As part of their NVQ level 3 course, the Welwyn and Hatfield PE Apprentices were required to organise and lead a sports event or competition. Over the course of a few weeks, they planned a multi-sports event for the remaining Year 7’s to take part in whilst the rest were away in sunny Spain. On the 17th May, over 100 students made their way down to the hard play area ready to take part. The event ran from periods one to four and saw the students take part in three sports: football, handball and netball. The students battled it out all morning playing each of the three sports, racking up points as they did so. After break, every team was put into their highest scoring sport and the playoffs began! By the end of the day, there were separate winners in football, handball and netball, with an overall winner of the day (the team that managed to collect more points than any other). The event ran without fault thanks to the Year 10 Sports Leaders who dedicated their time to ensure that the event ran as smoothly as possible. Thanks also to the students who were very enthusiastic and behaved extremely well.
https://stanborough.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Y7-PE-Thursday-2.jpg38632222Clare Pomfreyhttps://stanborough.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/newlogo.pngClare Pomfrey2018-05-25 11:26:402018-05-25 11:27:36PE Apprentices Lead Sports Event to Year 7
Congratulations to all the dancers who took part in this year’s Dance Showcase. The event celebrated the talents of a wide variety of Stanborough students including dance club students and BTEC classes. The performances included different genres of dance, including Jazz numbers, Contemporary and Urban styles.
Many students also took advantage of our audition process and the competition was tough as there were a number of excellent pieces. Some of the successful auditioned dances included a confident solo debut by Lauren Sanders, an excellent tap duet by Amelie Warner and Louise Grenfell and a fun musical group dance ‘Welcome to the 60s’ choreographed and performed by Year 8 and 9 students; Millie Battersby, Teya Kindred, Belle Awad, Tilly North, Kaitlyn Batchelor and Amy Sharp. Other highlights throughout the show consisted of a comedic group piece choreographed by Steph Conder and performed by the Year 10 dance clu, based on Wii Sports, this certainly added some humour to the show! Harriet Hawkins and Hollie Lamb also created a well thought out dance club piece for the Year 9s ‘Say you won’t let go’; there was a real sense of theme and story and the students performed this number brilliantly.
There were a number of expertly performed solos this year, including ‘Friends’ by Fran Hall in 11O accompanied by Hayden Cable on guitar. Ellie Dulieu and Steph Conder performed their last solos in a Stanborough Dance show and Abbey Turner 10K, choreographed her solo ‘Let Her Go’ which incorporated tricks and use of a prop.
Year 10 dancers performed as separate classes with our additional BTEC group opening the show. Both groups performed in the style of Wayne McGregor who experiments with ballet technique by distorting it in a contemporary way. Year 10 have been studying his work ‘Infra’ and have developed an original repertoire in their own style. All Year 10 dancers approached this work maturely and performed with a high level of skill in the final performance. They were memorable pieces which were well received by the audience. Well done.
The Year 13 dancers closed the show with their performance of ‘Finesse’, which included material from a Street Jazz workshop earlier in the year as well as their own choreography. It was the perfect way to say goodbye to this group in their last show, as it combined all of their ideas and had a real sense of fun and energy which will certainly be missed once they have left. Well done for all your hard work Year 13.
All dance students took full advantage of this opportunity to perform their work on stage with our lighting and sound facilities. The Sound and Light Team did a fantastic job throughout the day and during the evening performance. They created some well thought out lighting which certainly enhanced the work.
All students worked extremely hard in preparation for this show and should be very proud of all they have achieved. I am so pleased with the commitment they have shown and their professional performances. Well done to all who took part.
On Wednesday 18th April the Year 13 HSLA group organised the annual PMLD festival. This is an event which has been organised by Stanborough for the last eight years and is the only one if it’s kind in the county. Students from Lakeside and Woodfield school who suffer with profound and multiple learning difficulties are invited to attend the event which offers them the opportunity to take part in sports activities and other events designed to stimulate cognitive and emotional senses.
