AVSSP Y4-6 Orienteering, Thursday 11^th July, 4-6pm, Eyes Meadow, Duffield - In our final event of the year 10 children went along to compete for the final trophy of the year from the huge amount of AVSSP competitions. The children were split into teams attempting to work together to find all the controls set up around the area of Eyes Meadow. In their teams they were only allowed to find one control at a time, either odd or even before swapping in a relay style format. Our teams performed well on a tough course showing some great teamwork and determination to keep going when they were worn out. Overall our teams finished 6th and 30th out of the 39 teams participating leaving us very proud of this result and many others throughout a fantastic and busy year. Well done to all children who have competed and showed our school off to be so committed to school sport! 

Derbyshire School Games 3rd place, Tuesday 9^th July, 9.30-2.30pm Mount St Marys School, Killamarsh - 

‘On Tuesday our Year 3/4 Mini Tennis Team went along to Mount St Mary’s College, Spinkhill to compete in the school’s first ever County Final at the Derbyshire School Games. Our four players had to win the AVSSP Heanor area competition to reach the Amber Valley Borough Final and then win  the Borough Final to qualify for this event, the last School Games Mini Tennis event to be held for the near future. It was a very grand event with an opening ceremony, dancers, guest speakers and hundreds of competitors from around Derbyshire schools competing.

Our team were extremely excited to be there and would play 36 games of tennis between them in Boy’s Singles, Girl’s Singles, Boy’s Doubles and Girl’s Doubles. Each match would score 1 point for the team total with the top 4 teams entering the semi-finals of the competition. In the first stage of the competition we played against schools from Bolsover, North East Derbyshire, High Peak and Rural Derbyshire winning 16 of the 24 games we played. All of the children played some fantastic tennis, with our boys double’s team improving hugely from their first to their last game – producing some great volleys - which left us in 2^nd place in our group meaning we qualified for the semi-finals.   

In the semi-finals we would play South Derbyshire with the scores at 2-1 to South Derbyshire at the halfway stage we knew we needed 2 wins to draw level, with the boy’s doubles team winning it left us needing a win from the girl’s singles. Unfortunately the girls were outplayed in their games and we would go on to play in the 3^rd/4^th playoff to play Chesterfield, in which we won 4-2 after some great doubles and singles wins for the boys and girls.

The children were delighted to find out they would receive bronze medals for their efforts on the day, with the parents and Mr. Webb very proud of the great teamwork, determination and respect shown by all the children throughout the day and most of all for the achievement of finishing 3^rd in Derbyshire. Well done to the children and thanks to our fantastic supporters once again!’

https://www.activederbyshire.org.uk/news/2019/07/school-teams-enjoy-fun-and-inspirational-day-at-derbyshire-school-games-event

Brownlee Triathlon, Monday 8^th July, 12.30-1.30pm, Woodlands School, Allestree - This was an amazing opportunity for 7 of our year 5 children to participate in a mini-triathlon funded by the famous Brownlee Brothers. The children had the chance to swim, ride and run around a short version of the triathlon, set up to run just like a real triathlon to experience what it would be like to do it for real. All of our children were fantastic on the day showing great determination and self-belief to complete the course as quickly as they could, and it was great to see so many smiling faces at the end. Great effort guys at a great event!

AVSSP Y4-6 Tough Runner, Thursday 4^th July, 4-5.30pm, Eyes Meadow, Duffield - On a beautiful, warm summer's day 8 of our children went along to Duffield to participate in this non-competitive event. They had the opportunity to try out the AVSSP Tough Runner obstacle course, finishing with a water slide as well as water based team games and 'floor is lava' games to see who were the best team in areas of Respect, Passion, Determination, Honesty, Self-Belief and Teamwork. Miss Wilson said that all children performed brilliantly, even a few debutants from year 5, and had great fun at this festival style event - well done guys. 

