What a term it’s been...!

Well done to all the children for such an amazing start to our academic year. Everyone has worked very hard in PE lessons, we've had Swimming, Netball, Hockey, Gymnastics and weekly Judo for KS1 and 2 this year.

Running Club and Netball Club are going from strength to strength. We have averaged over 20 children a week at Running Club which is amazing!!

The girls have also excelled in Football, both the Year 5&6 and Year 3&4 girls football teams won their tournaments at our Langtree partnership events which is an incredible achievement.

Silver Birch and Oak also took part in Cross Country events, where we achieved some outstanding results across the school,  along with boys football for both Willow and Silver Birch.

The Young Leaders have embraced their new roles. We have had  some excellent lunchtime activities, Just Dance, Games for the younger children , drawing, dodgeball and a couple of Disco's. We are so proud of the independent initiative  and confidence they are demonstrating.

It certainly has been an energetic, action packed term!

Term 1  was very busy and went in a flash. We had 5 weeks of swimming for the KS2, a Silver Birch Cross Country tournament, a Willow Boys football tournament, Oak Class Cross Country, running club when the weather has allowed, weekly running breaks, brand new Young Leader activities and our first house tournament to round off the term!!

We started with swimming with every child demonstrating our core school values. All children persevered, gained confidence and improved. They worked on stroke development, life saving skills and stamina. They finished the term with a challenging game of water polo! Every child passed the level appropriate for their individual abilities. What great work, well done everyone!

Silver Birch represented Checkendon in our first Langtree Partnership event - Cross Country at Stoke Row. Everyone tried their very best and we watched some amazing running.

Willow boys took part in a football tournament, we had a tough afternoon with an injury but the team rallied round and carried on to the best of their ability. They chose the injured player for the olympic medal which demonstrated all our school values. A teacher from another school even commented on what a fantastic team they were showing such sportsmanship and support to their team. We are so proud of the boys.

Oak class then took part in a Cross Country at Langtree, this being the first ever tournament for  our Year 1’s and wow they were AMAZING!! Over 75% of our children finished in the top 10 including a 1st and two 4th places, this being out of over 40 children. Well done Oak Class you certainly love to run!

Our new Young Leaders have made a brilliant start, full of enthusiasm and great activity ideas ranging from a disco to dodgeball to you tube art to Grannys footsteps.

And we finished the term with a lunchtime Sports Quiz which was fun. The children sat in their houses and answered questions on the Olympics while they ate. Yellow house won with 22/25, great knowledge everyone!

Next term sees more football tournaments, sportshall athletics and a gymnastics display from Oak Class.

Summer of Sport  - Term 6

Well, that’s another year over and wow what a year it’s been. I am unbelievably proud of all the effort and determination each child has demonstrated across the last year.

Here’s a few highlights form this term..

We celebrated the Paris Olympics by holding our own Summer of Sport. We started with Marc Tamlyn from Wallingford archers. He came for the day and spent time teaching our KS2 the skill of archery and they loved it; we really hope he will come by next year. The KS1 children were also introduced to archery but theirs was horse back archery at the equestrian centre! They watched Dimitri ride without reigns shooting at a moving target, it was fascinating!

Next up we had Erin Kennedy pop by for a visit. Erin is an Olympic cox for GB, she came and talked to us about her achievements and we even got to see her gold medal from Tokyo!

The next exciting visitor was Tim Henman!! What a privilege it was to have him come in and speak to the whole school and lots of parents. Tim you were inspiring and we quote you and your dad regularly. We don’t give it 95 or 97 or 99 %, we always try our absolute best, we give it 100%.

In the midst of our visitors the KS1 took part in a Quadkids tournament and we smashed it! The children all gave it their absolute best, we had such a fun afternoon and Olivia Bender in year 2 came third overall!

Of course, throughout all of this sporting excitement we still had PE lessons and loads of planning for sports day. Our Young Leaders have been incredible this term and have helped almost daily to encourage children to practice our long jumps, speed bounce and throws. We now hold our field events in school over the weeks in the run up to sports day, this allows then children to really practice and see their improvements first hand. This then gets celebrated on sports day with longest jumps, furthest throws and most improved certificates.

