the club so that we could accommodate more players. The Year 2s kicked the rugby season off to a great start with a really fun tournament at Saracens. We had the only mixed teams of the tournament and the girls looked like naturals. Our Year 4s played their first ever full contact competition against Belmont and proved that they had the bravery and skills to compete at that level. We have played games against The Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, Belmont School, King Alfred School and played in tournaments at Finchley RFC and Saracens. It has certainly been a big change for our boys to move from touch to contact, but I think we now have a great foundation for the future.
Form 6
Form 5
Form 4
Form 3
Form 2
Moving forward to next term we will be changing our focus from boys’ rugby to football and girls’ football to netball. We also enter the cross country season for both genders. This means that we will not be organising any fixtures in girls’ football or boys’ rugby. Please remember our two approaches regarding school sport:
Selection criteria:
Norfolk House team ethos and aims:
Dates for your diaries (fixtures are in addition):
I would like to take this opportunity to thank some key people for all their help this term; our fantastic coaches Cengis Rifat, Phil Smith, Gemma Camlin, Jo Charman and Alice Smith, Friends of Norfolk House and Emily Patten for all their help over the term, Irene Joannides, Kirsty Mardell and Deborah Gormley for all their organisational help and lastly the school teachers who have adjusted lessons so that we can have all these events. Thanks guys, without you all we would not be able to offer these sporting events to our pupils.
If there are any parents who would like to help out with either football or netball next term please email me on acharman@norfolkhouseschool.org .
Yours in sport,
Andy Charman
Director of Sport
