King's St Alban's
17 January
Sporting Highlights of the Week
Tuesday 14th January – U8 Netball v Hereford Cathedral School Mrs. Clark
The Year 3 girls participated in their first netball fixture on Tuesday afternoon, taking part in a friendly round-robin tournament against Hereford Cathedral School. The focus for this fixture was on key skills such as staying still when in possession of the ball and finding space to receive the ball.
Both of our teams played exceptionally well, demonstrating fantastic progress as the afternoon went on. Hibah deserves special recognition for her excellent catching and throwing skills, while Tiegan showed a strong understanding of how to move into space effectively. Nell should be congratulated for getting ‘Player of the Match’. Additionally, everyone worked hard to mark and defend their nominated players, a skill they all began to apply more confidently as the games progressed.
Miss Sly and I were incredibly impressed with the hard work, determination, and teamwork shown by the girls throughout the afternoon. Well done, everyone!
U9 Netball v Hereford cathedral school miss Jordan
The girls had a wonderful afternoon of netball on Tuesday against Hereford Cathedral school. They split into two groups and played 4 a side on half a court and rotated to play a passing game on the remaining third. This was super to showcase their skills and then to have an idea of game play in the match. It was a lovely afternoon, one where we focused on netball skills rather than the score. Well done all!
U9/8 Football v HCS – Mr Hooman
On Tuesday afternoon, the U9/8 team played their first competitive football match against Hereford Cathedral, where they made a good start and showed good progress.
Haadi, Max, and Monty each took a turn in goal, showcasing confidence as they came off their lines to close down angles and making some impressive saves. Their composure under pressure was brilliant. In defence, Dylan and Harvey worked tirelessly, making strong tackles and demonstrating good awareness to retain possession and look for passing options. Their efforts were key in keeping the opposition at bay. Matthew and Jack stood out in midfield, using their dribbling skills effectively to find space and go past opponents. Their creativity and determination were evident throughout the match.
It was a promising start for the team, and while there’s plenty to work on moving forward, the players should be proud of their efforts and the potential they displayed. Well done to all involved!
U9/8 Football v HCS – Mr Atkinson
An enjoyable afternoon’s football saw the boys take on Hereford Cathedral school. We started strong and the first period was very competitive, seeing Archie have our best chances on goal. Jeremaiah and Bertie tackled well, cutting out a number of Hereford’s attacks. Moving into the next period, we changed some positions to give the boys a feel for the different roles within the team. Hereford started to get their passing game going and, going forward, we can definitely take some lessons from them. In this period Daniel played well in goal and Magnus showed some good game awareness. In the last session, we produced our best play of the afternoon, with Hugo’s energy and willingness to chase the ball down, being a key feature. We were rewarded with a couple of good goals, with Charlie’s powerful left-footed shot being the pick of the bunch.
U9/8 Football v HCS – Mr Jenkinson
Seven boys from Year 3 and 4 played their first football match of the term against Hereford Cathedral on Tuesday 14th January.
Playing at the Cinderella Ground, the match was an opportunity for the boys that went to Football club in the autumn term to put some of the skills that they had been working on with Mr. Hawker and Mr. Rowley into practice.
Taking turns in goal, the boys all showed great enthusiasm when tackling and dribbling the ball. Gabriel led by example with some strong runs, whilst Milan, Archie, Akshay, George, Max and Rudy all worked hard in defence to get the ball up the pitch. Hereford Cathedral had several chances to score, but were denied by some great saves from George and Max. The team from St. Alban’s had several chances of their own, but couldn’t quite get the ball in the back of the net, on this occasion. Despite showing great teamwork and determination, Hereford Cathedral managed to score a goal in the last minute of the match. However, the boys were justifiably pleased with their performance and are already looking forward to their next match. Whilst the game did identify a few areas for development, the boys will naturally gain more experience and understanding about positions and game play as they continue to play more competitive football matches. Well done to Player of the Match, Gabriel, as well as the rest of the team for a good first performance!