Back to our summer of sport guests as it doesn’t stop there!  We had Bob Grantham form the Invictus games stop by and talk to us about his achievements and the ethos behind the Invictus Games. Bob was an inspiration and all the children loved hearing him speak.

Langtree Sports Ambassadors came and held a brilliant activity filled afternoon for Oak and Acorns. The year 9 students were enthusiastic, confident and we had so much fun. Again, we hope they may come back next year!

Our last big event of the term was Sports Day and what a day that was!! We started the day with house time, the houses all came together to work on chants, face painting and team spirit. We came across to the rec in style, full of colour and enthusiasm then we had a gorgeous family picnic to fuel everyone before the afternoon’s events. The next few hours were filled with fun team races like the obstacle race, dress up relay, full house relay and sack race. Young leaders supported each house with escorting the younger children to the correct races and helping to dress and get into the sacks. Every person and team who finished first were awarded with a tree cookie medal made by the KS1 at Forest School!

In addition to the team games, we had a KS2 long distance relay and each year group competed in a sprint. While the scoring was added up, the Mums and Dads had their turn with the egg and spoon race and for a second year we had to have 2 races for both as so many parents joined in, what amazing sports!!

The final race of the afternoon was our traditional Staff v Year 6 egg and spoon. The year 6’s narrowly beat the staff this year although I’m sure you’ll hear a different version form the children, thrashing and annihilating us are words that have been used…!!

Red house was triumphant again this year, what a team! And those children to achieve the longest jumps, bounces and most improved all proudly received their certificates.

Next up the Staff took part in their annual Water Bucket challenge. Cheered on extremely loudly by the whole school, they take great delight in seeing us throw water over ourselves!  I’m not sure many other schools have such a tradition and it wouldn’t be possible without our incredible team of teachers who are all such amazing sports. The KS1 finished their summer of sport with their final PE lesson -a huge water fight!! Best PE lesson ever was shouted many times! It was a wonderful way to wrap up such an exciting and inspiring term.

And finally, our summer drew to a close with the year 6 water day at The Eyot Centre in Henley, thank you to the PTA for making that happen. We had incredible weather and it is a wonderful way for the Year 6 to finish their time at Checkendon by enjoying an action-packed day on the river with their besties.

It really has been an amazing year. .we’ve participated in 9 external tournaments, all KS2 passed a swimming level appropriate for their age and ability, Willow, Oak and Acorns attended weekly Forest School session come rain or shine, Langtree Sports Ambassadors came and held a brilliant activity afternoon, Running Club continued with strength, KS1 put on a beautiful gymnastics display, Yellow House won the house cup  and we were awarded Gold again for the School games Mark!!

We hope you enjoy the summer break, stay active and look forward to more sporting excitement in September.

Best wishes

Mrs T

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Summer Term 5 and 6 - our final term of the year and what a few weeks its going to be!

Our Summer of Sports is well under way and we kicked the week off with the wonderful Erin Kennedy visiting the school. Erin is n Olympic coxan , rowing for Team GB and she very kindly gave us her time on Tuesday. We learnt about her tough training regime, heard about  her Olympic successes and even got to hold her Gold Medal! She was an inspiration and we are can't thank her enough for taking the time to come to Checkendon. 

We have Marc Tamlyn coming next Tuesday to host an Archery workshop and on Friday the Acorns and Year 1's will be visiting the Equestrian Centre for a horseback archery exhibition. 

The following week we have a very special guest speaker coming into to talk about his Olympic experiences- Mr Tim Henman is popping by! We cant wait to meet him and hear about his tennis career. 

 Oak Class children have been invited to an Athletics tournament on Tuesday 18th June and we are very lucky to then have some of the Langtree Sports Ambassadors visit on Wednesday 19th June to run some activities and games for the children across the afternoon.

The excitement continues into week 4 with a visit from Bob Grantham who will talk to us about the Invictus Games and week 5 sees our annual Sports Day!!

We cant wait for you to join our day on Wednesday 3rd July. Practice has already started, the long jump mat is out and children are lining up at lunchtimes to try and improve their jumps. 

