Infant and Junior Sports Day

We managed to have our first Academy Infant/Junior Sports Day Wednesday of the last week of term when we finally had some nice weather!  Huge thanks go to our care-taking team for setting up for the day and coming in extra early. Thanks also to the PHPA for providing cakes; to Miss Smiles and Miss Zoe for running the refreshments stall and to all the teaching staff for kindly moving their groups around the events and doing such an excellent job recording results. All children participated this year in all races and field events. 

Infant children were allocated into mixed groups of varying abilities, whilst junior children were placed into groups based upon ability rather than house teams.

Final Overall Results

Special Recognition goes to the following students for having the best results in their age groups.

Reception: Charles Goodwin 22 points, Darcy Hayward 17 points, Isaac Whittingham15 points.

Y1: Yvaine Parsons 21 points; Farrah Higgins 18 points, Alice Burton 17 points.

Y2: Jack Harrison 22 points, Frederick Harland 21 points, Harry Rogers 20 points.

Y3 boys: Oscar Trouten, 15 points, Oscar Fluen 12 points, William Wood 11 points.

Y3 girls: Emily Lawson 17 points, Rebecca Davison 10 points, Amelie-Rose Lumley 6 points.

Y4 boys: Blake Etherington 18 points; Thomas Hurst 9 points, Brandon Boyle-Blair 8 points.

Y4 girls: Jessica Wood 24 points, Abbie Minns 6 points, Nevaeh Duffy 6 points, Sophia Mooji 6 points.

Y5 boys: Archie Hawkings 12 points, Roman Fedyk 11 points, Harry Kerins 9 points.

Y5 girls: Ophelia Sayer 16 points, Maggie Brooks 8 points, Emily Pollard 8 points.

Y6 boys: Junior Newton 23 points, Charley Williams 10 points, Henry Hare-Turnbull 8 points.

Y6 girls: Tilly Ainsley 15 points, Megan Johnson 12 points, Storm Smith 10 points. 

Senior Sports Day June 14th 2017

We finally managed to have our Senior Sports Day on the last day of term when we finally had some nice weather! 

More students than ever before participated this year with more races and inclusion for all in field events. 

Huge thanks goes to our care-taking team Alan, Les, Ian and Chris for setting up for the day and coming in extra early; to the PHPA for organising refreshments, and to all staff who helped to run individual events.

Several new records were broken this year in what was an excellent day all round. Highlights included the 6th form fancy dress relay; the staff v student relay race and the inclusive 20x100m relay where 80 students across all age groups competed in their houses. 

Results

Special Recognition goes to the following students for having the best results in their age group:

L4 – Isabelle Shepherd, Ross Leslie

U4 – Caitlin Minns, Cairan Dixon, Dan Buckle, Thomas McCue

L5 – Lottie Stowers, Aidan Simpson

Senior: Lucy Hart, Ellie Coates, Amy Hartley, Harry Haloui

Junior Victrix Ludorum: Isabelle Shepherd, Lottie Stowers

Junior Victor Ludorum: Aidan Simpson

Senior Victrix Ludorum: Lucy Hart, Ellie Coates, Amy Hartley

Senior Victor Ludorum: Harry Haloui

 

Overall House Results as follows:

4th Skerne 181

3rd Swale 301

2nd Tees 340

1st Kent 366

 

Primary School Games Athletics

Darlington 2017 Primary School Games Athletics Championships were held at Eastbourne Sports Complex in June.

Overall, a fantastic day was had by all the year 5 and 6 children who took part in a range of track and field events. Races ranged from 60/80m sprints, 55m hurdles and 600m distance as well as a relay. Children took part in 4 different field events, howler throw, standing triple jump, long jump and 1kg ball chest push.

All children took part with enthusiasm and commitment. A total of 13 medals were won, with year 5 girls coming out with 11 medal including winning the 5x80m relay with an exceptional distance between them and the second place school. 

Finalists were: Olivia Dent; Alara Harris; Ophelia Sayer; Logan Wilson; Ella Gibbon, Emily Smith and Jack Sharp, Storm Smith, Ella Fleming Jones.

Medals went to: 

Olivia – 2nd place Yr5 600m distance and 3rd place Yr5 howler throw.

Alara – 1st place Yr5 girls 55m hurdles, 1st place Yr5 5 x 80m relay and 3rd place Yr5 long jump.

Ophelia -1st place Yr5 girls 60m sprint, 1st place Yr5 triple jump and 1st place Yr5 5 x 80m relay.