Wednesday 15th January U11A Netball v The Elms Miss Jordan
The A and B teams had super 6 rotation matches up at The Elms on Wednesday afternoon. We started strong in both teams and it was evident the practices are paying off. There was some good movement up the court and grounded feet. The outside arm has started to be used for interceptions which I was pleased to see. Every girl made every effort to work as hard as they could right up until the final whistle. We won both matches and well done to Sophia and Zara for getting opposition players of the matches.
Wednesday 15th January U11B Netball v The Elms Mrs. Clark
Our U11 B Team delivered an impressive performance in their first game of the term against The Elms on Wednesday. Playing Bee Netball, we rotated positions six times, ensuring that every player experienced each role on the court.
The team dominated from the outset, building a steady and confident lead. We set ourselves the challenge of maintaining possession during passes, and the girls worked tirelessly to meet this goal.
A huge well done to all the players for their efforts! Rosie stood out with her excellent shooting, while Sophia earned the well-deserved title of ‘Player of the Match’ for her outstanding all-round performance.
U11 Football Tournament at Winterfold School – Mr. Jenkinson
The U11 football team made a pleasing start to the new term when they took part in Winterfold School’s annual ‘Matty Thacker’ football tournament. Named after a former pupil, who tragically passed away, the idea behind this tournament is to bring lots of local independent schools together to celebrate Matty’s life through football and it is always a popular event played in great spirit. With the emphasis on enjoyment through playing football, this was a great opportunity for the nine boys and girl from Years 5 and 6 to gain some valuable playing time against some really strong school football teams. After being drawn in a tough group, the aim for the team was to enjoy themselves whilst trying to play their best football in order to reach the knockout stages. Despite holding eventual finalists, Warwick School to 0-0 at half time after a fantastic, but frantic first half in their first match, Warwick finally managed to find the net in the second half, sending St. Alban’s to their first defeat. Whilst the team were very unfortunate to lose to out to a last-minute goal against The Downs, completely against the run of play, they didn’t let this affect them and showed great resilience, determination and composure to put in a good performance against Wolverhampton Grammar Junior School. Knowing that they needed a win in order to ensure that they progressed to the semifinal of the plate competition, the team gave everything in their penultimate match of the group against Moor Park. Despite a barrage of shots from Archie, the team couldn’t quite manage to get the ball in the back of the net, and it looked like it wasn’t going to be their day. However, after another rousing team talk at half time and a couple of substitutions, the team found an extra level and Max finally managed to score to give St. Alban’s their first win of the day. This win meant that the team was rewarded with another match in the semi final against Beaudesert Park School, which, despite a valiant effort, the team narrowly lost.
A massive ‘Well done!’ must go to Archie, Arlo, Ben D, Ben J, Charles, Harry, Henry, Max and Thea, who all ran well with the ball, tackled hard and played their part in a really promising team performance all afternoon. This was a good start to the football term, as well as helping to identify a few areas to develop.
Thank you and well done to Mr. Hooman as well, who did a great job of refereeing the matches, and a special thank you to all of the parents and grandparents who came and stood in the cold fog all afternoon to support – your support is always very much appreciated!
U10 /U11 Swimming Gala
On Thursday, our U11 and U10 swimming team participated in a thrilling gala against King’s Hawford and RGS The Grange. The event was a fantastic display of teamwork, skill, and sportsmanship.
The swimmers faced some tough competition across a variety of races, including individual freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and relay events. Our relay teams, in particular, demonstrated excellent teamwork, and showing great coordination. While the competition was strong, our swimmers maintained a positive and supportive attitude throughout, cheering each other on and giving their best in every race. In the overall results, our school placed 2nd.
Congratulations to all of our swimmers for their fantastic performances and sportsmanship. We are already looking forward to our next competition!
Special thanks to our parents for their ongoing support, it was wonderful to see so many parents spectating.