Tirlebrook Primary School
Read on to find out about our sporting curricular and extra-curricular opportunities
as well as other experiences for the academic year 2021-2022
2021-2022
Move More Sportshall Athletics Competition – Monday, 14th February
A group of twelve Y5 and Y6 children had a brilliant time as they headed off to take part in this year’s Move More Sportshall Athletics event at Cheltenham Boys’ College. Competing against five other teams - Gretton, Holy Trinity, Shurdington, St. John's & Twyning - across a range of track and field disciplines, the children took the opportunity fully to explore, enjoy and excel in this very unique event. The event, which is a traditional Tirlebrook favourite and has become a highlight on the annual sporting calendar, is always competitive, great fun and extremely loud! With the latest tracks booming through the speakers throughout, the atmosphere was sizzling as the schools prepared for the first race, the obstacle run, which tasked the children with negotiating the high-stepper, speed bounce, hurdles and reversaboard in teams of four. The obstacle run began the competitive races and as the afternoon progressed, a range of indoor track and field athletic activities were enjoyed, including the 1+1 relay, the 2+2 relay, the chest push, the vertical jump, the javelin throw, the standing long jump, the speed bounce, the standing triple jump and the 4x1 relay. We even had the chance to take part in non-scoring Under and Over and mixed 4x1 relays. The children put in a wonderful effort throughout, not only in each event but also when cheering on their teammates. All of the teams involved performed excellently and it was a very close competition. Ultimately, our team finished in fourth position, just missing out on picking up School Games medals, but as always, it was the way our children participated that was the highlight. Congratulations to the winners, and also to Poppy, who picked up a School Games values band for Teamwork in what was her penultimate opportunity to represent Tirlebrook. Many thanks to Mrs. Featonby for organising the event and preparing the children for the tricky indoor field events in particular, and to Mrs. Cappleman for accompanying and supporting the children at the event.
Team: Alex C, Poppy C, Riley C, Georgie C, Isaac C, Caiomie D, Ryan H, Urte M, Scarlet O, Saxon P, Ben R & Betsy W
Move More Tewkesbury District Cross Country Race 4 – Thursday, 10th February
It was an absolute delight to be able to watch 40 (yes, forty!) of our junior children from Years 4 - 6 (that’s a third of our eligible Key Stage Two children!), compete in the first of the series of Spring Cross Country races.
The boys kicked us off and they ran superbly, with some achieving very impressive finishing positions and many getting personal bests. One of our youngest runners, Sami, was our first boy home, finishing strongly in an incredible 5th place! Alex then came storming through the line, finishing just behind in 7th position. A string of Y5 boys really impressed crossing the finish line in 11th (Jack H), 12th (Ben) and 18th (Ryan) places. We also saw fantastic finishes for Jack R, Theo L, Stanley and Jacob P who came home in 22nd, 23rd, 24th and 26th position respectively. That’s 9 in the top 30! But as we always say, it’s not just about those finishing at the front of the field. We are also extremely proud of our other runners, and so it’s a huge well done to Charlie, Finley, Hunter, Alfie, Jack L, George, Saxon, Joshua, Jason, Louie, Leo, Theo P and Noah! We were also thrilled to welcome Kelly and Jacob B to the team who raced for the first time this season, and Thumelo, who has just joined our school. It’s always wonderful to see our participation numbers rise and the interest and engagement ascend. They all did brilliantly and should be very proud of their performances out of a field of 115 runners.
And so then it was over to our girls (#ThisGirlCan!). They all embraced what was an extremely challenging race; the air turned bitter before they started and the other schools provided stiff competition amongst the 79 runners in total. Despite the challenge, they showed great resilience, didn’t give up, persevered and all finished well. Our first three to enter the finishing funnel were Georgie in 4th, Scarlet in 10th and Urte in 23rd. Amazing! Erin followed soon after in an amazing 31st position. Our other superstar runners all finished well, including Poppy, Martha, Maisie, Olivia, Hannah W, Hannah P, Layla, Matilda, Bella and Katie. You were amazing girls!