Logan – 1st place  Yr5 5 x 80m relay; Ella – 1st place Yr5 5 x 80m relay.

Emily – 1st place Yr 5 5 x 80m relay.

Storm – 2nd place Yr6 howler throw

Ella – 2nd place Yr6 long jump.

Town Sports 2017

More than 60 pupils from Y7-10 represented Polam Hall at this year’s summer Town Sports. Overall we placed 1^st 4 times with exceptional performances from Caitlin who came 1^st in the Yr 8 girls 800 meters with a spectacular time of 2 mins 32 seconds. Lucy was 1^st place in the Yr 10 girl’s Triple Jump and also the Yr 10 girls 800 meters, both making herself and Polam very proud. Another well done goes to Robyn and Tess for winning the Yr 10 and Yr 7 Javelin respectively.

Polam also placed another 8 times in second place in individual events, congratulations to; Caitlin (Yr 8 standing triple jump), Thomas (Yr 8 discus), Jakob (Yr 9 triple jump), Milie (Yr 9 1500m), Ellie (Yr 10 300m and high jump), Hollie (Yr 10 1500m), Anna (Yr 10hurdles).

Polam placed another 12 times in individual events in 3^rd place, congratulations to; Amber(Yr 7 300m), Nathan (Yr 7 100m), Megan (Yr 8 200m), Poppy (Yr 8 hurdles), Lily (Yr 8 javelin), Daniel (Yr 8 1500m), Millie (Yr 9 high jump), Alana (Yr 9 hurdles), Lottie (Yr 9 800m), Izaak (Yr 9 800m), Luke (Yr 9 hurdles), Matthew (Yr 10 discus).

The day was a great success overall with exceptional performances from all athletes through some really challenging competition and weather. Everyone who competed should be very proud of themselves.

Great day out at Athletics Championships

Our Y 5 and 6 pupils had a fantastic day out at the Darlington 2017 Primary School Games Athletics Championships, held at Eastbourne Sports Complex on Wednesday 7th June 2017.

Overall, a brilliant time was had by all who took part and the children enjoyed a wide range of track and field events. Races included 60 and 80m sprints, 55m hurdles and 600m distance as well as a relay. Children took part in 4 different field events – these being the howler throw, standing triple jump, long jump and 1kg ball chest push.

All children took part with enthusiasm and commitment. A total of 13 medals were won, with year 5 girls coming out with 11 medals including winning the 5x80m relay with an exceptional distance between them and the second place school. 

Finalists were: Olivia Dent; Alara Harris; Ophelia Sayer; Logan Wilson; Ella Gibbon, Emily Smith and Jack Sharp, Storm Smith, Ella Fleming Jones.

Medals went to: 

Olivia – 2nd place Yr5 600m distance and 3rd place Yr5 howler throw; Alara – 1st place Yr5 girls 55m hurdles, 1st place Yr5 5 x 80m relay and 3rd place Yr5 long jump; Ophelia -1st place Yr5 girls 60m sprint, 1st place Yr5 triple jump and 1st place Yr5 5 x 80m relay; Logan – 1st place  Yr5 5 x 80m relay; Ella – 1st place Yr5 5 x 80m relay; Emily – 1st place Yr 5 5 x 80m relay; Storm – 2nd place Yr6 howler throw; Ella – 2nd place Yr6 long jump.

Sports Report Spring 2017

 

From Mr Wilkinson, Head of PE, April 7th 2017

Football

There has been lots going on in terms of football this term with the U12, U13 & U16 teams all taking part in competitive action. The highlights have included an excellent 5-3 away win for the U13 Team against Argyle House, a 6-0 win for the U12’s against Wyvern Academy and the continuation of a strong rivalry with Teesside High for the U16’s. Special mentions go to Ciaran Dixon, Sean Chidanyika, Cameron Gornall & Harry Haloui for being chosen to take part in District trials to represent the Darlington team. There will be lots more action to come next term as the teams continue to prepare themselves for the Portugal football tour in October.

Netball

The U19s were league winners for the second year running; a great win against Egglescliffe to finalise the win. Due to their outstanding success the school have been awarded £50.00 to use for netball equipment, so a big thank you to all the girls and well done. A big thanks especially to Ellie Dalby for organising the teams for each fixture.

U15 girls were second to Carmel in the Darlington School League and should be very proud of their achievements. At this point we are still awaiting results for U14 and U13 League.

Tournaments were as follows: U16 Darlington School winners; U15 second place; U14 postponed due to weather; U13 Darlington School winners; U12 third.