AVVSP Y4-6 Go Ride Cycle Race Individual Event, Wednesday 3^rd July, 4-5.30pm, Duffield - The final race of the year with some of our riders well positioned for good finishes in the league was badly timed. Unfortunately most of our year 4s and all of our year 6 children were on trips which meant none of those who had competed in the first 2 races were able to attend. The 2 children who did attend improved their league positions with determined rides and enjoyed the opportunity to compete once again but fingers crossed next year the dates fit a bit better for the sake of our most competitive riders. https://www.avssp.co.uk/primary-cycling-league 

AVSSP Y5/6 Girls Kwik Cricket Runners Up, Monday 1^st July, 4-6pm, Quarndon Cricket Club - Another Y5/6 event where we had 3 year 4 children and a year 3 competing against children much older and more experienced but our children looked perfectly at home. Our girls beat teams from Kilburn Junior and Mundy Junior to set up what was effectively a final against a Duffield Meadows team full of girls from their local cricket club. In this game our girls were not over-awed, bowling well and fielding brilliantly whilst our batting wasn't too shabby either against some of the fastest bowling these girls will ever have faced. In the end they lost by 14 runs to a very good team but Mr Webb was so immensely proud of a team who had only had a few practices at lunch time after learning about cricket in PE well done girls you were amazing!

AVSSP Y4-6 Go Ride Cycle Race Individual Event, Thursday 20^th June, 4-5.30pm, Alfreton Park - An amazing turnout of 11 children went along to Alfreton Park to compete at the second of 3 Go Ride races put on by the AVSSP. For some children this was their first ever experience of a competition, which is always something to savour, whilst for others it was a chance to add to their points total from the first race at Kilburn. Again their were great finishes from lots of children, most notably Austin and Dylan who moved up to 5th and 6th respectively in the boys league and Scarlett who moved up to 7th place overall in the girls. Some amazing passion and determination shown by all riders on a tough course, with some inspired to ride again in the future - well done guys. https://www.avssp.co.uk/primary-cycling-league 

AVSSP Y5/6 Quad Kids, Wednesday 19^th June, 4-5.45pm, Belper School - Once again a Y5/6 event where we had 2 strong year 4 children competing a year up in a Y5/6 event. As one of 9 schools attending we competed in four events: 75m Sprint, 600m, Standing Long Jump and Howler Vortex Throw; our children performed fantastically, with consistently good sprint times, some amazing throws and long jumps and some good performances in the 600m. Overall our score left us in 4th place, only bettered by 3 of the biggest schools in Amber Valley which is testament to the strength of our children in athletics - next year could be our year! 

AVSSP Y5/6 Swimming Gala Runners Up, Monday 17^th June, 11-12.30pm, Belper Leisure Centre - 10 swimmers from years 4, 5 and 6 attended this Swimming Gala, attempting to win it for the second year running. There were excellent swims in the individual and paired races with 1st and 2nd place finishes in amongst excellent, determined swims from everyone. Next came the boys and girls relays in which we had good placings leaving the whole school relay to finish the event. Our 2nd place finish in this relay was an illustration of how strong we were overall, but also that Richardson Primary were just ahead of us on the day, but finishing as Runners-Up was an excellent achievement considering we had 4 year 4 children competing a year up. The children were very proud of their achievement as were the parents and Mr Webb, well done swimmers!  

Y4-6 Tri-Golf, Wednesday 5^th June, 4-6pm, Ormonde Fields Golf Club, Codnor. Only our second ever Tri-Golf Competition at the amazing venue of Ormonde Fields which gave 6 of our children the opportunity to experience the feeling of playing on a real golf course. The children played 9 holes of golf trying to get the lowest score and also practised on the driving range trying to improve their golf skills with a PGA Golf coach. It was a great experience for the children to have and has hopefully inspired some of them to play again in the future. Well done to all who attended!

AVSSP Go Ride Cycling Individual Race, Wednesday 22^nd May, 4-5.30pm, Kilburn Junior School. The first Go Ride race of the year took place on a warm afternoon at Kilburn Junior School. We had 6 boys from years 4, 5 & 6 and 2 girls from years 4 & 5 competing, most of whom for the first time. All the children had to compete in a heat and then an ‘A’ or ‘B’ final to achieve a final position with points awarded on position – 39 boys in the race therefore 1^st place scores 39 points. Our boys finished in 32^nd, 19^th, 18^th, 17^th, 10^th and Troy Cooper in 6^th respectively, whilst our girls finished in 29^th and 14^th out of 35. There was lots of passion and determination shown by all riders and some really fantastic results, well done to all the riders and a big thank you to parents for getting their children there with their bikes. For full results go to https://www.avssp.co.uk/primary-cycling-league 