As always, we are thankful to all of the families for their support. But we must reserve the biggest praise for the children. We are super proud of the way they were cheering each other on, congratulating each other and supporting each other when they needed to. Their dedication and commitment is impeccable and their enthusiasm infectious. Thank you to each child for their efforts and for always trying their absolute best. A huge well done to everyone involved and a big thank you to Mrs. Featonby for all of her hard work organising and supporting the team. Congratulations to the following children who achieved personal bests, some huge (!), during the race: Georgie, Scarlet, Bella, Maisie, Olivia, Alex, Ben, Jack H, Theo L, Ryan, Leo, George, Finley, Noah & Jason.
Team: Charlie A, Louie B, Sami B, Jacob B, Alex C, Poppy C, Martha C, Georgie C, Isaac Cu, Finley D, Leo G, Katie G, Maisie G, Erin G, Hunter H, Layla H, Joshua H, Alfie H, Olivia H, Jack H, Ryan H, Thumelo K, Matilda K, Theo L, Jack L, Bella M, Urte M, Stanley M, Scarlet O, George O, Hannah P, Jacob P, Saxon P, Theo P, Ben R, Jack R, Jason S, Noah T, Kelly W & Hannah W
Tewkesbury Netball Festival - Tuesday, 23rd November
Congratulations to our netball team who headed over to Tewkesbury School to participate in the Move More Tewkesbury District Netball Festival. Drawing twice in matches against Mitton and Twyning, and losing against The John Moore, Carrant Brook and Shurdington, the festival was a great experience for all involved. The team showed a terrific attitude throughout and improved their performance with each and every game. School Games Values bands were awarded to Isaac for Honesty and to Hannah for Determination. Many thanks to Mrs. Cappleman, Miss. Moysey and Mrs. Moysey for accompanying and supporting the team. We look forward to more netball opportunities in the new year.
Squad: Scarlet O (captain), Henry B, Poppy C, Isaac Co, Maisie G, Olivia H, Jacob P & Hannah W
Year 3 & Year 4 Football League - Round One - Tuesday, 16th November
It was a privilege to take an excited group of Year 4s over to Tewkesbury School to play in the first round of the Year 3 & Year 4 Football League after missing out for the last couple of years. Year 4 began with an amazing game against Twyning, ending in a win! They followed this up with wins against Gretton and Shurdington, before drawing their final two matches 0-0 against Carrant Brook and Tewkesbury C. of E., games that they completely dominated and just couldn’t breach the goal! However, throughout the competition, there were some superb goals scored by Jason, Jack, Theo, Arthur and Oliver. “Stan made some amazing assists,” commented his teammate, Jack. Sami was a sensational goalkeeper for three games; Oliver also played in goal for two matches without conceding a goal. And there was some superb defending by Joshua who read the game brilliantly from the back. The team are extremely excited to play again after Christmas when their points will be carried over to crown the winners of the Year 3 & 4 Football League. School Games values bands were awarded to Theo for Passion and Jason for Self Belief for their efforts and attitude throughout the competition. However, it was clear to see that the entire team worked superbly together, were passionate, determined and extremely positive. Mr. Crouch, who refereed their games, was extremely impressed, not only with their attitudes, but their performance and teamwork too. Well done Year 4!