The Year 13 students have been planning this event for weeks and also had help from the Year 12 CSLA group who will be organising the event next year.
The day began with an opening ceremony which involved some music provided by some budding Year 12 musicians. This was then followed with some excellent dance from Year 10 and 12 students. Ella Ferguson then gave her opening speech and the activities began!
Every student from the HSLA and CSLA groups paired up with a student from Lakeside or Woodfield and led them through a range of events including Boccia, target throw, dot to dot movement and a version of volleyball involving beach balls. These activities were then followed by the relays which are always a highlight for all students.
During the lunch break the HSLA students then set up the afternoon activities which involved sensory activities such as a relaxation room with U.V. lighting and meditation music, parachute activities, sensory tunnels with different materials and sensory initiatives.
The final activity of the day was for the Stanborough students to give a short speech about how the student they had been working with had been involved in the day and what they had enjoyed or any progress that had been particularly noticeable.
The HSLA and CSLA students then gave a certificate to their students and had a photo printed and signed for them so that they could remember their day.
The event itself was a huge success and as always the Stanborough students were a credit to the school. The HSLA group will now evaluate and finish off their course whilst the CSLA will begin to prepare for the next stage in their leadership course which will start in September.
https://stanborough.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/PMLD-Festival-2018_1w.jpg14361296Clare Pomfreyhttps://stanborough.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/newlogo.pngClare Pomfrey2018-04-27 11:00:122018-04-27 11:00:12PMLD Festival
On Thursday 8th March, our dance students performed in this year’s Dance Production ‘Pictures in Motion’.
The production showcased the talents of a wide variety of Stanborough students not only by our BTEC dancers but this year also included a large number of dance club pieces, which have all been run by our Dance Captains. The performances included different genres of dance, including contemporary, sassy commercial and street dance. The first club piece was ‘The Greatest Show’, a Year 7 piece choreographed by Holly Milliken and Ruth Morgan in Year 10 which was the perfect opener to the production. A particular highlight of the show, and a real crowd pleaser, was ‘You will be Found’ a Year 8 and 9 club piece choreographed by the very talented Lucy Connolly, 11A. This year we also saw a Musical Theatre piece choreographed by Fran Hall, 11O, to ‘A Night to Remember’ from High School Musical. It included several sections and use of props. Steph Conder brought a real sense of fun and humour to the show with her interpretation of Shaun of the Dead danced by her Year 10 club.
As with previous years, the Year 5 and 6 Gifted and Talented students from our local primary schools also performed a number. This year we saw them as characters from the film Trolls. This was a real crowd pleaser and was choreographed and led by Jess Elsley and Abby Mortimer in Year 12.
Several students also took advantage of our audition process and there was a particularly memorable duet by Belle Awad, 9B, and Tilly North, 9A, in their interpretation of the film Twilight. Ciara Keenan, 7BM, and Amelie Ware, 7H, also impressed the audience with their confident duet debut ‘Tale as Old as Time’ and Anasteija Armani performed a confident solo to ‘Listen’ from Dreamgirls.
Other highlights of the show were the Year 10 and 11 BTEC assessment pieces. The Year 10s performed ‘Emancipation of Expression’, an original repertoire from the dance company Boy Blue. The piece is in response to Kung Fu films and looks at abstracting Hip Hop movements in a contemporary way. Both Year 10 groups worked tirelessly in rehearsals and I must congratulate them on their phenomenal performance of the professional work, their efforts truly paid off. This was the Year 11’s final production and it is fair to say that they went out in style. Their first piece was a horror piece in response to the film Annabelle, in which their clever use of motif and development saw a creative and innovative work. The audience were sufficiently scared as the dancers performed amongst them during the piece and demonstrated excellent characterisation throughout. The second whole class piece from Year 11 was a montage of all their work to date since Year 9 and it perfectly displayed their journey and talents over the three years… a bit emotional if I’m being honest!