What an inspiring and exciting few weeks it will be!  

Summer Term 2024

Term 5 is flying by and we are as ever super busy on the sport and activity side.

This summer term sees the start of our Summer of Sport. With the Olympics starting in Paris we felt it was a perfect opportunity to highlight sports and athletes as much as we can. We have guest speakers coming in after half term, and archery day, an equestrian visit and some Langtree sports ambassadors will be coming to run some activities with the younger children.

We started the term with a KS2 Boccia Tournament. Silver Birch having been working extremely hard with SATs revision so lunchtime Boccia fun has been a great addition to their day. Each house played each other and wow some of the matches where rather intense! The houses worked brilliantly together thinking logically about their play and discussing strategies to use to their advantage.

After almost 4 weeks of tournaments Yellow House came out on top with a huge 1660 points! Well done everyone.

Term 5 also sees our annual Country dancing and Maypole afternoon. All classes have been busy learning their dances in PE and it is looking wonderful. Such a fabulous tradition for the school to have!

Silver Birch took part in a Quadkids athletics tournament at the Oratory last week and wow what a great afternoon. All children took part in a 600 metre run, 75 metre sprint, long jump and vortex throw.

They pushed themselves and tried their very best throughout the afternoon. Wills and Jessie in, Year 6, both came 2nd overall, congratulations to them both!

Spring Term 3 and 4: 

 It has been a wet and gloomy start to the year, but each class has excelled in embracing indoor PE. We are so lucky at Checkendon to have the hall to use, and every class learnt gymnastics last term. 

The mats have been out weekly, benches turned on end to aid balancing and the wall apparatus has never been so busy!  

 Oak Class finished the Autumn Term with a fabulous floor display, but we continued our topic into the Spring term. Every week the Acorns and Oaks practiced unusual ways to balance, by themselves, with a partner, even walking backwards and sliding downwards! We had enormous amounts of fun with the highlight of everyone's being the apparatus bars. Best PE lesson ever was heard from every class!  

 Willow Class worked with Mrs Lunn on different balances including front support, dish balances and arabesque. They worked with partners to create matching and mirroring before moving the balances onto apparatus and creating sequences with a partner.  

 Silver Birch worked with Mrs Mottram on core strength, balances, and types of rolls. They combined this with floor work using the mats to create simple sequences, working at different heights which included the wall apparatus as their finale!  

 KS1 Gymnastics teaches children how to develop their balance, coordination, and agility. We do this by teaching them how to jump and land safely - feet together, knees bent, how to perform shapes in the air whilst jumping and how to jump off low apparatus like our benches or horse. These movements all help to develop control with balance, their core strength and their confidence.  

 KS2 Gymnastics starts to see development in their core strength. Balances become more detailed with children understanding and demonstrating the need for different points of contact to increase strength and stability. Jumps and landings are more challenging. Aiming to build on their strength, balance and control, different techniques are shown to encourage the children to think about their own power, landing and jumping distance, all while still being safely in control. 

 This term sees the start of tennis, volleyball, cricket, and resilience building team games, what this space!  

 Although the weather has not been great we continued as best we could with our twice weekly Running Break. On Mondays and Fridays, our fabulous Young Leaders lead the short session, encouraging everyone to run just 6 laps of the field to help energize and refocus their minds. 

 Running Club also continued as best we could, well done to all our committed runners. And a huge hello to all our new recruits! It is lovely to see some old and new faces.  

 The KS1 also took part in their own House Tournament quiz with Green house taking the top spot for that game. House points are still being earned weekly, last term saw the most given out for a single topic, everyone clearly excelled in Gymnastics!  

 The Young leaders have also been busy with indoor lunch activities, the favourite of course being Dodgeball and now the newly introduced Badminton and Table Tennis. 

 The New Year was a quiet one for our Partnership tournaments, but the children were raring to go last week with our Year 1 and 2 Boys Football Tournament. 2 girls from Oak stepped in to help make up the numbers and what a fantastic afternoon we had. For some players, it was their first time ever playing football, let alone taking part in a tournament so I was incredibly proud of their achievements.  