Team: Sami B (captain), Oliver F, Joshua H, Theo L, Stanley M, Jack R, Jason S & Arthur W
ESFA Girls' Football Tournament - Tuesday, 16th November
What an incredible tournament, filled with suspense! There were many teeth clenching moments watching our attackers zoom down the side line with the ball towards the goal. The girls, who have never actually played together as a team, went from strength to strength, growing in confidence with every game. They began the afternoon with their first match against a tough team, Gretton, who actually went on to win the competition. However, due to our fearless defence, superb goal keeper and impeccable teamwork, they did not manage to score against us! After two matches resting, the Tirlebrook girls went on to play Queen Margaret’s and Tewkesbury C. of E. Both matches were challenging. During our second game, Poppy, our centre mid-attacker, thrived, scoring two goals against Queen Margaret’s in the girls’ first win! In our final game, it was end to end stuff, but superb goalkeeping from both teams prevented either team from getting on the scoresheet. Throughout, our girls pushed forward, pulled together and ended the tournament with one win and two draws, without conceding any goals, despite the challenging competition! They finished in third place with equal points as the top two and were just edged out on top spot by goal difference, picking up bronze Move More medals. School Games values bands were awarded to Poppy for Self-Belief and Caiomie for Teamwork. All of the girls demonstrated the values and were terrific representatives of our school.
Team: Betsy W (captain), Poppy C, Caiomie D, Olivia H, Matilda K, Scarlet O & Isla S
ESFA Year 5 & Year 6 Football Tournament - Tuesday, 9th November
Our wonderful Year 6 footballers thoroughly enjoyed competing in this year’s ESFA Football Tournament, taking place once more after the absence of a year due to Coronavirus (COVID-19). With smiles on their faces throughout the competition, the team tried their best in every game and supported each other positively.
The tournament began with a close match between Tirlebrook and Queen Margaret’s that resulted in a 0-0 draw. The second and third matches, against Twyning and Gretton respectively, were equally as tight and they ended with exactly the same score line as both Tirlebrook and their opponents failed to register a goal. The team then played their fourth match: Tirlebrook played really well, and despite a good performance and some good chances at both ends of the pitch, Carrant Brook managed to sneak 1 goal against us, our first goal conceded leading to a first loss in the competition. The team conceded three goals in their penultimate match against Tewkesbury C of E, the eventual winners. Nevertheless, the team continued to demonstrate an incredibly positive attitude. In their final game against The John Moore, Tirlebrook played extremely well once more, but yet again they couldn’t get on the scoresheet as they lost 3-0. Despite feeling disappointed, the children never gave up and showed a great attitude throughout.
School Games bands were awarded to Betsy, our superb goal keeper, for Passion, and to Isaac for Determination. Our team demonstrated a phenomenal attitude. They thoroughly enjoyed participating and playing football competitively and representing our school. We could not be prouder of the children. Well done to our fantastic football team!
Team: Charlie A (captain), Henry B, Alex C, Isaac Co, Miles C, Caiomie D, Christopher W & Betsy W
Move More Tewkesbury District Cross Country Race 3 – Thursday, 14th October
Congratulations to our wonderful Tirlebrook runners who have displayed great commitment to cross country, representing the school marvellously and showing fantastic determination, dedication and desire! 41 of our children (that’s over a third of the number of children at Tirlebrook eligible to compete) completed Race 3, the last in the Autumn series of races, successfully crossing the finish line to rapturous applause. Most importantly, the children have absolutely loved it - they are thrilled to be taking part! It was amazing to see some of the children create a tunnel of honour for some of our final runners through the finish line. That is what it is all about! At Tirlebrook, we love participating in a range of fantastic sports competitions but it is the cross country races that generate the part that we love the most – that incredibly positive community spirit.
Congratulations to all of our runners this week. Top thirty finishes were achieved by Sami, Alex, Georgie, Isaac Cu, Layla, Jack H, Matilda, Urte, Stanley, Scarlet, Ben and Jack R, with Sami (4th) and Georgie (6th) the first runners home in each race. And personal bests were achieved by the following runners: Sami, Isaac Co, Katie, Alfie, Jack H, Matilda, Theo L (equal), Bella (equal), Archie, Hannah P, Ben (equal), Jason & Hannah W. Great running! But don’t forget, everyone was fantastic!