Our Year 13 dancers performed a work in progress based on Dali’s artwork ‘The Persistence of Memory’. They have created a sophisticated work so far including a dance film combined with live dance and this piece was very well received by the audience. Year 12 dancers performed ‘Steam Heat’ from The Pyjama Game and all students managed to perfect and execute the ‘Hat Trick’ –well done! Year 12s also performed a piece based on Austin Powers with the man himself! However, you may know him better as Mr Moore.
Another piece perhaps worth a mention is ‘Jurassic Teachers’ in which Miss McLean and Miss Bowen portrayed scientists looking through a Jurassic world before the dinosaurs invaded the space. Mr ‘T-Rex’ Harris made a grand entrance to the stage as the scariest dinosaur of them all but as it turns out, a bit of dinosaur ballet was all that was needed to save the day!
Lily O’Keeffe and James Atkins narrated the show adding their usual sense of fun and humor to the production. As usual, their duet in the finale was also very well received! They will certainly be missed next year.
Our dance students took full advantage of performing on a professional stage at the Weston Auditorium with professional lighting and sound facilities, this truly enhanced their overall performance and helped make this production a memorable one.
All our dance students were a credit to themselves and the school throughout the day and during the evening’s performance. They worked extremely hard and should be very proud of all they have achieved. I couldn’t be prouder of them all and am delighted with their continued commitment to dance and all our shows.
Well done to you all.
https://stanborough.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Dance-2018_1.jpg5351001Clare Pomfreyhttps://stanborough.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/newlogo.pngClare Pomfrey2018-03-16 11:49:002018-03-16 11:49:00Dance Production: Pictures in Motion
Congratulations to Louise Grenfell in 7BM who came 5th this weekend in the County Cross Country Championship. After qualifying through the District Championship Louise took part against over 100 other students who are the best in each district. It is likely now that she will be asked to compete at the National Championships after this fantastic performance. Well Done!
Boys Rugby
Year 10 – Cup Winners
Stanborough 0-5 Fearnhill
Stanborough 10-0 Simon Balle (Try Scorers: S. Ekwebelem, J Wiseman)
Stanborough 25-0 Sir Frederic Osborn (Try Scorers: J. Wiseman x 2, S Ekwebelem x 2, D. Cooper)
Stanborough 10-5 John Warner (Try Scorers: D. Cooper, S. Ekwebelem)
Stanborough’s Year 10 put on a fantastic performance in the recent Rugby Cup competition. Schools from the local area travelled to Welwyn to take part in the competition. The boys started the tournament on the back foot losing to Fearnhill. The boys were extremely disappointed after dominating the match from start to finish but couldn’t cross the opponents’ try line, they were then caught on the counter and Fearnhill took the victory. Stanborough bounced back quickly from this defeat though to beat pre tournament favourites, Simon Balle. The greens had to defend hard for the opening encounters and when they turned the ball over at a maul only meters from their own try line, Spencer Ekwebelem sprinted the length of the pitch to put Stanborough ahead. The game continued to be tight but with moments to go Harry Dobson cleared the ball with his kick and Josh Wiseman sprinted on and dually converted. Stanborough went into the derby match against Sir Frederic Osborn full of confidence and Daniel Cooper soon burst through the defensive line and scored his first try, this was soon followed up by Wiseman and Ekwebelem scoring two each as Stanborough ran riot and scored more tries in a game than anyone else throughout the afternoon.
The final game of the afternoon saw Stanborough taking on John Warner, who along with Simon Balle and Stanborough had a chance of winning the whole competition. The game started very evenly and either side could have taken the lead, some great defence from Stanborough’s forwards kept them in the game and Cooper soon was able to break clear and score in the corner. Ekwebelem soon doubled Stanborough’s lead finishing off a fine free flowing move. The last play of the game saw John Warner finally break through the stout Stanborough defence but it was too little too late and Stanborough won. With three teams equal on points it came down to tries scored and Stanborough had scored more than Simon Balle and John Warner and this gave them the overall victory. Well done to all who took part, Mr Harris was extremely impressed with the boys’ attitude on and off the pitch.