AVSSP KS1 Football Competition Aldercar Champions! Tuesday 21^st May, 4-5.30pm, Aldercar High School. Our year 2 boys went along to the KS1 Football Competition at Aldercar High on Tuesday night on a lovely sunny afternoon. They played 5 games altogether, 3 in the first group stage in which they drew 0-0 with Marlpool Infants and won 2-0 against Loscoe Primary and Aldercar Infants respectively. This meant that we progressed to the top 4 to play off for the chance to win the competition. In the semi-finals we came up against Coppice Primary who we beat 1-0 on penalties after a close game to reach the final to play against Marlpool again. The boys did themselves and the school proud with the way they played and behaved throughout the afternoon, eventually finishing as champions after a 2-0 win in a great game of football. They also looked fantastic in their kits sponsored by Jacksdale MOT Centre which was provided to us by Owen Oxley and Full Reptile Collective. Big thanks to all parents who came along to support too!

AVSSP Dance Platform, Wednesday, 1^st May, David Nieper Academy, Alfreton, 4-6pm - We had one individual and 2 group performances on a busy night of dance at David Nieper Academy with around 20 acts performing altogether. The girls who attended this dance showcase choreographed their own performances, working really hard during their own time to produce fantastic routines to perform in front of a packed house. The end product was testament to their passion and teamwork and as a school we couldn't be more proud of the children who attended.

AVSSP Y3-6 Cross Country 1st, 2nd and 3rd! Tuesday 2^nd April, Lockton Avenue Recreation Ground, Heanor, 4-5.15p - On Tuesday afternoon we took along 26 children – the most we have ever taken - to compete in the AVSSP Heanor Cross Country Competition. There would be 4 races – Y3/4 Boys; Y3/4 Girls; Y5/6 Boys; and Y5/6 Girls – for which 3 children must enter each race to have a ‘team’ to compete for the team trophy, whilst individual medals were awarded for 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd place.

In the Y3/4 Boys Race Austin finished in a fantastic 2^nd place, his 2^nd medal in a week for school, with all the other boys placing in respectable positions. In the Y3/4 Girls Race Kyla finished in 4^th place, narrowly missing out on a 3^rd place medal, more about Kyla in a minute. In the Y5/6 Boys Race Addison Howe won his Race for the 2^nd year in a row, taking Codnor’s individual wins to 4 years in a row, whilst the other boys had some great finishes too! In the Y5/6 Girls Race unfortunately we only had 2 year 6 girls turn up, which would have meant that we could not compete for the team trophy. Fortunately at Codnor we have children with great values of determination and teamwork and Kyla, who had not long ago run the Y3/4 Girls Race stepped up to run the Y5/6 Girls Race, finishing a fantastic 14^th place against children older than her who had not already run a thousand metres.

The top 3 positions in each race were added up to create a score for the team event with the lowest scoring team crowned champions, and at the presentation at the end it was confirmed we had finished in a terrific 3^rd place, the best finish we have ever had in Cross Country. It couldn’t have happened without our fantastic children’s passion for sport or our supportive parents, but it definitely couldn’t have happened without the commitment of Miss Wilson who rearranged her day to ensure the children could still attend – a great team effort Codnor Primary School!

AVSSP Y3/4 Mini Tennis Finals Champions! Ecclesbourne School, Duffield, Wednesday 27th March, 4-5.45pm - On Wednesday night Austin, Noah Jorasz, Elle and Heather went along to Ecclesbourne School to play in the AVSSP Y3/4 Mini Tennis Borough Finals as one of the top 4 teams in Amber Valley, having won the Heanor Cluster competition. Each of them would play 3 matches against opponents from Heage Primary, Pottery Primary and Riddings Junior - last years’ champions - to decide who would be 2018/19 Borough Champions. All 4 of our children played some fantastic tennis on the night winning 9 of the 12 games they played, having improved greatly on their cluster competition performances and setting a really high standard of tennis. In the end we ran out Borough Champions – the first time our school has achieved this feat – and an amazing result which will see our Mini Tennis team attending the 2019 Derbyshire Schools County Finals! Terrific Tennis skills boys and girls and thanks to parents for your support.

