The Flagpole

Over the half term the annual south coast sports tour travelled what has become a familiar route taking in Portsmouth, Bournemouth and Southampton along the way. Now in its thirteenth year, the tour took 42 Year 8 and Year 9 pupils together with four staff, on a four-day trip that included three matches and plenty of off pitch visits, activities and fun.

The Year 9 boys comfortably won all three rugby matches, their hard work in training paying off against experienced teams. They even almost managed to keep a clean score sheet, with results of 58-0 against Portsmouth Junior Rugby Club, an amazing 43-0 against the heavyweights of Canford School and 50-14 against St John’s College. Boy of the tour was awarded to George Evans a great player and a character in a good way!

The Year 8 netball girls had a mix of results but their games included some scintillating ball handling and individual play. Fielding A, B and even a C team the girls faced steely opposition. Against Portsmouth High School the A team lost 12-19 whilst the B team won 17-6. The girls then split into three teams for their matches against Talbot Heath School, where they recorded two losses and a win. Their final matches against St John’s College saw the A team winning a hard and close fought game by one point 18-17 and the B team going down 5-20. Girl of the tour was Jess Mackenzie for her inspirational attitude and fabulous personality.

On tour off the pitch is always a great chance to build team spirit through lots of different activities. Pupils visited Splashdown, the all-action, flume filled waterpark, went ten pin bowling, had some time for shopping, enjoyed costal walks and of course a competitive morning of games on the beach.

Our thanks go to the dedicated sports staff who accompanied the tour Debs Brookes, Hannah Carminati, Ross Holtom and Mike Turns.

For all involved, both boys and girls, the tour was a great success.