Cross Country

Stella Jones, Nic Alderson, Emma Moreno, Lucy Hart, Izaak Taylor, Caitlin Minns, Millie Ward, Jessica Whittaker and Ciaran Dixon all represented Darlington in the area Cross Country at Barnard Castle. Here Izaak, Caitlin and Stella all went on to represent Durham District at the Northern Final and Stella then went to compete at the Nationals which is a fantastic achievement. Well done to them all for their huge commitment to running!

Badminton

We have had huge success in Badminton this term.

8 players from Polam will travel to Italy this Easter with Hummersknott. Much of the costs for the trip have been raised through fundraising and they deserve a special mention not only for raising much of their own funds but also for raising a substantial amount for comic relief through bag packing (52 people involved over 3 days raising nearly £2000 for charity).

We wish Thomas Jewkes, James Pickford, Mack Sanderson, Caitlin Minns, Nadeane Sewell, Katie Bell, Megan Dean and Freya Holmes all the best for the tour and look forward to hearing about it afterwards at next term’s Sports Awards.

In the adult mixed league, Krisada, Pak, Jenny, Macie, Hannah, Millie, Priya and Cherry should be very proud of their performances playing at such a high level in the Darlington & Durham District League.

Finally a huge congratulations goes to Macie, Hannah, Priya and Anna for being successful at the Regional Finals up in Tyneside Badminton Centre and qualifying for the National Finals on the 6^th May; yet another memorable achievement.

Young Sports Leaders -The following students took part in a Netball Leadership Academy held at Eston Leisure Centre and Education Village.

• Lottie D’Silva; Summer Fenwick; Tilly Harrison; Alana Riddell; Lottie Stowers

A mention should go to Niamh Bourne too, who stepped in to help out at the junior football festival and the Darlington Schools Netball Tournament.

Overall these students have shown strong leadership skills and are willing to take on responsibility for younger children within their sport.

Also a special thanks to Priya, Macie, Hannah, Millie, Maxine for their help and umpiring during school and cluster tournaments.

Well done to everyone taking part in sports this term and we will celebrate more success at Sports Awards evening on the 3^rd May.

House Sports Results

Y7 & 8 Football:

1. Swale
2. Kent
3. Tees
4. Skerne

Y9 Football:

1. Swale
2. Kent & Skerne joint
3. Tees

Senior Football Result:

1. Skerne
2. Tees
3. Kent
4. swale

 

Junior Netball   After the year 9s played, points were added together and overall winners were Tees first; Swale second; Kent third and Skerne fourth. Players of the tournament were Amber Gaines and Caitlin Minns who were an encouraging and integral part of their team.

Senior Netball    1^st Tees; 2^nd Skerne; 3^rd Kent; 4th Swale. Anna Schoon was player of the tournament after some very successful goals from distance

 

 

Junior Cross Country

CLUSTER CROSS-COUNTRY FRIDAY 10^TH MARCH 2017 at TEESSIDE HIGH SCHOOL

Polam Juniors participated in the Cluster Cross-Country. Teams were selected based upon times from the house cross-country competition and lunchtime training sessions.

All together 43 junior children (year 4 – 6) took part, weather was fair and conditions good.

U9 girls were the first to race, and after a confusion at the start, Polam year 4 girls were dominant. Jessica was the strongest finishing an impressive 2^nd, with Charlotte (5^th); Abbie (7^th); Poppy (12^th) and Polly (13^th). However, year 3 girls also performed very well in this race with Ella (14^th) Rebecca (16^th) and Jemima Hayer (27^th) finishing strong in the pack.

Next was U9 boys, here Polam were an awash of green at the finish line, with Blake and Brandon leaving the rest of the runners behind finishing a strong 1^st and 2^nd respectively. The rest of the year 4 boys weren’t to be outrun either, with Polam taking 5 of the top 7 places, and all U9 boys (including 1 year 3) finishing in the top 12. Joshua was an impressive 4^th; with Hugh not far behind in 5^th. Finlay (10^th); Jamie (11^th) and William (12^th) made the rest of the line up.

Year 5 girls (U10) were next, and they did not disappoint. Logan and Alara coming in 1^st and 2^nd, Olivia (6^th); Ella (8^th); Emily (9^th) saw 5 of the team finishing in the top 10. Lola (13^th); Ophelia (16^th) and Josephine (17^th) made the rest of the U10 girls’ squad.