AVSSP Y5/6 Gymnastics, Thursday 21^st March, Alfreton Leisure Centre, 4-6pm  – There were an amazing 16 teams competing to be champions in the final gymnastics competition of the year. We had girls from years 3, 4 and 5 competing in the toughest competition of the week and they performed brilliantly. Each of the girls performed a vault and they also performed collectively on the floor and in body management, aiming to perform all elements with the most control and best technique to be successful. When the results were announced at the end of the competition we were delighted to find out we had finished in a fantastic 4^th place, which is testament to the teamwork and determination shown by all the girls who attended – a huge well done to all the gymnasts throughout the week!

AVSSP Y3/4 Gymnastics, Tuesday 19^th March, Alfreton Leisure Centre, 4-6pm - In our second gymnastics competition in as many days the year 3/4 team who attended the competition were excellent in their floor exercise and body management routine and performed well in their vaults. With every child doing themselves and the school proud we finished in a respectable 6^th place out of the 12 teams who attended, well done girls!

AVSSP KS1 Gymnastics Runners Up, Monday 18^th March, Alfreton Leisure Centre, 4-5.45pm – Our KS1 Gymnastics Team finished in a super 2^nd place, out of the 10 teams in attendance, just 3 points behind the winners Breadsall. The 6 girls who went along to compete had to learn two routines and a vault to perform at the competition. The girls performed fantastically well in all elements setting a really high standard - well done girls!

AVSSP Y3/4 Mini Tennis Champions! Tuesday 12^th March, William Gregg Leisure Centre, 4-5.45pm - On Tuesday night we took along two teams to the Y3/4 Mini Tennis Competition at William Gregg Leisure Centre, Heanor and we were looking to win this competition for the 4^th successive year. Each member of our two teams played four matches against opponents from Mundy Junior, Richardson Primary and Marlpool Junior playing first to 10 points. Our ‘B’ team members each won 2 games to finish 4^th overall, out of 8, and did a great job as it was their first time playing competitive tennis. Whilst our ‘A’ team won all but two of their games, with our girls undefeated, to finish the competition on 26 points, 7 points clear of Richardson in 2^nd place to retain our champions trophy once again. There was some fantastic tennis played by all of the children and they were a great team, supporting each other throughout, with our ‘A’ team going on to represent the school at the Borough Finals at the end of the month.’   

AVSSP Y4-6 Table Tennis, Wednesday 27^th February, Belper Leisure Centre, Belper School, 4-5.45pm – We took along 6 players to this team competition, 4 of whom had not competed in table tennis before. All of the children had the opportunity to play 6 games against a variety of opponents, with one of our year 6 girls playing against a girl who plays for England. This just showed the gulf in ability, as many of our children had only practised for 4 weeks in school and played occasionally in the past. Despite this all of our children won at least 2 games each and had some very close matches against their opponents. Overall this led to the team finishing in 5^th place overall out of the 8 teams in attendance, the third year in a row we have finished 5^th in this competition (2018 – 5^th /7; 2017 – 5^th /6). Well done to the team for your determination in all the games, you were a credit to the school.

AVSSP Y5/6 Dodgeball - Tuesday 12^th February, William Gregg Leisure Centre, Heanor 4-5.45pm – this was the first official AVSSP Dodgeball competition and we took 2 teams along to experience it. In a buzzing atmosphere at William Gregg both teams played 4 games in the initial group phase, with our Navy team winning 3 but crucially losing 1 against the eventual champions Marlpool Junior. Our Blue team unfortunately didn’t win any games in the group phase, but both teams played with great honesty and passion throughout the competition. This left our Navy team playing off for 4^th to 6^th place and our Blue team playing off for 10^th to 13^th place. Both teams won one game in this next phase with our Navy team finishing joint 4^th overall and our Blue team finishing joint 10^th of the 15 teams involved. Well done to both teams, you did our school proud as you always do.

AVSSP Y3/4 Dodgeball Competition, Tuesday 5^th February, William Gregg Leisure Centre, Heanor 4-5.45pm – We took along 8 children to this competition, 6 of whom had never played in a dodgeball competition before. Our team played some fantastic dodgeball with great teamwork, honesty and sportsmanship displayed by every player. In the end our team finished in 2^nd place in the first group stage to advance to the semi-finals to play against Richardson A for a place in the final. In a tight game which ended with a one against one, Richardson sneaked the win to leave us in a play-off for 3^rd against Loscoe. Sadly we lost this game to finish 4^th overall with Howitt Primary worthy champions, but we were very proud of the team. Well done to all involved and thanks for fantastic support from everyone.

