Sport

Our Sporting Values are:

Yr 5/6 District Handball Tournament

We love handball at Sheldwich and were very excited to be participating in the annual handball tournament at Canterbury Academy. We entered two teams: an A team in the main competition and a B team in the small schools tournament. The A team were faced with some stiff opposition and as we were the smallest school represented in the competition, we did brilliantly, playing to a very high standard. We started strongly with an easy win against Canterbury Primary School, scoring a plethora of goals and keeping the defence tight. The team were all playing brilliantly and the play was flowing nicely. The second group game was a tough encounter against a strong Blean team. We gave everything but narrowly lost which meant we needed a win in the last group game against Chartham to make the knockout stages. The team showed great resilience and won convincingly,evenly sharing out the goals and Arlo was strong in goal. We faced St Stephens in the semi-final and it was a very fast paced and tough contest. It was end to end, with an even share of the goals for most of the match. The team gave their all but were narrowly defeated. This meant that we had to show some real resilience to take on the third/fourth place match against Canterbury Primary School. I could not have been prouder of the determination and fight the whole team showed and rightly we came away with well deserved bronze medals winning 6-5! A huge congratulations to Arlo, Felix, Viggo, Ethan, Mollie, Tilly and Sophie.                                                                                                          Mrs Fairs

Meanwhile the Sheldwich B team were contesting a small schools competition on the outside courts. This was on a league basis with six teams taking part. Our squad proved to be too strong for our opponents and we had a 100% win record with an aggregate goals for/against of 27-8. Representing the school here were: Nancsi, Violet, Catlin, Leo, Fred, Joey and Eddie. All the children performed brilliantly and of course represented Sheldwich as we would expect. Special call out to Caitlin who made her debut in goal and not only made important saves in our close games, but her solid distribution helped to start our attacks. Well done everyone!             Mr Lee

We are delighted to announce that for the second consecutive time Sheldwich have been awarded the Platinum Sports Kitemark Award. This is the highest level we could achieve and only a few schools in the area have achieved it. It recognises the high level of sporting provision we offer and the wonderful participation of our students in being active and sporty.

Sporting events for the 2023-2024.

The Year 5/6 Netball team were crowned District netball league winners this week after winning all their games. We were awarded gold medals and a trophy which we will proudly display – well done!

Sports Awards

Last week, I was thrilled to be able to host our second Sheldwich Sports Awards evening alongside Mrs Garrett. It was a chance to celebrate our endless sporting successes and give out some shiny awards to some very deserving pupils too. Each class teacher nominated a child in their class to receive the Sports Star of the Year Award and on top of that we gave out a Sportsmanship Award, Most Competitive Appearances Award, KS1 and KS2 Sports Personality of the Year and Team of the Year trophies. Well done to all the award winners.

Sports Stars

Year R – Ruby Gamble

Year 1 – Myla Swayne

Year 2 – Toby Higgins

Year 3 – Roisin Duffy

Year 4 – Ellis McDonald

Year 5 – Tilly Nicholls

Year 6 – Jacques Mount-Cassan

Sportsmanship – Viggo Lumsden

Most Competitive Appearances – Connie Simler

Team of the Year – Year 5/6 Netball Team

KS1 Sports Personality of the Year – Jacob Meyer

KS2 Sports Personality of the Year – Theo Pinnick

I was lucky enough to attend the Canterbury Academy Primary School Sports Awards this week with four wonderful children that I had nominated in different categories for their sporting talent, determination and passion. All of the primary schools in our partnership could nominate four children so the competition was fierce. Jacob was nominated for the KS1 Sports Personality of the Year Award, Connie for Contribution to School Sport, Viggo for Sportsmanship and Theo for the KS2 Sports Personality of the Year Award. We were thrilled to see Theo was crowned the winner in his category and the others received well deserved runners-up goody bags, medals and certificates. After that, they all received an hours beach volleyball coaching.

Sheldwich Shine (Again) at Cricket

After taking the Cricket Club to the Spitfire Ground on Monday to watch a game, 10 of the club were back at the ground this Thursday to take part in a competition on the outfield. The event was organised by sixth form students from Kent College and present were five members of the senior Kent Squad who gave up their time to help at the event and sign autographs. They were: Tawanda Muyeye, Jack Leaning, Matt Parkinson, Joey Evison and Nathan Gilchrist and what a friendly bunch they were.

Sheldwich were placed in a group of four schools and as is our usual fashion we lost our first game to Petham by a narrow margin. A convincing win followed against St Edwards and in our final group game we were in a losing position until step forward Toby, who proceeded to take a hat trick and the game was ours. We came second in our group based on runs scored (a familiar story) so played Milton Court for third place and were comfortable winners. This was our second podium finish out of the three events that we have taken part in this month.

