Sport at William Ransom 2021-2022
PE and Sport at William Ransom
2021-2022 has been a very mixed year for sport at William Ransom. We have done our best to get back to clubs as usual but unfortunately a couple COVID outbreaks did have an impact on our overall provision. However, we were able to get a lot of clubs back up and running, as well as beginning new clubs this year. We have also experienced amazing success.
At the start of the year Netball and Football clubs both started, with a record number of children attending Football, creating the need for two sessions each week. This gave the opportunity for a lot of competition, which helped both teams but in particular gave the girls an advantage when they came to starting their fixtures against teams that had never experienced such competition. We also had Lacrosse and Dance.
Dance club was particularly exciting and gave a large group of girls the opportunity to perform individually and as part of a group. Solo and group dances were recorded and sent off to the judges, with our group dance being selected to perform at the Regional finals at the Gordon Craig Theatre in Stevenage. The girls performed amazingly and managed to come third, just missing out on progressing to the next round. They were then able to perform this routine at the summer fete and for the opening ceremony of Sports day. The girls were also recently invited to perform their dance at the Hitchin Girls’ School gym and dance display.
During the Autumn term our table tennis teams competed in the North Herts tournament playing very well in their first ever matches. We also took a group of children to take part in the Boccia tournament, which they thoroughly enjoyed. Our footballers also enjoyed the opportunity to participate in some friendly matches during this time, which helped prepare them for the Spring term.
The whole school also took part in the Mini- Marathon, with every child completing 2.6 miles (or as close as they could manage). This was a wonderful event, which the children loved and also gave us the chance to raise money towards our equipment.
The Spring term saw a sudden increase in the number of football fixtures, with matches becoming competitive. Both our A team and our Girls’ team took part in the ESFA County finals days, over consecutive weekends in January, before starting their Wix Cup campaigns. The Girls’ team started their winning streak, which saw them make it all the way to the final, where they secured a convincing win and trophy number one. This was closely followed up by the end of season Rally, where the girls won all 8 of their matches and claimed their second trophy of the season. After winning the District Wix Cup, the girls qualified for the County competition. They travelled to St Albans, where they won their group and progressed to the final. A superb team effort saw them take a 3-1 victory and crowned them as County Champions. This completed their treble and earned them a photograph and a write up in the newspaper. This is an incredible achievement and also makes William Ransom the most successful team in the history of the Wix Millennium Shield. Our B team also reached the final of their end of season Rally coming runners up but proudly taking their medals home. Our football season was finished off by our inter-house competition, where we saw a high standard of football and a very close final.
The Spring term also saw netball fixtures and for the A and B teams as well as the A team Rally. Unfortunately rain prevented the B team Rally from taking place but Inter-house netball gave the opportunity for all to enjoy an afternoon of competition.
The Summer term brought with it a new cheerleading club. The children attending learnt the foundations of cheer and were able to wow us all with their performances at the summer fete and the Sports day opening ceremony. We also saw the introduction of Multi-sports for Reception and Action Mats for Year 1. Children enjoyed both clubs so much we are looking at offering these to other year groups. Multi-sports provides an opportunity for children to learn the fundamentals of different sports and gives them the chance to put these into action in practise games. Action Mats gives children the chance to work through various exercise stations, giving them a great workout. In Key Stage 2 we also had Athletics club, which was great preparation for Sports day.
We were also able to welcome back Cricket club for Year 5 and 6, where we worked towards entering the district tournament. We were then able to take teams to both events at Letchworth and Hitchin Cricket Clubs. Both teams adapted well to the new Dynamos cricket rules and were able to achieve a respectable fourth place finish.
Click through to read our PE and Sport Premium Report.