We have continued to go from strength to strength this term. Not only have our students performed exceptionally well across all sports but more importantly they continue to be great ambassadors for the school.

School Achievements

Congratulations to our unbeaten Year 7 Netball squad who have won their league with one game still to play. This is a great achievement and reflects their hard work and dedication. This commitment and success was also seen in the recent indoor athletics event which saw the girls winning the competition and the boys putting in very strong performances.

The Year 9 netball team has had a very successful season this year in which we won six out of our seven games. Our biggest goal difference was against The Grange Academy where we won 20-0! We also participated in a district tournament where we came second out of seven teams. Our star players this season have been Ellen and River, each achieving Player of the Match three times. We have thoroughly enjoyed this netball season. We cannot wait to continue and develop as a team next year. (Written by Ellen, Luella and River Yr9)

Another recent success is our under 13 girls’ football team who have reached the HSFA NASUWT County Cup final. It has been confirmed that the County Cup Final will be on Monday 24th April with a 17:00 kick off at Harvester FC Smallford, St Albans. Similarly, our Year 11 boys’ football team are in the district final on the 23rd March at Queens School against Immanuel, best of luck to those students on their final representation all together in the Croxley Danes kit.

Well done to all who took part in the February inter-house competitions for rugby, dance/gym and netball.

Lastly, we are in contention to win some of the basketball leagues this year with the final games being played before the end of this half term. The teams have been working hard so please keep updated by following @CDSPhysEd

We always encourage our students to attend an extra-curricular sporting activity, it’s never too late for your child to be involved in any sport. The summer sports clubs timetable will follow shortly so please keep an eye out for this over the coming weeks.

Curriculum

We’ve had a big push this half term to ensure all GCSE students who compete in sports outside of school provide video evidence to support their gradings for their practical element. A huge thank you to all of you who have submitted videos and to parents for helping collate this evidence during evenings and weekends. Without your support we would not be able to submit these sports for gradings.

We wish all GCSE pupils the best of luck for the practical moderation on the 12th May and Papers 1 and 2 on May 17th and June 8th.

We have two groups of students, one group supporting Three Rivers events and the other supporting Herts Young Coach Academy. Our Coaching Academy leaders will soon start supporting and working with a group of Year 7s and our Three Rivers sports leaders did a fantastic job recently hosting the Year 6 indoor athletics finals.

Our sports colours will be launching soon to ensure the commitment and success of our students is honoured and celebrated. We have lots of exciting events in the planning stage to help fund the sports colours awards, trophies and certificates. If you are interested in supporting the department or sponsoring a school team please get in touch.

An overview of PE lessons - Summer Term

From April, the major sports delivered in lessons will be athletics, tennis and a mixture of striking and fielding activities. All lessons will follow DFE/ESAA and governing body guidelines.

For the first six weeks back after Easter, pupils will be on the below sport. If there are two sports listed then they will change over to the second activity - WKB 08/05 if summer 1 and WKB 26/06 if summer 2.

Striking and Fielding (S&F) - a mixture of cricket/rounders/Danish long ball, baseball that will take place on the field or astro

Athletics - You will cover jumping, throwing and running events over the six weeks (12 lessons) that will take place in the hall or field

Jumping - high jump, long jump and triple jump

Throwing - shot, javelin

Running - 100m, 200m, 300m/400m, 800m, 1500m (sprint starts, pacing, relay changeovers)

*hurdles, and discus will be offered in clubs

Tennis - this will take place on tennis courts.

Summer 1

WKB 17/04

Summer 2

WKB 05/06

Group 1 Athletics Tennis/S&F

Group 2 Tennis/S&F Athletics

Group 3 Athletics S&F/Tennis

Group 4 S&F/Tennis Athletics

Upcoming results, events and opportunities in PE

On the 31st March we are taking 50+ Year 8 and 9 boys and girls on a football trip to Eindhoven. Students will experience what it is like to train at an elite football club with academy coaches and have the opportunity to play in a fixture against local opposition. Students will also visit a theme park and watch a PSV academy match at De Herdgang Stadium. This promises to be a fantastic trip that staff and students are very excited about.

It has also been fantastic to see so many pupils take up the opportunity to go and see our local super league netball team ‘Saracen Mavericks’. Years 10 and 11 will be attending on Saturday 22nd April to watch them take on Surrey Storm and Years 7, 8 and 9 on Monday 22nd of May versus Team Bath.

We also love to hear about our students’ sporting achievements outside of school so please do send us a message via the enquiries email address. In the coming weeks we will be looking for budding photographers and journalists to take photos and write match reports. If that is you, please let one of the PE team know.

We regularly post our latest sporting results and information on the PE department’s Twitter page so please make sure to follow us on @CDSPhysEd for all the latest updates. Sporting posts are also shared on the school Twitter page @croxleydanes so make sure to follow them too!

Whole school inter house -WKB27/03

To conclude this term’s activities, students will compete in their house competitions on the dates below. Boys will be doing handball on the astro and the girls will be competing in basketball. On Thursday 30th March Years 7, 8 and 9 can come to school in their school PE kit (and bring the correct footwear-white trainers for the sports hall and astros for handball).

7 cdg and 7 jms- Thursday 30th March P2

8 cdg and 8 jms- Thursday 30th March P3

9 cdg and 9 jms- Thursday 30th March P1

10 cdg - Wednesday 22nd March P1

10 jms - Thursday 23rd March P4 (change in lessons)

11 cdg and 11 jms - Monday 27th March P1 (change in lessons)

Lost Property

Lost property is initially left in a box in the changing rooms and then it is passed on to Mrs Carter in the Medical Room every Monday. As you can imagine, we have a lot of lost property so please ensure that every item is named.

Extra-curricular PE clubs

Lunch time clubs run from 12.30 with students having the opportunity to eat in the second half of their lunch break. If the activity is taking place indoors, footwear must be white trainers or non-marking soles.

After school clubs run from 15.30 - 16.30 and students can go home in their PE kit. As a reminder, if you have not done so already, please ensure you complete the consent form to allow your child to attend: https://bit.ly/extracurricularconsentcds

It would be great to see more students at clubs to help not only consolidate their learning but with general well-being. This half term’s extra-curricular activities schedule will be coming out shortly so please keep an eye out for it.

As always, we have lots of fixtures this term as per the attached Spring and Summer fixtures schedule. Please be aware these are subject to change and updates will be posted on Twitter @CDSPhysEd

Spectators at home fixtures

If you wish to attend a fixture at Croxley Danes School, parents should arrive at the school reception for 15:30. You will then be taken to the venue (playing fields, sports hall) as a group by a member of staff. You must remain at the venue until the end of the fixture when the PE staff will escort you back to reception.

If you arrive before 15:30, you will have to wait for the member of staff to escort you to the fixture. If you arrive after 15:30 you will unfortunately not be allowed to watch and will be denied entry. It is important that this system is followed and respected by all parents as it has been put in place to reduce safeguarding risks to all students that are attending sports fixtures after school.

For GDPR reasons please only take pictures of your child and refrain from posting on social platforms.

Fixtures will finish between approximately 17:15-17:30 when playing at CDS and students can go home in their PE kit. If it is an away fixture we always encourage you to call the visiting school as these arrangements can differ from school to school. You are welcome to collect from the fixture but you must be there by 16:45 as staff will leave promptly after a fixture and will not leave students without parental supervision.

We’re really excited about the year ahead.