A Sporting Half-Term

The start of a school year is always exciting as we look forward to continuing to nurture and develop our pupils, as well as welcoming new pupils to the sporting life of the School. The building work has also begun on an impressive new development for KES Sport, with a refurbishment of the top floor of the Sports Hall housing a new teaching classroom, department office and a state-of-the-art gym.

The pre-season programme for both Boys’ Rugby and Girls’ Hockey saw great attendance across all the age groups.  An extended 1st XI Girls’ Hockey squad had a successful trip to Wales, enjoying an assault course challenge to help build team spirit, as well as taking part in the Cardiff Met pre-season tournament. They also put in an excellent performance against Canford School in a pre-season friendly. 

With the hockey season now in full swing, attendance at training has remained high, particularly at the senior end of the School. Record numbers of girls have opted to play hockey in Years 11, 12 and 13, and we are now fielding five senior U18 hockey teams.

Teams at all age groups have been competing in the England Hockey Schools’ competitions. The 1st XI have progressed through to round 3 of the U18 Cup, with their next opponents yet to be confirmed. At the beginning of September, the 1st XI squad also put in a superb performance at the Sherborne Invitational Tournament, walking away as champions.

KES continues to support a number of pupils who have been selected into the England Hockey Pathway at Talent Centre (County) and Talent Academy (Regional) level. We are also delighted to see Year 10 pupils, Ava Shaw and Jack Boden, take part in England U16 Trials.

This term we have consistently fielded up to 14 rugby teams from U12 to 1st XV every weekend. The fixtures list has been challenging for all age groups and included a new block fixture vs Canford School, which was evenly contested across the board. There was also a well contested set of matches for the U12 and U13 teams when KES played Oldfield Old Boys RFC, a rare but excellent opportunity for a school team to face a local club. The fixtures don’t get any easier post half-term, including the highly anticipated annual Friday Night Lights game for the 1st XV, where the opponents' will be Kingswood (venue and KO still TBC). 

It is too early to confirm which players are representing the school in the Bath Academy pathway, as there are still various trials and matches happening over the coming weeks for certain age groups. However, there are a few confirmed, and we are proud to congratulate Urika Avent and Clemmie Westwater who have been selected for the Dorset and Wiltshire DPP site. Ali Aljawabra and Cade Comer are in the U16 PDG programme and will play against other Academies over the coming months, including Bristol Bears during half-term.   

The football season is up and running and the 1st and 2nd senior teams started with very encouraging results against Bristol Grammar School. The 1st X1 drew 1-1 with a super strike from Max Anderman, and the 2nd X1 won 4-3 with debutant, George McDonald scoring two good goals. The second matches against Clifton College were also hotly contested and overall, it has been a promising start this term, and with more competitive matches to come, we look forward to an enjoyable second half of term.

The National Schools Netball Competition gets underway after half-term, and our squads have been busy preparing. We also have four netballers in the County Player Development Programme; Katy Gwilliam (Year 10) is in the U17 ADC, whilst Bethan Mawer (Year 11) and Olivia Phillips (Year 12) have been selected into the Senior PDP and Amber Tiley (Year 13) into the U19 NPL Squad, all part of the Team Bath Futures Pathway.

Congratulations also to Ava Ojomoh (Year 11) for her selection once again into the Western Storm Cricket EPP (emerging player programme). Over the summer Ava trained with London Spirit (Hundred Team) at Lord’s before their match against Trent Rockets. Meanwhile, Ollie Squire finished 8th at the Triathlon National Championships, whilst Annabel Howlett (Year 10) finished 2nd at the GB Junior Nationals Archery. Lili Marshall (Year 11) was crowned U18 Somerset Golf Champion at just 15 yrs old, and we are also delighted for Ali Stewart (Year 12), who has been given a contract for Swindon Town U18 football and Alex Chang (Year 9), who has qualified for the National Schools Indoor Ski Squad for this season. 

We wish our Senior Netball Squad success as they embark on our first overseas tour since Covid; they travel to Dubai over half-term to play in a prestigious tournament, alongside some exciting additional fixtures.