U10 boys were next, and although not as strong as the girls, all runners were in the top 27. Aaron stood out, finishing a strong 5^th behind Barnard Castle and Chorister. Harry (7^th); Henry (9^th) and Max (11^th) again saw Polam finish a strong competition. Joshua came in 23^rd and Ollie (25^th) and Harry (26^th) did well as reserve runners. Alex was still an impressive 27^th.

The final two races saw the U11 girls and U11 boys. Again all runners were in the top 25 of their races, with Ellie finishing 8^th and Junior finishing 5^th in their respective races. Conor (9^th); Georgia and Jack (11^th) and Ewan (17^th) guaranteed that Polam finished 3^rd overall in their respective races. Other results for year 6s was Megan (18^th); Ella (19^th); Rose (20^th); Annabelle (22^nd) and Aelf (25^th, although running injured).

Presentations saw Jessica, Blake, Brandon, Logan and Alara all collect medals for their individual performances, while Jessica collected the trophy for the combined U9 trophy for Polam Hall finishing 1^st overall. Logan and Alara collected the trophy for 1^st position for U10 girls, whilst all other teams finished 3^rd overall.

Well done to all runners.

Footballing highlights Jan-Feb 2017

Football Report – Spring Term (January – February)

2017 has seen plenty of action football wise as well so far with the Boys Under 15, Under, 13, Under 12, Under 11, Under 9 and Girls Under 12 teams all being in competitive action.

After finishing their league campaign at the end of 2016 the Under 13 team went on to a play an inter-independent school friendly fixture against Argyle House in Sunderland. The team managed to win 5-3 and put in an excellent performance. Captain Ciaran Dixon scored 3 with Daniel Buckle and Sean Chidanyika also getting on the scoresheet. They also played Longfield in the cup but were unfortunately beaten 5-2. Daniel Buckle and Ciaran Dixon were the goal scorers. The Under 13’s now just have 1 remaining fixture to play against Teesside High School next month.

The Under 12 Girls have also had a good start to the year going unbeaten in their 5-a-side tournament at Longfield School. They managed to beat DSMS 2-1 and drew their games with Hummersknott and Carmel. Jessica Whitaker was the standout performer. Well done girls!

The Under 12 team have put in 2 excellent performances as well this term. They were narrowly beaten 5-4 at Thirsk in the PlayStation Schools Cup. Nathan Dixon was man of the match scoring a hat trick whilst Adrian Maza got the other goal. They have also got their league campaign up and running with a game against Longfield at home. They were beaten 3-0 but performed very well against a school with a much larger pool of students. Jess W hit the bar and Nathan D was also unlucky not to score. The team will now play Hurworth at home on Wednesday 15^th February and can look forward to another 5 league games and a cup fixture after half term.

The Under 11 and Under 9 teams represented the school in the cluster football tournament in Durham. Both teams put in some excellent performances. Oscar Trouten and Joshua Elsdon were given stars of the tournament.

Lots more to come in March!

Individual results for Town Sports 2016

65 Polam students took part in this year’s Town Sports resulting in a 4th place overall for the School. More importantly, it was a great experience for all those who took part and two of our pupils even managed to break new records in long jump and javelin.

 

Results (1^st, 2nds & 3rds)

1^st

Ciaran Dixon- 800m 2.34 (Y7)

Caitlin Minns, Millie Rorrison, Poppy Carr, Philippa Saxby -4x200m (Y7)

Izaak Taylor-1500m 4.50 (Y8)

Anna Robinson- Hurdles 13.5 (Y9)

Robyn Patrick- Javelin 22.11m (Y9) NEW RECORD!

Cameron Gornall- Hurdles 13.0 (Y9)

Stella Jones- 300m 44.3 (Y10)

Emma Parades- 1500m 5.51, High Jump 1.33m (Y10)

Matthew Cheung- Hurdles, Long Jump 5.93m (Y10) NEW RECORD!

