Football Team, Rounders Team and cricket

The Rounders and Football Team

The football season started off with a five-a-side tournament at Stanhope Primary School. We won two games out of four, just missing out on qualification for the next round. We had quite a few league and cup matches but, unfortunately, despite some good performances, we did not add to our winning record!

Thirty-six children have played in the school rounders team this year. We have participated in three Rounders Rallies, two at Jesse Boot Primary School and one at Seagrave Primary School. At each rally we played a series of rounders matches against different schools. The games began at about four o'clock and finished just before six o'clock in the evening. Altogether we played ten games against teams from other schools. Westdale won eight of these and lost just two.

Cricket for Year 6

In January 2000, year 6 had cricket lessons from three coaches from Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. In the first week they were taught how to hit a straight drive. A straight drive is when you hit the ball straight past the bowler to the boundary. In the second week they were taught how to throw and bowl properly, to stand in the right position and also how to catch. They were taught how to catch high and low balls without breaking their fingers. At the end of the lesson they had a relay race, where they had to bowl at the stumps, and if they hit the stumps they scored ten points! In the final week they had a test on what they had learned in the previous two weeks. Everyone in Year 6 who took part in the cricket passed the test. They received a postcard with Chris, Dave and a couple of other coaches on it. They also received a certificate signed by the coaches.

Kingswood

This year, many of the Year 6 children went to Kingswood in Norfolk and had a brilliant time.

We slept in small dormitories with bunk beds, an open cupboard, a mirror, a desk, a chair and a storage crate each. The girls and boys were on different floors of the house called Washington. All the dormitories in Washington were named after areas in America (including Manhattan, New Mexico and Bronx).

At Kingswood we did lots of different activities. The most popular activity was aeroball. This is like netball on a trampoline. Climbing and quad bikes involved a lot of dressing up! Both activities needed a lot of safety equipment but it was fun to climb and ride the bikes and it was also fun watching our friends have a go. Everyone tried archery and a range of different problem solving tasks including getting the whole team across a gap using two narrow planks. Orienteering was another problem-solving activity. We had to use map-reading skills to complete a course and find letters hidden around the Kingswood campus.

We had three sessions of ICT in which everyone had a computer to themselves. We used a digital camera to take a picture of ourselves and then we wrote a biography to go with it. In another session we used the computer to control a Lego Technic car.

On Saturday evening we all watched a film, Tarzan, in the Kingswood cinema. It was action right from the start, there were lots of funny parts and it was quite emotional. On the last morning we had swimming. First we swam and then the lifeguards organised a game which was a cross between netball and swimming.

You can see how many different, exciting activities there are to do at Kingswood. The children loved it. The food was excellent and we hope that next year's Year 6 have a great time like we did.

Music and Concerts

We had two main concerts during the year. Years 5 and 6 gave a Christmas Carol Service in St. James' Parish Church at the end of the Christmas term. Appropriately, to mark the beginning of the year 2000, the music and readings looked back at how the celebration of Christmas, and Christmas music in particular, had developed through the second millennium. As well as readings and songs from Years 5 and 6, the choir sang three items.

Christmas was a busy period for the choir. It began in November when they accepted an invitation to sing at the civic ceremony at Mapperley when the Mayor of Gelding switched on the Christmas lights. There was a large attendance and choir and recorder group performed beautifully. Unfortunately, the weather was not so good! It drizzled for most of the afternoon and, as soon as the musicians had finished playing, there was a downpour. Everyone got soaked!

In December, in addition to the Carol Service, the choir sang to the Westdale Lunch Club for the elderly and went carol singing to St. Andrew's House, a local old people's home.

The summer saw our annual music concert. There were lots of super solos and duets performed by Year 5 and 6 musicians. The orchestra and violins played many different sorts of pieces and the Fiddling for Fun group performed. The choir presented excerpts from a musical about the life of Christopher Columbus. They arranged dances for each of the songs and provided a back-drop and all the props. The Assembly Choir sang two ABBA songs.

Y3 Cinema Visit

On 10th July Year 3 went to the city centre on the bus to see Thomas and the Magical Railroad at the Odeon Cinema. The film begins with Lady (a steam engine) and Diesel a bad engine chasing each other. Lady crashes and Diesel falls into the water. Many people try to help Lady but no one was successful until Thomas, the hero, fetches some magic coal for Lady from the Island of Sodor. The film was enjoyed by most of Year 3 and one of the best parts is when Diesel falls off the bridge.

Friends of Westdale family disco

The friends of Westdale disco took place in late October. It was a very good evening for both the adults and the children. There was music from the 1960's through to the 1990's so everyone heard their favourites. There was fancy dress, lots of dancing and a little Karioke! The DJ was very good and he played many of our requests. There was also a raffle with lots of prizes.

Thank you to all the Friends of Westdale for organising this event.

Labels: 1999, 2000, Christmas, music, report, sport, visit