An alternative sport proved to be very successful for our school as we came runners up in the Cluster School water Polo tournament at Queen’s Park Sport and Leisure Centre on Wednesday. The event was organised and run by Qualitas as part of our subscription funded through our Sport Premium allocation. We won four matches, drew and lost one match and gained 2nd place overall. Fantastic job by the Water Polo team – Well done!
Football match report vs North Wingfield
On a warm sunny spring afternoon (Thursday 28th March), Stretton Handley had a home football match against North Wingfield. It was the first time Stretton had played a home match since October!
Straight away North Wingfield started strong and began to attack the Stretton defence. A couple of early saves from MH settled the goal keeper down, however KH, GH and RJ looked nervous. A good run by an attacker had the defenders in trouble and eventually he was tripped to the ground. Penalty to North Wingfield. MH couldn’t save the powerful strike, 0-1 North Wingfield.
Stretton started to concentrate and play better once they were losing. Some good skill by LR left him with a chance to shoot and he smashed the ball towards the goal and it beat the goalkeeper but bounced back off the post. Half time 0-1.
GT came in to the middle of defence in the second half and it completely changed the game. He didn’t allow the attackers any space to shoot which meant that MH, LR and LH had more time to control the game. A long throw in from LH fell to MH who turned and shot. The keeper saved it but LR followed in and tapped the ball into the net, 1-1.
Stretton were full of confidence now and within 2 minutes had scored again to take the lead. Another long throw from LH saw the ball come to LR who turned and passed to MH who shot the ball low into the bottom corner, 2-1 Stretton.
North Wingfield tried to get back into the game and had a couple of attacks but GT made sure that goalkeeper MH didn’t have a save to make as he tackled or blocked every shot. GT also managed to get forward for one of LH throw ins, which seemed to cause problems for North Wingfield all game, and he shot low only for the keeper to make a good save.
Finally with 5 minutes left MH rifled a powerful effort from near the half way line into the roof of the net to put the cherry on the cake and seal the win, 3-1 Stretton.
A fantastic comeback from being 1-0 down at half time to win 3-1. Well played Stretton Handley!
Player of the match GT with a fantastic second half defending masterclass!
Next game Park House away on Thursday 11th April.
‘Share a Story’ Day 26 March
On Tuesday 26th March, children dressed up as favourite story book characters for a fun ‘Share a Story Day’. There were some fabulous creations, including some Harry Potter characters and Disney princesses as well as a crayon, Dennis the Menace, Gangsta Granny and the Demon Dentist, to name but a few! Here are some photos of Woodpecker group. See the Parent Hub App for more photos.
Book Fair 26-29 March
‘Travelling visitors Books’ Book Fair will be in school Tuesday 26 to Friday 29 March and children may use their World Book Day token towards a book if they wish. They will have chance to browse during the week and the fair will be open to parents / Tuesday, Wed, Thurs, Friday 3.30- 4.00pm.
Football match report vs Grassmoor
On a beautiful sunny spring afternoon (Wednesday 20th March), the Stretton Handley team travelled to Grassmoor for their first league match after the winter break.
Stretton started very well and within 4 minutes took the lead through a wonderful strike by LH as she swept the ball into the bottom corner. 1-0. However Stretton looked nervous in defence and gave away a corner which resulted in a cross hitting a defender and trickling into the net, 1-1. Stretton lost their concentration and again from a corner the Grassmoor attacker scored a good header which put them in the lead. Stretton equalised soon after with a long throw from LH which was flicked on by LR allowing MH to tap the ball into the net, 2-2. Just before half time GH and GT made a couple of good tackles but couldn’t stop a long range shot which flew past goalkeeper MH. Half time 3-2 Grassmoor.
After a team talk involving shooting more and being tighter in defense, Stretton scored in the first minute of the second half to equalise. A good tackle and pass by RJ left LR with the ball near the half way line. LR looked up and fired a rifle of a shot into the top corner. Nobody would have saved the strike! 3-3. Stretton grew in confidence and KH played a good ball to LH who managed to knock it forwards to MH who dribbled through and shot into the roof of the net, too powerful for the keepers out reached arm. Stretton were back in the lead, 4-3.
With 10 minutes to go a good piece of skill from the Grassmoor attacker saw him through on goal and he slotted it into the net to equalise and create a tense finish. 4-4. A tactical change saw LR move into defence to prevent Grassmoor from scoring anymore and it worked! Stretton piled on the pressure to try and score the winner but a counter attack from Grassmoor meant that the striker had what appeared to be a clear shot of goal. Up stepped LR with a diving block followed by Stretton goalkeeper MH to make a magnificent save with his legs to keep the score at 4-4.
With 1 minute left Stretton completed the comeback win. MH put pressure on a short goal kick by Grassmoor and managed to win the ball from the defender and then dribbled into the box and slotted the ball coolly into the bottom corner to complete his hat trick and the win for Stretton Handley 5-4.
What an end to end game with lots of good attacking on show by both teams. The Stretton team really played the game in good spirit with excellent support from the travelling parents. Player of the match, MH.
Next match is Thursday 28th March at home vs North Wingfield.
Red Nose Day 2019
Our Red Nose, non-uniform mask day was a great success. Along with our sweepstake we raised £72 for Comic Relief. Thank you to everyone who joined in and contributed to our fundraising. Here are some photographs of the children wearing their fantastic masks.
Newsletter March 2019
Newsletters are on the website for your convenience. Please check book bags for other letters, information and slips to sign. Thank you.
Big Schools’ Birdwatch 2019
Head over to our wildlife blog to find out our results for this years’ RSPB birdwatch survey.
China Celebration Day – 6 Feb
The China Celebration Day was a great success and enjoyed by all the children in Woodpecker Class. Highlights included: Tai Chi;Chinese food tasting using chopsticks; making Chinese lanterns; building ‘The Great Wall of China’ and creating miniature clay models of ‘The Terracotta Army’.
Rotten Romans -Partake History Workshop
KS2 ‘Rotten Romans’ – Partake History workshop
This term Peregrines and Kingfishers are taking part in an exciting topic ‘Rotten Romans’ – all about life in Britain in Roman times and the impact of the Roman invasions and settlement.
Children enjoyed an exciting day of workshops with Partake History on 25th February.
Children will be developing their team skills by learning to use their shields while under attack, in the ‘tortoise’ formation. They will become engineers by building an arch, try writing on wax tablets and then create a mosaic for the bath house. They will try their hand at a Roman game of chance and indulging their senses with some flavours of ‘The Empire’ with a Roman food-tasting session. There will also be an opportunity to learn about Roman dress, armour and weaponry as two children are transformed into Portia, a Roman noble lady and her brother Marcellus, a Roman soldier. They will handle and investigate extraordinary artefacts and inventions, all with a link to health and hygiene.
Here are some photos taken on the day………..