Team: Louie B, Sami B, Alex C, Poppy C, Isaac Co, Martha C, Georgie C, Isaac Cu, Finley D, Leo G, Katie G, Maisie G, Erin G, Hunter H, Layla H, Joshua H, Alfie H, Olivia H, Jack H, Ryan H, Matilda K, Theo L, Jack L, Bella M, Urte M, Stanley M, Archie N, Scarlet O, George O, Hannah P, Jacob P, Saxon P, Theo P, Ben R, Jack R, Jack R’son, Jason S, Noah T, Emily T, Betsy W & Hannah W
Move More Tewkesbury District Cross Country Race 2 – Thursday, 7th October
As the sun shone over the Vineyards and on Tewkesbury Abbey, our keen Tirlebrook runners gathered together for the second time before their second cross country race of the season. There was so much anticipation leading up to this race as the first was such a success – the excitement was palpable and you could see the determination and enthusiasm in everyone’s faces. It was wonderful to welcome Jason, Louie, Hannah P and Archie to their first race as part of our Tirlebrook team giving us a grand total of 40 runners!
This race was definitely a fast one and the challenge was made even harder by the added number of children involved this time. In the boys’ race, a total of 160 boys took part and in the girls’ there were 93 participants! It was an incredible sight to see the rainbow of school t-shirts sprint from the start line, across the course and through to the finish. And that is something that every single child did. They finished. They finished an incredibly challenging, competitive and fast race across a long and difficult course. With this in mind, some of our wonderful pupils couldn’t help but show some disappointment in how they performed. However, this could not be further from the truth and how we saw and felt about these brilliant runners. They were amazing!
Firstly, it is excellent to see so many children doing something terrific together! Secondly, there is no doubt this race was a challenge. It was such a fast and competitive race. Just being a part of that is incredible. Thirdly, there were a huge amount of children involved – even more than the record-breaking number who took part in week one. And finally, we had a ridiculously amazing week last week in terms of positions. It was always going to be tough to beat!
To name a few of our runners: Sami stormed through to be the first Tirlebrook boy to pass the finish line, coming 5th for the second successive week. Isaac Cu managed to gain yet another fantastic Top 10 finish, coming home in 8th place. Jacob P romped to a 17th position finish, higher than last week’s excellent achievement of 22nd place and Jack H beat his previous week’s result too, coming home in an improved 21st! Congratulations also to Theo L who maintained his position of 32nd and to Joshua H who secured his personal best finish so far of 70th position, despite the huge increase in runners in the race. Awesome positions for the boys! In the girls’ race, Georgie finished strongly again, crossing the line in 7th position, followed by Urte in 17th and Layla in 25th. But as we have mentioned before, it’s not all about the top finishes - it’s about those children who completed this huge challenge for themselves and their school and for those children who may have finished towards the back of the field but fought all the way, right up until the very end. Every single child has accomplished something brilliant and we are so proud to wear the Tirlebrook badge with you. We are also so proud to say that our school made up 40 of those 253 children. And we are even more proud that our school demonstrates such positive, resilient and determined attitudes.