2nd

C Minns- 1500m, Standing Triple Jump (Y7)

M Humble- Discus (Y7)

T McCue- Discus (Y7)

S Fenwick – 800m (Y8)

Alana Riddell – Hurdles (Y8)

Josh Mitchell – Hurdles (Y8)

Anna Robinson – Shot (Y9)

Macie Bisicker-Peacock – Javelin (Y10)

Erin Partridge – Discuss 21.31 PB (Y10)

S Jones, C Cheung, E Bloomfield, E Parades 4x100m (Y10)

3rds

Freya Holmes 100m (Y7)

Millie Rorrison 300m (Y7)

Poppy Carr – High Jump (Y7)

Emily Ogilvie-Donald – Shot (Y7)

Lily Edwards – Javelin (Y7)

Boys 4x400m (Y7) C Dixon, L Scott, T Jewkes, D Buckle

Santi Piza – long Jump (Y7)

Sean Chidnayika – Shot (Y7)

Lottie Stowers 100m (Y8)

Girls 4 x 100m (Y8) A Riddell, M Turley, L Stowers, S Fenwick

Millie Turley 1500m (Y8)

Ellie Coates – 100m & High Jump (Y9) PB 1.32m

Yasmin Gunn – Long Jump (Y9)

Jamie Tassi – Standing Triple Jump (Y9)

Ben Swindale – Javelin (Y9)

Cameron Gornall – High Jump (Y9)

Cherry Cheung 100m & Long Jump (Y10)

Eveie Bloomfield – 200m (Y10)

Emily Farley-Smith – 800m & Triple Jump (Y10)

Alex Parker – Hurdles (Y10)

Stella Jones – Shot (Y10)

George Kitson 1500m (Y10)

Nic Alderson 300m (Y10)

 

 

 

Junior Football round up

End of year Football Report

2015/2016 has been the most successful year in the school’s history when it comes to football. Both the year 7’s and Year 6’s have competed in the Darlington Schools’ Leagues and have done extremely well. Below are the highlights of what has been a benchmark year for school football looking forward.

Year 7’s (U12)

The U12 team competed in the Darlington Schools League for the first time this year and did extremely well showing excellent signs of progress as the season went on. The team managed to Win 3, Draw 1 and Lose 3 of their league games meaning they finished 4^th in a league of 8 overall. After taking a while to fully get started with their league campaign the team ended up with a 4-game undefeated streak towards the end of the year. A 4-0 win vs. DSMS & a 6-1 win over St.Aidans saw the team start to climb up the table, followed by a 2-2 draw with Hummersknott and a 3-0 victory over Carmel meant the team finished the season in style. Santi Piza-Guil finished the season as top scorer with 5 goals, whilst Sean Chidanyika and Ciaran Dixon were not too far behind with 4 each. Player of the Year went to captain Ciaran Dixon for consistently putting in some excellent performances, whilst Oscar Ayeni received the Most Improved Player Award, chipping in with a hat-trick in the game against St.Aidans.

Year 6’s (U11)

The U11 team also competed in the Darlington Schools League for their age group and have had a very successful year. Below are the results from the league games and other competitive fixtures that the team have competed in.

• Won 2-0 vs Rydal Academy (a) (Goals = Milo Harris & Alfie Mason)
• Won 5-0 vs Corporation Road (h) (Goals = Milo Harris, Joseph Taylor, Alfie Mason, Matthew Bailie & Junior Newton)
• Won 8-2 vs Teesside High (a) (Goals = Joseph Taylor x3, Milo Harris x2, Fynn Lumley, Alfie Mason & Callum Shove)
• Won 2-1 vs Red Hall (h) (Goals = Alfie Mason & O.G)
• Lost 8-1 vs St. Augustine’s (h) (Goal = Milo Harris)
• Won 4-1 vs High Coniscliffe (a)
• Won 6-0 vs St. Johns (h) (Goals = Fynn Lumley x3, Milo Harris, Alfie Mason & Joseph Taylor
• Cluster Tournament @ Bow Shool – Finished 2^nd overall
• Darlington Schools Annual Cup – Finished 2^nd in group, whilst remaining unbeaten (Won x2 & Drew x3)

As the other schools are yet to finish all of their games we are still uncertain as to where the team finished overall in the league, but it is anticipated that due to just the 1 loss they will finish 2^nd behind St. Augustine’s. Excellent effort boys!

Player of the Year goes to Milo Harris for consistently putting in outstanding performances for the team. Whilst Most Improved Player goes to Maximus Askey. Well done lads – see you next year!

Other Highlights

The Under 9 (year 4) team came 3^rd in the Cluster tournament at Bow school as well as recording a 14-0 victory over Teesside High School, where Harry Kerins scored 9 goals! Clearly there is a bright future ahead for this set of players!

The Under 14 team participated in some very close games with Argyle House and Teesside High. A special highlight for this team was their 3-1 victory over Teesside High scoring 3 goals in the last 5 minutes!

Well done to everyone who’s been involved in football fixtures this year – next year promises to be even more action packed so get training over the summer!