AVSSP KS1 Dodgeball Runners Up Tuesday 29^th January, Aldercar High School, 4-5.30pm – This was the first official AVSSP KS1 Dodgeball competition and we took along 6 children for their first experience of competitive dodgeball. Miss Wilson said that the children were amazing in every game, winning 6 of the games and only losing out narrowly to Marlpool Infant to finish 2^nd in their first attempt at the competition. Miss Wilson also went on to say how proud she was of our children for the way they played the game, showing great honesty and determination, and also great pride at such a good result. Well done Year 2s you did our school proud as always.

AVSSP Y5/6 Girls Futsal Competition, Tuesday 22^nd January, Alfreton Leisure Centre, 4-5.45pm – As one of 7 teams at this competition the girls had the opportunity to play 6 games of futsal, for the first time for half of the team. Miss Wilson said that they improved with every game and that they showed great determination, but came up against some tough opponents to end the competition in 6^th place. In only 2 of the games were they really outplayed, putting in excellent effort, tremendous teamwork and great passing skills and they never gave up. Well done girls.

AVSSP Y5/6 Boys Futsal Competition 3rd Place Thursday 17^thJanuary, Alfreton Leisure Centre, 4-5.45pm – 7 boys went along this competition and they finished joint 3^rd out of the 7 teams with 2-0 wins over Somerlea Junior and Riddings Junior, a 2-1 win against Leys Junior and an unlucky draw 1-1 against Langley Mill Academy. Unfortunately they lost 3-1 to Swanwick Primary and in a very tight final game, which had they won would have meant 3 teams finishing on the same points in 1^st, they lost 2-1 late on to Shirland Primary who ran out winners due to this result. There were some great games and the boys had the opportunity to see Dan Magness show off his freestyle football skills as an added bonus, well done boys.

Y5/6 Football Competitions – Tuesday 15^th, 22^nd January and 29^th January, William Gregg Leisure Centre, Heanor, 4-6pm – The football team finished in a very respectable 4^th place out of the 9 teams in this Heanor competition – just 3 points off 2^nd place and a place in the county finals. The boys finished the competition with a combination of convincing and tight wins, but also some tight defeats – well done lads you did us proud!  

Y5/6 Football Competitions, Tuesday 11^th December, William Gregg Leisure Centre, Heanor, 4-6pm. In the final round of games before Christmas we had 3 of our toughest games to date. Our first game against Mundy ‘A’ we won 2-0 with a great team performance; in the second game we were beaten by a very physical Waingroves ‘B’ team 1-3, who remained unbeaten; and in the final game we beat Loscoe, who up to that point had won every game, 2-1 with a superb battling performance to keep us in with a chance of finishing in the top 2 after Christmas. Well done boys.

AVSSP Y5/6 Basketball Borough Finals Runners Up Wednesday 5^th December, Aldercar High School, 4-6pm - On Wednesday night our Y5/6 Basketballers went along to Aldercar High School to play in the Borough Finals for the second year running. The top 7 teams from the Amber Valley Borough were there after qualifying from their cluster competitions, in which 36 teams entered. We were grouped with Belper St Johns – who we beat 2-0 with a brilliant basket from Callum Young; Long Row with whom we scraped a 0-0 draw; and Mundy who beat us 6-2 in a game which we played very well. Due to other results this meant we finished second in our group and moved into the semi-finals to play the other group winners Kilburn.

It was at this point that the team came to life with Callum again scoring to make it 2-0 before Kilburn drew level again. Olivia Allin then scored to make it 4-2 before Callum got an injury going in to the final few minutes. Reece Bridges then scored to make it 6-2 at which point we knew we would make the final and the team were delighted to be our first Basketball team to make the Borough Finals Final. It turned out we would play Howitt again, as in the cluster final, after they defeated Mundy and the team were determined to do their best.