They played brilliantly as a team, supporting each other and every player followed and demonstrated our school values. Well done! 

Autumn Term 1 and 2

Went in a flash but was still full of fantastic sporting achievements.

Our Young Leaders grasped their new roles with ease,   with the boys helping to coach our girl's football team .

Girls from year 2 up to 5 would join the club every Monday for tips and they clearly are excellent coaches- the Year 3 -4  girls won their tournament at Langtree!! 

Well done to everyone, a proper team effort! 

Other Young Leader activities included Boccia, Dodgeball, fun games like Duck Duck Goose and What's the time Mr Wolf and even Art classes run by Jessie and Kitty. 

Next term we are hoping to see Badminton and Table tennis! 

Running Break continues twice weekly, just 6 laps of the track and playground which is approximately 1 kilometre. We find a quick focused run really helps to energise the brain and body which then makes a big difference in the classroom. 

Running Club has also continued with strength, well done to all children who brave the weather week after week. Their progression is clear to see and again the focus within the classroom is evident. Don't forget we are a free club, just drop at 8am on the rec by the playground and let us do the rest! Let's get some new recruits for 2024....! 

Every child in KS2 passed the level of swimming they were independently working towards, with also a large percentage of children working above the recommended level for their age. 

90% of Year 6 leave being Proficient swimmers. Congratulations to all of you!

Next it was our tournaments! Wow what a term, we took part in Cross Country, Football- Year 5&6 Boys, Year 3&4 Girls - with some Year 2's helping out, Year 3&4 Boys and indoor Athletics! Every single child gave it 100%, demonstrating such positive attitudes, enjoyment, fun, it's what our tournaments are all about. So proud of you all, you are a credit to our school. 

House point have been earned weekly and its fantastic to say that every single child has earned points for their house...WELL DONE EVEYONE!! There will be an inter house tournament in the next few weeks so watch this space.

PE lessons across the school last term consisted of Football, Netball, Gymnastics, Swimming, Dance and Multiskills.

Silver Birch finished their Dance lessons with a fantastic Jive routine which tied in with their WW2 learning. And Oak Class worked extremely hard to bring you the amazing gymnastics display! 

All children in KS1 and KS2 took part in a tournament within the partnership since term started in September. Logistically that is a huge achievement in itself so huge thanks to all staff for their constant support and flexibility. We are so lucky to be able to provide the sport provision we do here at Checkendon. 

September 2023 

Welcome back and what a fantastic couple of weeks of sport it's been.

Running Club came back with a bang on only our second day, well done everyone for an amazing effort!

Silver Birch and Willow were launched straight into our swimming term. 5 weeks of hour long lessons at The Oratory.  Week 1 was all about aquatic breathing and week 2 the children began working towards their certificates.

Willow are working at Beginner and Improver level and Silver Birch are working at Competent and Proficient level.  The quality of swimming so far this year has been fantastic, it is clear to see improvements all round.

 In PE lessons, Willow and Silver Birch have started the term with Netball. They have all been working on their throwing technique, pivoting and understanding the positions on the court.

 Oak Class have been enjoying working together with parachute games demonstrating great teamwork through moving the parachute across the field without dropping the ball and turning ourselves into a huge mushroom! The mushroom was also a necessity on Tuesday when we were caught in an almighty downpour!

We've also had fun playing the Bean Game, we invented the Ballerina Bean last week! We got out the scarves and ribbons too and used our bodies to make shapes in the air and on the ground.

They have also been showing our new Acorns how we warm up for our lessons by running laps. We run 4 laps at the start of every PE lesson to really get our hearts pumping and our muscles warm. The Acorns have settled in brilliantly and have all been awarded house points for great contribution and learning. Great job Acorns!

Running Break will be back week commencing 18th September. On Monday and Friday break times, every child is encouraged and supported to run just 6 laps of the field which is a kilometre. The younger children often run with a buddy if needed and our Young Leaders are always on hand to cheer everyone on.

Checkendon Primary School has been registered to become a member of the National Schools Equestrian Association. Anyone interested can enter competitions representing the school individually or as part of a team. For more details please talk to our Office.