2 March 2023
A group of Year 7s had a great day at the PowerHouseGames at the University of Roehampton on Thursday 23 February.
Organised by Power2Inspire, whose mission is to embed inclusive sport in the sporting, education and community landscapes, PowerHouseGames are incredible sports days using adapted games and sports. All the activities are specially designed to be accessible and fun for everyone, old and young, with disabilities and none, sporty and not – and in so doing are wonderfully inclusive.
Twelve teams were formed on the day from students from each of the four schools involved. Each team included students with a disability and everyone took part in all six activities. Some of Woldingham’s enthusiastic participants explain more below.
Daisy V, Alessia SMG, Emilie S, Year 7
The PowerHouseGames was a day we will never forget. We started off by choosing our teams before starting to practise the sports we would be doing. The first game was poly bat, which is similar to table tennis, although you had to keep the ball on the table. We also played sitting down volleyball and seated netball, which otherwise had the same rules as normal. The third game was seated boccia, where we used ramps. The most interesting game was goal ball, where we wore blindfolds and had to pass a ball with bells on it, so we could hear where it was. The last game was curling, which was fun to do.
The staff were really welcoming and cheered us as we started to compete. Although it was a competition, they didn’t put any pressure on us. The experience was something different and new. We all loved doing it, made loads of new friends and had so much fun.
Hockey news – Mr Ben Allberry, Head of Hockey
In a busy week for hockey, our 1st and 2nd XIs took an away trip to St Benedict’s in West London. Our 1st XI took a solid 3-0 victory. The game’s stand out performer was Caitlin P and a big ‘well done’ to Jessie B for stepping up and making her debut in goal. The 1st XI had a tough battle with St Benedict’s. In a game that lacked clear cut chances, neither side could make a breakthrough and the game finished 0-0. A big positive is that the defence kept its 7th clean sheet of the season.
Our U13s travelled to Croydon High for two very competitive fixtures. Although Woldingham worked hard, we were on the wrong side of the result in both fixtures.
In a great development fixture, a combined U14 and U15 side played against Old Palace and worked well on our patterns to finish with an 8-0 win.
The U15s had a tough game against Emanuel School. Both sides demonstrated some good hockey, including stand out performances from Ellie E and Leila T. However, Emanuel just edged the key areas and ran out 4-1 winners.
Swimming news - Lara, Year 9
We had a great evening at the gala at Caterham on Wednesday 1 March (see photo below). Everyone put in a tremendous effort and it paid off. Odette and Daisy, Year 7, and Nara and I in Year 9 won our races and Alice, Year 9, and Zoe, Tarryn and Isla in Year 7 took second and third places. All our relay teams won, which was an amazing achievement. We all raced with true spirit and commitment.