Girls Football
Miss Bowen took Stanborough’s Year 7s to the annual District Cup held at Hertswood on Tuesday evening. The girls were unable to qualify from their pool after two defeats and two draws. However, a creditable draw against overall winners Queenswood shows that there is certainly some encouragement for the girls in the next few years. Well done to all who took part and also a special mention to Ellie Morehouse in Year 10 who has been coaching the girls in her own time and also led the girls during the game. Girl of the Tournament went to Grace Mullin.
Boys Basketball
Year 8 – Stanborough 21-18 Onslow
Stanborough’s Year 8 team produced the performance of the season against Onslow on Thursday evening. Mr Harris took the boys to Onslow who are unbeaten in the league this year. Facing a team who were taller and faster than all of Stanborough’s players, the boys started slowly and found themselves four points down. After a quick time out and change of tactics Stanborough soon found their rhythm and used their far superior dribbling skills to move the ball quickly up the court. Sebastian Hourigan and Bomo Alagoa were immense in defence for Stanborough, whilst Ollie Guilar-Butler, Andreas Frixou, Ollie Wynne and Hanif Chowdhury ran their socks off up and down the court. Stanborough soon took the lead and started to pull away, however with three minutes to go, Onslow pulled the game back to only three points. Intelligent play from Stanborough allowed them to run the clock down and inflict the first defeat on Onslow’s season. Well done to all the boys!
https://stanborough.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/rugby-match_Feb2018.jpg645879Clare Pomfreyhttps://stanborough.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/newlogo.pngClare Pomfrey2018-02-09 11:10:522018-02-09 11:10:52Sports Report 1st – 7th February
Stanborough Netball squads faced their toughest round of the year against District Champions Queenswood. The stars of the night were the Year 10 team who put on a magnificent display to beat their opponents. In very blustery conditions, Stanborough stamped their authority on the game early on, and Emma Clark demonstrated some fantastic defensive and attacking play. Stanborough never looked in trouble and claimed the victory. All girls were fantastic but Miss Bowen gave Girl of the Game to Emma Clark. The Year 7 team who have showed great promise this year also put in a fantastic performance, they were beaten by one point in a highly entertaining game. Stanborough performed to an extremely high standard against a team who had not lost all year. In the end they had to settle for defeat by the smallest of margins, but things look bright for the future. Louise Grenfell was named Girl of the Game. The other three year groups were all beaten fairly convincingly but the girls didn’t let their heads drop at any point and the effort shown was fantastic so well done to all who took part. The Year 8 Girl of the Game went to Aaliyah Annis, the Year 9A to Belle Awad and the Year 9B to Amarachi Ekwebelem. Well done to all girls who took part.
Year 7 : Stanborough 6 – 7 Queenswood
Year 8 : Stanborough 1 – 12 Queenswood
Year 9 : Stanborough A 1 – 25 Queenswood / Stanborough B 4 – 20 Queenswood
Year 10 : Stanborough 13 – 7 Queenswood
Boys Football
Year 10 – Sir Frederic Osborn 3-7 Stanborough
Stanborough’s Year 10 team cruised into the semi final of the district cup after a comfortable win against Sir Frederic Osborn on Wednesday afternoon. The game was played in sun, snow, rain, sleet and strong winds but this didn’t stop Stanborough in their quest for a 4th district final. Harry Dobson was playing his first game in goal for the greens and had a tough time with weather conditions to deal with, however he made a couple of fine saves which settled his nerves. Josh Wiseman and Spencer Ekwebelem notched two goals each, whilst Harvey James and Montana Lindsay-Osborne scored important goals when the score line was close. The fine display was capped off when Josh Smith volleyed the ball home from outside the box after a free flowing Stanborough attack. Man of Match was given to Spencer Ekwebelem for his tireless running and attacking flair throughout. The boys will wait eagerly to see who they will play in the semi finals after finishing second in their group behind Hertswood, the result also means that Dame Alice Owens who have beaten Stanborough in two finals are eliminated at the group stage as they could only manage third.