Every member of the squad played their part, everybody took at least one wicket, one catch and one boundary. Aside from Toby’s hat trick there was some superb work behind the stumps from Harry, some excellent catching from Jake and super hitting from everyone. This was a true squad effort, well done all! Representing Sheldwich were: Connie, Skyla, Felix, Fred, Harry, Toby, Jake, Henry, Leo and Bertie.

Mr Lee/Mr Cork

Kent CCC Schools Day: Kent vs Lancashire

The school cricket club took 18 children to enjoy some County Championship action on Monday for day 2 of the Kent vs Lancashire match. The children enjoyed watching the cricket and collecting autographs of the players, as well as playing some cricket on the sports fields of Simon Langton Girls Grammar School. At lunch time, we went on the cricket field for a big game of catch. We had a great day, but Kent had a torrid time: Lancashire piled on the runs and Kent didn't manage to take a single wicket all day, until after we left at 3.15!

This Girl Can

On Tuesday of this week, I had the pleasure of accompanying 6 Year 6 girls to a transition event at Canterbury Academy called ‘This Girl Can’. Together with a group from another local school, we rotated around the Sports Hall trying a range of sports and activities. We started with Cricket and moved to Cheerleading which was a huge hit! We then moved onto Boccia which was very entertaining - there were some great tactics on display. Then it was onto Self Defence, which was fantasic – everyone had go learning very basic but useful skills. We slowed the pace down with a visit to the studio for Yoga next which I think was one of the highlights for us all. We then finished the day with a very fast paced rugby session. Although slightly apprehensive at the start of the morning, all of the girls enjoyed the activities and we had a really great day.                                                     Mrs Crisp

Golfway

Several children from Class 3 and 4 had a really enjoyable amazing day at Canterbury Academy last week at the Golfway tournament. All of the teams had to complete 8 challenges around the sports hall. The children were all amazing – being supportive teammates, listening to instructions and represented the school brilliantly. They all improved their golf skills and most of all had lots of fun. Class 4 came second overall and Class 3 came fourth. A huge well done to all of the children who took part, you should all be very proud of yourselves.  Mr Thomas

We were lucky enough to have a visit at Sheldwich from the Olympic sprinter, James Dasaolu. He came and did an inspirational talk about his career, the highs and lows and showed us some medals and his running spikes. He demonstrated how flexible and springy he was before running a workout with every class. We completed a circuit of 4 activities including, press ups, star jumps, spotty dogs and burpees.

Canterbury Academy District Netball Tournament

The sun shone on this year's tournament and we were able to give the opportunity to two teams of children to experience netball match play. 15 teams were entered into the tournament so there were 3 round robin groups. Sheldwich 2 had a tough group and it was there first time playing together. They had a tough game against Blean losing 4-0 then a narrow last minute loss 1-0 to Littlebourne. Next, was a hard fought victory against Wincheap 1-0 and in the final group game Wickhambreaux were too strong for us. It was good to see that the children continued to try there best at all times, even when behind.

Simultaneously, Sheldwich 1 played their group games. Brimming with confidence, they started with a strong 4-0 win against St Stephens and a 3-0 victory against St Stephens. With yet again more sharp shooting we beat Pilgrims Way 4-0 and finally after rotating positions yet again, we won against Bridge 2, 5-0. It was wonderful to see the team spirit and general support of each other as the games progressed. We finished top of the group and went through to the semi-finals as group winners ready to face Blean 1. We expected a tough game and that is what we got. In the tournament we were playing High 5's so we all had to rotate positions at the end of each game, meaning often you were having to play out of position. We took the lead in a very tense contest and unfortunately conceded our first goal of the whole tournament, levelling up the match. Full time came and the game was tied 1-1 so we went into a period of sudden death, first to score a goal wins. Luckily for us, the ball fell to our ace shooter Jacques, who calmly put the ball in the net, taking Sheldwich to the final! The final match was against Bridge 1 and it was clear as soon as we started it was going to be another tight game. This time we conceded first and spent a lot of the game chasing an equaliser. That came in the 5th minute of the game when Nancsi calmly scored. More extra time came and went without a goal so the tournament came down to a penalty shootout. Each person from both teams had to shoot a penalty and the most goals scored out of the 7 players won. Unfortuanately, it wasn't meant to be and we came home with the silver medals and our heads held high. I am extremely proud of the team who played exceptionally well all afternoon and gave their all. Well done! A special thank you to Mrs Davies and Ms Bristow for their help and support. Mrs Fairs

Netball League Match Vs Bridge

As always, matches against Bridge are always closely contested and had fought and this week's league match was no different. We hosted the match and had some great home support. The team started strongly, scoring early on, leading 2-0 after the first quarter. After each rotation of positions, our team continued to look strong, particularly in defence and we stretched our lead. The match finished 6-0 in the end and left Sheldwich at the top of the league with one game left to play.