With Callum fit enough to play we started the game strongly taking the lead with another Callum Young basket before being pegged back to 2-2 and then going 4-2 behind to another basket. Despite this we were on top in the game with Sam Reeves and Robbie Thompson making great steals and dribbles eventually leading to another basket by Olivia to make it 4-4, which soon after turned to 6-4 as Jakub Czachorowski scored after another rebound. With only a minute left we just needed to hold out to the end to win the competition, unfortunately we couldn’t make it and Howitt brought it back to 6-6 to take it to ‘golden basket’ overtime. Sadly for us Howitt again won on the ‘golden basket’ with a calm finish to leave the team gutted but proud of their achievement, which they absolutely should be having played brilliant basketball on both nights and given everything to win the competition. Well done Basketballers you did us proud.

Y5/6 Football Competitions, Tuesday 4^th December, William Gregg Leisure Centre, Heanor, 4-6pm. In the 3rd round of fixtures we played against Waingroves 'A', who we beat 5-0; Langley Mill 'A' who we beat 9-0; and Langley Mill 'B' who we beat 3-1 after a slow start. All the boys who went along played fantastic football, all contributing to some prolific wins. We finished this week in 2nd place in the table, but with many more games to go before the competition is over, good luck for the next games boys.

AVSSP Y3/4 Handball Competition 3rd Place Tuesday 27^th November, William Gregg Leisure Centre, Heanor, 4-5.45pm. For the second year running we took two teams along to this event and both teams had lots of success. Our Codnor White team finished in 5th overall with excellent wins against Loscoe and Mundy, whilst our Codnor Blue Team finished a terrific 3rd place after making the top 3 playoffs with excellent wins against Loscoe and Langley Mill. All in all we were the most successful team as a school with both of our teams finishing in the top 5 - well done to all involved. 

AVSSP Y5/6 Basketball Competition Runners Up Tuesday 20^th November, Aldercar High School, 4-6pm. Our Year 5/6 basketballers went along to Aldercar to play in the AVSSP Heanor cluster Basketball competition. Our children only had a week of practice, so started slowly winning 2-0 against Langley Mill 'B' then losing 0-8 to Howitt leaving us requiring a win versus Mundy to make the semi-finals. We finally secured a 2-0 win with a late basket from Reece Bridges to set up a semi-final with Richardson. In an end to end, tight game we led 2-0 and 4-2 before being pegged back to 4-4 to take the game into overtime. There was no score in the next 3 minutes to take us to 'golden basket' overtime and Reece, again, scored the decisive basket to set up a final against Howitt who had already defeated us convincingly. By the final though we were a different team altogether, playing aggressive, and at times, brilliant basketball and we led the game early through a basket from Jakun Czachorowski. We were again pegged back to 2-2 by Howitt to take the game to overtime, and again 'golden basket' overtime, with chances at either end it took a stunning basket by Howitt to win the game. To say proud is an understatement as the children improved hugely from start to finish and they will move on to the borough finals with their heads held high.

AVSSP KS1 Handball Competition Runners Up Tuesday 13^th November, William Gregg Leisure Centre, Heanor, 4-5.30pm. Eight of our year 2 children went along to play in the KS1 Handball Competition at Heanor and they were fantastic. They played 7 games in all against schools from the Heanor area, winning 5 and losing just 2 with some precision passing and super shooting. As a team they showed great enjoyment and teamwork, doing themselves and the school proud in a buzzing William Gregg Leisure Centre, going on to finish joint 2nd overall, our best ever finish in this competition. Well done to the team, and thanks to parents for your support!

Y5-6 Football Competitions – Tuesday 6^th November, William Gregg Leisure Centre, Heanor, 4-6pm. At the first of these competitions the boys who went along lost their first game against Chaucer 6-2, before comprehensively beating Langley Mill ‘A’ 6-2 and finally losing their final game against Mundy ‘A’ 3-2 in a very tight game. Well done to the Football Team and good luck in future games.

AVSSP Y5/6 ‘Elite’ Tag Rugby Competition, Thursday 25^th October, Belper Rugby Club, 4-6pm. On a cold afternoon ten of our children attended this competition amongst the best 9 schools in Amber Valley. In the first stage of the competition we were up against Belper St Johns, Duffield Meadows and Leys. We won 2 of these games, only losing out to a very good Belper team meaning we finished 3^rd in this group and moved into the 5^th/6^th play-off to face Swanwick. In a very tight playoff game we edged it 6-5 in the last minute to finish a very respectable 5^th place. The children gave it their all and played well as a team throughout the competition showing great respect for their opponents in all the games! Well done to all players and thanks to parents for their respectful and fantastic support.