Team: Louie B, Sami B, Alex C, Poppy C, Martha C, Georgie C, Isaac Cu, Finley D, Leo G, Katie G, Maisie G, Erin G, Hunter H, Layla H, Joshua H, Alfie H, Olivia H, Jack H, Ryan H, Matilda K, Theo L, Jack L, Bella M, Urte M, Stanley M, Archie N, Scarlet O, George O, Hannah P, Jacob P, Saxon P, Theo P, Ben R, Jack R, Jack R’son, Jason S, Noah T, Emily T, Betsy W & Hannah W
Move More Tewkesbury District Cross Country Race 1 – Thursday, 30th September
It was a wild, wet and windy Thursday afternoon that greeted our first Cross Country race at the Vineyards for over 18 months, but it wasn’t just rain that swept over us. It was truly emotional to finally get back together in a sporting context in such a wonderful way, competing as a school with other children across the town with huge support from parents, families and friends. Having attended every Cross Country race in Tewkesbury for the past 21 years, including the ones when I was recovering from illness, never have I felt such emotion, such pride and such joy at being there. As a father, I was delighted to be able to support my own daughter as she participated for one of our rival schools, but the immense pride I felt for our Tirlebrook school community was what swept over me most as we gathered together as children, families and staff to participate. From me, it is a huge thank you. Thank you to the children for their wonderful team spirit, energy, confidence, commitment, resilience, joy and determination. Thank you to the parents for their wonderful support, enthusiasm and excitement despite the pretty dreadful weather. Thank you to Mrs. Featonby and Mrs. Moysey for their dedication, kind words, inspiration and encouragement and ultimately their willingness to be involved so that every participating Tirlebrook pupil could have such a positive experience. And thank you to Jo Leggett from Move More, the other volunteer teachers from across Tewkesbury and the visiting Hartpury students for coordinating, managing, marshalling and enabling so that children from across the town could take part in Cross Country races once more. Cross Country is my favourite sporting event of the academic calendar. Anyone can take part, everyone has the opportunity to represent their school and whether you finish first, last or somewhere in between is of no real consequence, it is the attitude in which you do this that matters. Quite simply, Cross Country builds character and brings out the very best in our children … as you will find out. I’m delighted that it’s back … and I can’t wait until next week! Mrs. Featonby writes,
‘Proud, proud, proud! There are no words to describe how proud we felt as 38 of our Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 children took to the start line for our very first Cross Country race of the season. And wasn’t it great to be back? It was an incredibly positive environment to be in. The course was surrounded by supportive friends, family and even dogs(!) all gathering to cheer for their children and their school. It felt so wonderful to be back doing what we love - getting involved in sports events and competing as a team. Not only did each child finish the race (still smiling I will add!), but we had some phenomenal results! Our first girl and boy to finish for Tirlebrook achieved 5th position, an incredible result considering over 85 girls and 140 boys took part! Congratulations to Georgie and Sami for this incredible achievement. And it doesn’t stop there: further top thirty position finishes were achieved in 6th (Isaac Cu), 8th (Stanley M), 9th (Alex C), 11th (Scarlet O), 15th (Urte M), 18th (Ben R), 19th (Jack R), 22nd (Layla H & Jacob P), 26th (Jack R’son), 29th (Betsy W) & 30th (Jack H) … all absolutely incredible results! And some of these results have come from our youngest runners from Year 4! Importantly, as brilliant as these results are, there is so much more to Cross Country and to see all of our children run their race, finish with determination and do their best filled our hearts with pride. Each and every one of them was brilliant, successful, triumphant … and we are so delighted for each one of them, no matter their finishing position. One of the most special and incredible moments of events like this is watching children fight to the very end, to watch them walk, then run, then finish with grit and determination and to simply see them cross that finish line knowing they have achieved something wonderful. They should feel mightily proud and incredibly happy knowing what an amazing thing they have managed to accomplish, both as individuals but also representing Tirlebrook. As each child finished their race, Tirlebrook families cheered excitedly and there were more than one or two tears at the end. We thank everyone so much for their support and encouragement. It really does make such a difference to the children, especially towards the end when they need that little bit of help to finish such a challenge. We are extremely proud of our whole school community, but especially our wonderful, dedicated, positive, determined children that we are so lucky to call our pupils. Well done to all of our runners. You are ‘Simply the Best!’
Perhaps you can tell that Mrs. Featonby and I absolutely love Cross Country - we can’t contain our pride!