On a cold Saturday morning, a group of Year 5 and 6 runners lined up against other budding athletes from Swale schools in a 2km cross country race. It was a mix of boys and girls running at the same time and everyone tried their best and finished the race. It was a tough field with some very talented runners but as always, Sheldwich held their own and excelled. We had some super individual results; Leo finished 3rd overall and Mollie was the first girl to finish. The first four finishers for each school got added together to give us a team score. Our contributors in the team competition were Leo (Yr 5) 3rd, Ethan (Yr 5) 6th, George (Yr 6) 10th and Harry(Yr 5) 11th which meant that Sheldwich came second in the team competition. A fantastic result and a big thank you to Mrs Crisp and the parents that attended and cheered on the children.   Mrs Fairs

Netball League Match Vs St Peter's

The second of our netball league matches was against St Peter's Methodist Primary School in Canterbury, we had to get used to playing on a smaller sized pitch. But after the first quarter, we took the lead and never looked back - the team played brilliantly all playing well, scoring lots of goals. The final score was 22 - 2, a convincing and dominating win. Well done all and thank you to the parents who helped drive and support the team - Mrs Warren, Ms Bristow and Mrs Simler. 

Yr 5/6 Netball Match Vs Wickhambreaux

We hosted the first of our netball league matches at Sheldwich this week against Wickhambreaux Primary School. This was the first match the team played and we were rather nervous to start with. However, excellent team spirit and determination saw us take the lead and never relinquish it. We were playing High 5’s netball whereby you rotate the players positions after every quarter, therefore we had a mixture of goal scorers and required everyone to play their best – which we did. We ended up 8-3 victors, a great start to the league and we look forward to the remaining matches after the Easter break.

Mrs Fairs

Canterbury Sports Partnership Dance Competition

After holding our own virtual dance competition, I submitted some entries to take part in the district dance competition. We had entries all in the KS2 novice category and had some wonderful success. Claudine in Year 3 came 5^th in the KS2 Novice Girls category and was sent this wonderful feedback from the judges.

“Wow Claudine, what a great routine you performed here. You showed a variety of different street dance steps and performed them with energy and confidence. It was nice to see you singing to the song and enjoying yourself. I particularly liked the cartwheel at the end to finish. Well done”.

Then Rex also from Class 3, came 4^th in the KS2 Novice Boys category receiving this feedback:

“Wow Rex, what a great song choice. You performed with lots of energy and emotion which was very enjoyable to watch. You should be very proud of yourself. Well done”

Finally, Elliot from Year 6 came 2^nd winning the Silver medal - “Elliot- What a great street dance routine you performed here. Your timing was brilliant throughout and you had some very energetic moves in there too. I liked the fact you were smiling which showed you were enjoying yourself! Well done”

Well done to all three – shining brightly for team Sheldwich. Mrs Fairs

Year 3/4 Quicksticks Hockey Tournament

Taking place at the HerneBay Hub for the second year, Sheldwich entered two teams into the Quicksticks hockey tournament which had 24 teams competing. The Year 3 had a lot of players new to hockey but that did not stop their enthusiasm and determination - with three group games they narrowly lost the first 3-2 and then ground out two tight 0-0 draws. Unfortunately, this meant that they did not quite do enough to get through to the knockout rounds. The Year 4 team showed skill and echoed the determination any Sheldwich team has. They won all their games comfortably, with notable defence and attacking performances from Joey. We ended as group winners and progressed to the quarterfinals. We faced local team Davington and took an early lead. It was a tight game and ended with a late winner against us to make the score 3-2 to Davington. Although the team were very disappointed, they should be very proud of themselves as they played very well.

Year 5/6 Tournament

We had two mixed Year 5/6 teams entered into the tournament of 20 teams. It was hugely competitive and there was some tough opposition. Sheldwich B team, left in Mrs Simler's capable hands, did very well playing four group games, a range of goalscorers and they ended up finishing second and qualifying for the quarterfinals. Sheldwich A, were lucky to have a few players who play hockey for clubs outside school and they were the backbone of our team. Tilly, Harry and Viggo all instilled confidence and support in their team members and we won 3 games comfortably against: Herne Juniors, Chartham and Aylesham clocking up over 20 goals and narrowly lost 1-0 against Davington. This meant that three teams all had the same amount of points after the group games and luckily it went to goal difference which ours was exceptional so we finished group winners and progressed to the quarterfinal against St Mary's in Whitstable. Sheldwich B played a very strong Blean team and unfortunately got knocked out but the A team showed grit, passion and teamwork and secured a 1-0 victory thanks to a goal by Captain Harry Klosek. The semi-final awaited but unfortunately we faced tough opposition and lost that game. Picking ourselves up, we played the bronze medal match against the Blean team that had knocked out our other team. After a close start where we took the lead and then got pegged back we came agonisingly fourth. The team played superbly and I was proud to coach them, they definitely deserved some silverware for their efforts. Thank you to both Mrs Mount and Mrs Simler for their help and assistance during the tournaments.

