U13 Girls County Cricket Winners!

It was a great day out for the U13 cricket team in the county finals on Monday. The team had a tough group against Dame Alice Owen’s and John Warner, but prevailed and came out winners. Then they had the semi final against Marlborough, which they won comfortably. The final was against St George’s, which we knew would be a challenge, but the girls won the final by 20 runs and are now in the regional finals in July! A massive well done to the whole squad on a great accomplishment.

Athletics

We also wanted to share with you a number of results from recent athletics meets:

Firstly, in the county league athletics two weeks ago, the U14 girls relay team of Poppy, Sophie, Kayla B and Sophia won their event. Other first placings included, Rose S in the triple jump,  Lucy H in the 1500m, Jessie T-L in the discus, Charlie D in the long jump and Sophia J in Year 7 winning the Year 8 200m race.

At the recent Herts County Championships, Sophia J also won the Year 7 long jump and came second in the 200m. Heather G also came second in the Year 7 girls high jump. Huge congratulations – that is a very impressive achievement!

Last Thursday, we also attended a district athletics event involving around 20 schools. Students performed admirably throughout. Sophia J won the Year 7 long jump and came second in the 200m. Harry S in Year 10 came second in the 400m. Lucy H also finished second in the high jump for Year 8, and Ella P in Year 9 came second in the 1500m, which was a gruelling race, especially when it was as hot as it was. Jessie T-L got bronze in the Year 9 hurdles and Sophie K got bronze in the 300m.

We also had 2 gold medals in Year 10, with Darci M winning the 200m and Jesse G winning the high jump. Both Darci and Jesse (who got the national indoor standard of 1.82m) have achieved national standard in their respective events, which is an outstanding achievement. 

Football

Lastly, we wanted to acknowledge Sophie K in Year 8, who has just been signed by the Watford FC U14 football Academy for the upcoming season. Well done, Sophie!

This week’s library displays cover two nationally recognised events – Refugee week (16th – 22nd June) and Windrush day (22nd June), and we’ve worked hard to curate a set of books to give our students a flavour of the history and reasoning behind each of these celebratory events. 

Windrush Day marks the anniversary of the HMS Empire Windrush docking in Britain, and it’s an opportunity to celebrate our British Caribbean communities. It’s also a chance to acknowledge and give thanks for the service and the sacrifices of the Windrush generation. Benjamin Zephaniah has given us a wonderful novel, Windrush Child, telling the story of a child arriving on the Windrush, and the struggles he has settling into his new home, which is so very different from his home in Jamaica. And for those looking for something more weighty then the very well regarded Small Island, by Andrea Levy, might be for you. 

Refugee week is a chance to celebrate the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and those seeking asylum. This year the theme is “Community as a Superpower” and there are many festivals, talks, tours and events taking place. In terms of reading materials, we’re delighted to recommend Onjali Q, Rauf’s The Boy At The Back of The Class and the classic When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, by Judith Kerr. Another recommendation from the library staff is a book called You Don’t Know What War Is, by Yeva Skalietska, which is the diary of a 12 year old girl, telling the story of the war in Ukraine through her young eyes. It’s very moving, and gives a real insight into living with a war ever encroaching, whilst also attempting to maintain some semblance of a normal life. 

Welcome back to the last half term of the academic year! We hope everyone enjoyed their half term break, and once again, our positive thoughts and good luck vibes go to all our students in the midst of their exams. Our library is open for silent study before, after and between exams if students feel they need a calm and quiet place to work. 

Our wonderful library is currently displaying the Pride rainbow flag – with pride! We’re delighted to be recognising this month-long observance dedicated to the celebration of LGBTQ+ pride. This month is all about acceptance, equality, and celebrating the contributions of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer culture and community. 

We have a huge selection of Pride-related texts available in the library. We have books that detail the history of the LGBTQ+ movement – Have Pride, by Layton Williams, and Rainbow Revolutions, by Jamie Lawson, for example, through to works of fiction that star LGBTQ+ characters; the Heartstopper series is currently very popular!

We’re also delighted to offer books for those wanting to know more about how to support the movement. An excellent book on the subject of supporting and advocating for others is called Allies. It’s a collection of true stories which are all about using your power to support others and driving forward the change to acceptance of all. It explains how to really show up for friends, family, and even strangers, who may be experiencing discrimination, or who are struggling to find their way.

Come and have a browse, we look forward to your visit.