A Sporting Term (Summer 2023)

The summer term is as much about the weather as it is the sport! With the pre-season cricket programme beginning in February, we had hoped the schedule would not be impacted by the weather. Unfortunately, ‘rain stopped play’ on too many occasions in May. Once one of the hottest June on record appeared the programme flourished! Despite these weather setbacks in the girls’ programme in Year 7 80% of the cohort represented KES in fixtures, with 60 girls doing so in Year 8. The U14 team won 4 out 5 matches in a stellar season, and there was a full fixture card for the 1st XI for the first time. In the boys’ programme the enthusiasm to play and represent KES mirrored that of the girls. The U14 team went through the season losing only one match, the U15A team provided 5 players to step up and play for the 1st XI, showcasing their long-term potential. The 1st XI fixture card suffered from the weather, but they enjoyed an excellent T20 victory against Camberwell School, Melbourne Australia, during cricket week when teaming up with some OE’s, to do something the England cricket team cannot do to date against Australia!

Tennis remained an integral part of our sporting offering in summer. The after-school clubs have seen excellent participation numbers including over 60 Year 7 pupils playing on a Monday night. It was suitably staffed by an external coach from Bath Tennis Club, added a layer of coaching, alongside our PE staff, which enabled our pupils to develop. Training and match play were encouraged, and we played fixtures against local schools in Year 7 -10, with the boys coming a fantastic 2nd place in the Aegon U15 league, and the girls a creditable 3rd place, showing we have a ‘performance’ strand to tennis as well. 

Sports Day, unlike last year, was bathed in sunshine! Events were tweaked slightly this year with the introduction of the new mixed medley relay (2x400m, 2x200m, and 4x100m) which was well received and entertained the crowd of both students and parents. This year we also decided to not issue medals due to our new push as a more sustainable school but instead presented trophies to the overall winning form in end of year assemblies.

Beyond our major sports and Sports Day, we had several pupils excelling in their chosen individual sport. Eleni Francis (Year 13) competed in the Long Jump at the English Schools National Final in Birmingham at the end of June. In July Annabel Howlett (Year 9) attended the Archery GB Junior Nationals Competition, held at the National Sports Centre in Lilleshall, where she achieved an excellent second place in her category. Congratulations should also go out to Lili Marshall (Year 10), who competed in the Royal & Ancient Golf Open Amateur Championship this term. This is a 54-hole tournament which attracts the very best young players from all around the world.