Boys Basketball
Year 7 – Stanborough 26-8 Yavneh
Stanborough Year 7s continued their unbeaten season as they ran out comfortable winners against Yavneh on Wednesday night. Stanborough started extremely quickly thanks to some great play by Etson Fernando and Archie Chaplin and were never in any danger of losing the game. Some great attacking play throughout was the main highlight of the game and Stanborough will look to continue their fantastic form in the Cup and League in the up coming weeks. Man of the Match was given to Archie Chaplin.
https://stanborough.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Year-10-District-Team_Feb2018wb.jpg3371000Clare Pomfreyhttps://stanborough.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/newlogo.pngClare Pomfrey2018-02-02 12:09:582018-02-02 12:12:29Sports Report 24th January – 1st February
On 16th November, Year 10, 12 and 13 students went to Trinity Laban in London. It was a day out looking at a professional dance school and what it involves. We travelled all the way to London and arrived at Laban.
First we had a little talk from a course director and got to see the lecture room at Laban within which, despite the fact it was primarily a dance school, they learnt that they had to still do theory work in lecture rooms. We then had a tour of the building and saw all the studios, and got an insight into some of their classes. This was interesting because as we walked around the school, we saw lots of the students sitting around and stretching and preparing for their class, which really highlighted the fact it was a dance school. Furthermore the whole building was shaped for dance; down every corridor were fountains and places to sit and stretch, even the grass outside the building was shaped into stairs so people could sit on in summer and people could perform in front of them. We also got to watch the resident dance company, Transitions. We saw how the company worked together and what a standard rehearsal would look like.
After lunch we took part in our first workshop: contemporary technique. The start of the workshop was doing slides and leg swings to get warm and practising using the space. Afterwards we had a creative choreography workshop, we started by doing a walking round exercise, which was an improvisation task. Both workshops were very energetic and enjoyable, using new styles which hadn’t been explored by the students previously. Overall the day was a great insight into the college life as a dance student and was enjoyed by all the students who went.
‘It was a great experience and I enjoyed watching Transitions and how they worked together, I would definitely go again.’ Abby Mortimer, Year 12 Dance Captain
On Thursday 5th October, all Year 10 dance students took part in a workshop which explored styles and themes from their set work ‘Emancipation of Expressionism’. The workshop was led by Lara McCabe who is one of the dancers from the company. Lara is currently working on performances of the piece so this was invaluable to our students to gain an understanding of the work from one of the dancers. The students approached the workshop enthusiastically and showed real determination with a style that was different to what many were used to.
The workshop consisted of an introduction to key Hip Hop styles as well as Boy Blue specific movements including their Ninja Run and Ninja Slide. The students also learnt some repertoire from the piece which students will use in their own choreography and performance. All our Year 10 Dance students, including those who are studying Dance as an additional option subject in after school lessons, worked incredibly hard and the successful outcomes of the workshop were clear to see.
‘It was a once in a lifetime experience and I learnt so much, it was really fun.’ Robyn Rappaport 10O
‘It was very fun and a lot of hard work. I enjoyed this workshop because I learnt a lot of new dance types and movements.’ Rhys Hancock 10H
‘I really enjoyed the workshop because Lara taught us many things that no one knew. It was one of the best workshops we’ve had.’ Abbey Turner 10K
‘Even though the style isn’t my type of dance, I really enjoyed it because I learnt many knew things that could help me in the future.’ Holly Milliken 10K
https://stanborough.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Boy-Blue-Dance-Workshop_2017_3.jpg208499Clare Pomfreyhttps://stanborough.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/newlogo.pngClare Pomfrey2017-10-13 11:47:472017-10-13 11:49:25Dance Workshop with Boy Blue Entertainment