Whickham School

and Sports College PE Newsletter November 2011

Olympic Gold Medallist

visits Whickham School

Whickham was delighted to welcome a gold medallist from the Beijing Olympics into

school to work with a group of year 7 students. Dawn Harper, from the USA, winner of

the 100m hurdles, shared her knowledge during an athletics session. She later gave an

inspirational speech before showing off her medals and signing autographs.

The following day, a group of year 10 Diploma in Sport and Active Leisure students were

privileged to receive top level coaching in an athletics master class, at Baltic Square.

They met and trained with GB coaches and athletes from the USA. Chris Milburn was

selected from this session to compete the following day before the International event

(USA v UK) and described the experience as one he will remember for the rest of his

life.

Gateshead Leadership Academy

Nine students from year 11 have been accepted into the Gateshead Leadership Academy

this year. They began their team building and leadership training at Broomley Grange in

October half term. This programme will be delivered by Kevin Hay (SSP) and Mr

McConway, and supported by other Gateshead PE colleagues. For further

information, see “The Whickham Leader.”

Whickham School

and Sports College PE Newsletter November 2011

Aspirations Camp 2011

Miss Day took a small group of year 9 & 10 students to Grantham, Caythorpe for

the Youth Sport Trusts‟ Aspirations Camp. The camp is part of the YST legacy

programme and is a two-day activity intensive residential for young people from Sports

Colleges across Great Britain. The key aim of the activities programme was to inspire the

students to become confident leaders and represent a student voice which could have an

impact on our PE curriculum at Whickham. In particular, the students will try to ensure

that the Olympic and Paralympic values are embedded into Teaching and Learning in PE

and across the whole school.

The students were split into small groups with other students on the residential and

challenged to complete a wide range of activities including team building activities,

climbing and raft building on the lake along with many more. Each group was led by a

member of staff from the Youth Sport Trust alongside an elite Athlete. Olympic

swimmer Chris Cook, from South Shields, was present along with Chris Horseman, former

Welsh rugby player and Hannah Beharry, an amateur boxer expected to star at London

2012 and other elite GB athletes.

“We will use the Olympic and Paralympic values to make a positive change in our PE”

Alex Danson

“Use the Olympic and Paralympic values so people aspire to achieve”

Jenna Downing

“A small change in your PE will make a big change in your future”

Chris Horseman

“Influence change and make PE & Sport more enjoyable”

Hannah Beharry

Whickham School

and Sports College PE Newsletter November 2011

Gateshead Sports Awards Charlotte Young and the Under 13 Girls Trampoline team were nominated for prestigious

awards at the Gateshead Sports Awards Evening. Charlotte won the Maureen Chaplin

Young Sports Achiever Award, while the girls (pictured below with coach Linda Appleby)

were nominated for Gateshead Team of the Year.

Charlotte has volunteered more than 1000 hours in the local community since the age of

15. During this time, she has worked with a range of young people from Gateshead to all

over the world and was fully deserving of her award, presented by guest speaker Bob

Moncur. This was in recognition for the tremendous work she has carried out and nobody

was more deserving of such an award. In addition to her volunteering, Charlotte has

passed Level 1 British sign Language and is currently doing Level 2 and planning on

assisting a weekend away with a group of deaf students. Furthermore, Charlotte has

supported Cedars School and Sports College on their trip to Detukkey as well as

completing World Challenge in Mexico and studying for her Extended Diploma.

Sadly, the girls did not win Team of the Year, however, being short listed in recognition

of their achievements was still a big honour following their victory at the National

Schools Trampoline Finals.

Girls Football

Congratulations to Lauren Briggs (11MHO) who has again been selected to represent

Durham County Girls following their National triumph last season.

In the first Gateshead tournament of the year, the year 8 and 9 girls team performed

exceptionally finishing in 1st and 4th place following their „Golden Goal‟ victory in the final

against Cardinal Hume.

Whickham School

and Sports College PE Newsletter November 2011

sport@whickhamschool.org

Girls Rugby

Twenty-six students from years 7 to 10 travelled down to Ferryhill for a girls

contact rugby tournament. The year 7 and 8‟s teams played ‟half contact‟ finishing 2nd and

7th out of 16 teams. Chloe Allen was the top try scorer but there were superb

performances from each and everyone of the girls.

In the year 9 and 10 tournament, Whickham again finished 2nd overall after playing some

fantastic rugby and winning all but one of their games. Year 10 captain Megan Shaw, along

with Rachel Taylor, deserve great credit for their efforts as they did a wonderful job

coaching the teams beforehand.

Follow us on Twitter

The PE department has an active Twitter account, which will be updated

on a daily basis with upcoming fixtures, tournaments, festivals, team news

and extra-curricular information. Follow us at www.twitter.com and search

„WhickhamSport‟ for up to the minute information.

Sportshall Athletics For the previous four years, Whickham School have monopolised the trophies when it comes

to Sportshall Athletics and this year was no different. The year 9 and 10 team travelled to

Gateshead Leisure Centre full of confidence and produced some stunning performances to

win both the male and female competitions.