AVSSP Development Rugby Competition, Wednesday 24^th, Belper Rugby Club, 4-6pm. For all 9 of our children this was their first rugby competition, and for a couple of the children their first school competition ever. In every game they played some very good rugby and finally got their rewards in beating Swanwick ‘B’. There were some fantastic tries scored and terrific teamwork from all our players, as well as great support from parents, well done to everyone involved.

AVSSP Y3-6 Sportshall Plus, Thursday 18^th October, Alfreton Leisure Centre. This event was aimed at children who do not normally participate in school sport to build their confidence and self-esteem, hopefully encouraging them to participate more often. The 6 children who went along had a great time, showing great enjoyment and did their very best in all the events, cheering each other along all the way, well done team.

AVSSP Y3/4 Sportshall Athletics Competition Runners Up Tuesday 17^th October, Alfreton Leisure Centre, 4-6pm. As one of 11 teams at a buzzing Alfreton Leisure Centre, the children did themselves and the school extremely proud! We were attempting to win the competition for the second year running, but in the end we finished a close 2^nd overall, just 60 points behind Leys Junior, with some fantastic field events and great performances in the relays. 2^nd position continues our fantastically successful run in Sportshall Athletics over the past few years, well done to the whole team.

Y5/6 Gregg Cup Quarter Final – Friday 13^th October, Heanor Town Football Ground, 7.15pm. This was the second time we have participated in this competition and it was a nice experience for the boys involved. It was on opportunity to play at the Town Ground, under floodlights with parents and supporters in the stands. We played against Howitt Primary School on a blustery night in what ended up being a fantastic game of football. Howitt took the lead midway through the first half to go into half time 1-0 up. The scores could easily have been level as we had lots of good chances. In the second half the boys went out to play with a great attitude, playing some great passing football. Eventually the pressure we put on Howitt paid off as the ball was played into Addison Howe who scored with a great right foot finish. This gave us the boost we needed and soon after we won a penalty after a push on Robbie Thompson in the box. Alfie Beardsley dispatched the penalty to put us 2-1 up with 15 minutes to go. Howitt came back and despite a great save from Layton Cox they equalised with 5 minutes to go. In the last few minutes there were chances for both teams but Charlie Murphy sealed the win with a stunning strike from the right side of the penalty area. A well-earned and well deserved 3-2 victory to take us to the semi-final. Well done to all!

AVSSP Y5/6 Sportshall Athletics Competition - Tuesday 10^th October, Alfreton Leisure Centre, 4-6pm. As one of 10 teams at a busy competition the children did themselves and the school extremely proud! The children competed in the same events as the KS1 children but against opposition from the whole Amber Valley Borough. Every child was excellent on the night and we finished 5^th overall, only a few points behind 4^th place. A good result for the school – well done to all who attended!

AVSSP Y5/6 Football Competition 3rd Place Thursday 27^th September, Eyes Meadow, Duffield, 4-6pm. This was a mixed competition to which we took along 13 boys in 2 separate teams. Each team played four games with a group format up first. Our ‘B’ team won one and lost two which meant they finished 3^rd in their group, they then went on to beat their opponents in the 9^th place play off to finish the competition off with a win. The ‘A’ team won two games against Langley Mill ‘B’ and Codnor and Ironville, drawing the other game against Leys Junior which meant they finished top of their group to progress to the semi finals. We went on to lose 3-1 to a very good Belper St Johns team in our semi-final game meaning a joint 3^rd finish, our best result in this competition. All the boys did their best on the day and will have lots more opportunities to play in the year ahead.

AVSSP Y5/6 Girls Football Competition - Wednesday 26^th September, Eyes Meadow, Duffield, 4-6pm. We took 7 girls along to this 6-a-side competition. The girls who went along played 4 games, despite not scoring a goal during these games they only lost one game 1-0 to a very good Belper St Johns team drawing the others 0-0. The girls did a fantastic job, finishing joint 9^th overall and playing really well as a team, this hopefully inspired some of them to go along to the local club to play and get even better.