Mrs Fairs

Our dance competition closes on Monday 11th March. Please send in the videos of your dances to Mrs Fairs at foxes@sheldwich.kent.sch.uk. Remember to film your dance in landscape mode.

Please read the specific details above before entering.

Good luck, I look forward to seeing your dances.

Mrs Fairs

Sheldwich: A Hit at the Cricket

Monday the 11^th March Sheldwich take two teams of Year 2 children to a KS1 Rapid Fire Cricket competition held at Canterbury Academy, competing against various schools across the area. Rapid Fire Cricket is a fast-moving version of the game, which tests batting, fielding and teamwork skills.  A round-robin tournament, which meant at some stage our two teams would have to play each other. By the time our two sides met, Sheldwich A had won both their games and Sheldwich B had won one and lost won. After a close match, Sheldwich B were the victors giving both sides an identical record. After two more rounds of matches where the A team won one and drew one and the B team won one and lost one - The A team’s record was slightly better but would it be enough to win the competition?

The answer was yes! Sheldwich A’s came 1^st by virtue of more runs scored over all the matches after having equal points with Wickhambreaux. Sheldwich B’s came 3^rd - overall a great result!

Representing the A team were: Harper, Willow, Roxy, Luca, Alex, Rory, Jacob and Fred while the B team members were: Phoebe, Olivia, Darcy, Flora, Alexa Toby, Evan and William. Congratulations to you all not only on your performances but also your splendid attitude and behaviour.

Canterbury District Cross Country

35 excited and eager Key Stage 2 runners, took part in the annual district cross country competition at Chartham Primary School. The weather was surprisingly dry for the race but the heavy rain before hand meant that the course was very muddy and slippery. Each race had about 25-35 competitors, Years 3 and 4 had to run 1000m and Years 5 and 6 1500m. Each race was highly competitive and every one of our runners gave their all, showing courage and determination! We had both team and individual success, special mentions to Leo and Mollie in Year 5 who won their races and were awarded the gold medals, Ella in Year 4 won the silver medal and Taylor in Year 3 won bronze   The Year 5 girls team consisting of Mollie, Tilly, Violet and Sophie won, the Year 6 girls, Year 5 boys and the Year 3 girls all came second and the Year 6 Boys, Year 4 boys and girls teams all came third! A fantastic afternoon for Sheldwich, well done everyone and a special thank you to Mr Lee, Mrs Crisp, Mrs Simler, Mrs Weaver and Mrs Davies who all came to help and support!

Mrs Fairs

Year 5 and 6 Badminton Festival

Sheldwich took 12 children, six from each year group to the above event held at Canterbury Academy this Tuesday. This was a non-competitive event with the idea that the children access Badminton skills via a carousel of six training drills. It was a pleasure to watch the children taking part and seeing their skills grow during the event. There was some spare time at the end of the activity for schools to play games if they wished and we took advantage of this by having a series of short mixed doubles games where we saw some competitive rallies, a testament to the skills absorbed during the day. Taking part from Year 5 were: Emily, Charlotte, Nancsi, Leo, Bertie and Monty, while Year 6 were represented by: Isabelle, Helena, Ella, Henry, Theo and Jake. Well done to you all and thank you Mrs Weaver for helping us. Mr Lee

Yr 5/6 Girls Football League Matches

For the first time, Sheldwich entered the girls football league, run by Canterbury Sports Partnership. There were 4 teams entered and we played each other in 30 minute, 7-a-side matches on Monday afternoon. We played against a very strong Bridge team, losing 6-0, then drew our matches against Selling and Aylesham. This was the girls first experience of competitive games as a team and they did exceptionally well showing good resilience and teamwork. Well done and thank you to Mr Wilson for coaching the team and Mr Wallace for assisting him on the day.

Yr 5/6 Small Schools Football League Matches

Similar to the girls, a mixed team of Year 5 and 6 boys played their league matches on Tuesday afternoon at the Canterbury Academy. They faced three other teams: Wickhambreaux, St Peter’s and Petham. We played with belief and gave some gutsy performances, beating Petham and narrowly losing the other two. Thank you to Mrs Hilden for going with the boys.

Personal Bests 

At Sheldwich, we encourage the pupils to follow all the School Games values whenever we participate in any sporting activity. We pride ourselves on showing this values whether we are competing at school or against another school. Most importantly, at Sheldwich we want the children to try their best and endeavour to improve it. The idea of their personal best and striving to beat it, is held highly and praised, celebrated and encouraged.