But There’s More …
We cannot leave the story of Week 1 without celebrating some real heroes. Firstly, congratulations to Martha C for supporting one of her classmates along the finishing straight and across the line as he determinedly completed the course. This was a tremendous display of encouragement and kindness. However, I must reserve some special words for both Joshua T and Isaac Co. Joshua is an excellent runner but began to struggle with his breathing part way round the course. Quite simply, Isaac sacrificed his own race ambitions, stopped to care for Joshua, then alerted an adult to help out as Joshua struggled to catch his breath. Isaac then ran on to complete the race, finishing impressively in 60th position. Joshua too made it round the course, albeit in 141st place, but he did not give up, and despite being unable to breathe normally, he pushed himself to finish what he started. What incredible inspiration these children are to us all! Isaac has been awarded a prestigious Headteacher’s Award for his actions, and Joshua a Determination School Games values band. Martha has also been recognised, being awarded a Teamwork band. Well done!
Team: Sami B, Alex C, Poppy C, Isaac Co, Martha C, Georgie C, Isaac Cu, Finley D, Leo G, Katie G, Maisie G, Erin G, Hunter H, Layla H, Joshua H, Alfie H, Olivia H, Jack H, Ryan H, Matilda K, Theo L, Jack L, Bella M, Urte M, Stanley M, Scarlet O, George O, Jacob P, Saxon P, Theo P, Ben R, Jack R, Jack R’son, Noah T, Emily T, Joshua T, Betsy W & Hannah W
Move More Archery Competition – Monday, 27th September
We were delighted to be able to take a group of 16 children to participate in Move More’s Archery Competition, held at Tewkesbury Rugby Club on Monday 27th September. Congratulations to all of the children who took part – they represented Tirlebrook brilliantly and were ready, respectful and responsible at all times. Mrs. McKenna and Miss. Moysey write,
‘The group were all really excited to be participating. They were split into two teams, one Year 6 team and one Year 5 team. The weather started off lovely, however got rather soggy towards the end of the afternoon … but the children remained positive! They each had a practice at the archery with an instructor teaching them the basics. They then competed against the other schools putting their skills into practice. All children showed a great level of determination even when the wind was blowing their arrows off target. Christopher stood out especially with an outstanding score of 130 (highest score of the whole competition) and getting a bullseye! This contributed towards a brilliant result for our Year 6 team who finished in first place overall, winning gold medals. Everyone showed multiple School Games values throughout the event and represented Tirlebrook brilliantly. Although it was a difficult choice, the following School Games values bands were awarded: Passion – Harrison (Y6); Teamwork – Alfie (Y5); Self–Belief – Lily (Y6) and Martha (Y5). In a special moment, Alfie felt that a member of his team deserved the Teamwork values band more than he did and so he awarded it to Hunter (Y5). Now that’s team spirit right there! Well done to everyone who participated! What a wonderful afternoon.’
Huge thanks to Mrs. Featonby for organising our participation in the event and to Mrs. McKenna and Miss. Moysey for accompanying and supporting the children at the competition.
Team: Charlie A, Martha C, Caiomie D, Finley D, Jamie F, Katie G, Hunter H, Alfie H, Olivia H, Harrison J-S, Mateusz K, Lily M, Saxon P, Isla S, Rosie S & Christopher W
KS2 Ten-Pin Bowling Event – Tuesday, 21st September 2021
It was a real privilege to take a team of six Year 6 children to Hollywood Bowl in Cheltenham to take part in Move More’s first competition of the year, the Ten-Pin Bowling event. Our team thoroughly enjoyed the experience and were superbly supportive to each other throughout, encouraging their teammates when balls missed the target and celebrating when strikes and spares were achieved in equal measure. Overall, it was a really successful event for Tirlebrook as we finished in third place overall out of ten teams competing, picking up some really lovely bronze medals. Ben finished as Tirlebrook’s top scorer, achieving a brilliant score of 112 in the overall team score of 526. Most importantly, the School Games values of Teamwork, Respect, Self-Belief and Passion were all on display and the children all had a lot of fun. Well done, everyone!
Team: Naomi B, Olivia C-H, Lulu-Mai C, Miles C, Ben Ri and Ahmad S
