Paul Sturgess – Pro Basketballer

Paul Sturgess came to visit our school.  He is a 7 foot 7 inch basketballer who played in the NBA in America, and represented the world famous Harlem Globetrotters. The children loved listening to his life story and how he has used his uniqueness to thrive.  Paul worked with each class and the children showed off their basketball skills.

Ju Jitsu

Apparatus Fun with Mr. Jones

Year 3, 4, 5 and 6 had a brilliant time using all the different apparatus equipment available in our school hall.

A huge thank you to Mr Jones for volunteering his time- we can’t wait for another apparatus P.E. lesson. There were challenges for the children to complete and Mr. Jones gave out prizes! Thank you

Events

We are really happy to share with you an exciting opportunity for all children in school. Burnley Leisure will be working on the playground for the next five weeks at lunch times. They will be focusing on Fundamental Movement Skills – these are the skills that all children work on in Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1, before applying them to all PE lessons. All children are welcome to have a go at the activities during their time on the playground.

 

Sports Leaders will help Burnley Leisure and learn how to manage their activities.

Children from Year 5 were asked to write why they would be a good Play Leader as part of their homework. Those who wrote back over the weekend have now become Play Leaders. They have had some training in school from Mrs Bradley, who is the SSCO (School Sports Coordinator) at Unity College. Their role is to create, organise and run ‘Personal Best’ competitions at lunch times. The children will work in teams to make lunch times fun and children are active. The attached photos show the children during their training.

Yesterday, Worsthorne went out to play our first game in the Hartley Cup. In the first few minutes, Worsthorne dominated possession pining them in their own half. Fifteen minutes into the game, the ball got played to Ben inside the box and he smashed it into the top corner making it 1-0 to Worsthorne. After that, St James’s, quickly replied with a cracking finish just inside our box to make it 1-1.

 

In the second half, both teams kicked off to a slow start and St James’s slightly had more possession. Half way through the game, Matthew [the goalkeeper] kicked a long ball through to Blake. He pounced on the opportunity, ran through and slotted it past the keeper, winning Worsthorne the game. The final score was 2-1 to Worsthorne.

The team comprised of: Jacob B, Arthur W, Dylan C, Brody S, Jasper S, Benjamin G, Louis E, Matthew H, Ryley B and Blake J.

 

Tosh has organised the next game for Wednesday November 22nd so there will be NO TRAINING ON THIS DATE.

 

Report written by Blake and Ben G (Year 6)

On Tuesday, some of our Year 6 children visited Unity College to participate in a Year 6/7 transition event. The ‘Benchball Team’ were joined by Year 7 children from Unity and Burnley High School. The children showed a great awareness of tactics and played hard but fair. Out of the eight schools who participated, our school came second, despite playing against some giants from Year 7! Thank you to all the parents who helped with transporting the children to the event. As always, without your support, these events will not happen.

Twenty two children from Years 1 and 2 participated in a ‘Fun Run’ at Towneley Park. The children had to complete a lap of the triangle, and tasks along the way such as star jumps, crawling under a cargo net, and hopping through longer grass. The children really enjoyed themselves and Mrs Western and Mr Lomas were so proud of how they conducted themselves before, during and after the race. Our children were commended on how well they listened and how they waited in lines for their adults to collect them at the end. Special shout out to Thea who was first in the girls’ race thus earning a medal.

Olivia and Eidie are joining our Year 6 champions, Molly and Joni, to become Mental Health Champions at our school.

Olivia and Eidie took part in their training day, alongside Miss Grant, with a cluster of schools all taking part in the initiative. The girls met a local sports person Charlotte Hartley, who was their trainer for the day. (Last year, Molly and Joni had a training day with Jenna Downing, a world champion inline skater).

Charlotte was one of the youngest players to be selected to represent England for the 2006 Commonwealth Games helping the team to a Bronze medal. In 2007 Charlotte joined up with the GB Youth team to take part in the Junior Olympics achieving a Gold medal. Charlotte’s hockey career took a backward step so she could deal with some personal struggles soon after the Junior Olympics, so she took time out, spending time working on getting healthy and looking at how best to get back to her best. Charlotte chose to go to Canada in order to start afresh by coaching hockey and then moving to New Zealand to play professionally and then moving on to Barcelona to play professionally again.

Charlotte shared her journey and strategies for dealing with good times, and tricky times.

Events

Wow – what a nerve jangling ending to our Hartley Cup Group games.

 

On Tuesday, our Year 5 and 6 football team played their last game in the Hartley Cup Group Stage. Our players played ever so well in the first half. Blake bossed the midfield; Arthur displayed some silky touches; Ryley was a rock at the back and Benjamin stretched their defence. Matthew, our goalkeeper, had little to do but his kicking was strong and helped with our attacks. Brody scored the only goal of the half as he buried the ball in the bottom corner, and Worsthorne had a thoroughly deserved lead.

 

In the second half, St Augustine’s changed their style and caused us problems. However, Isaac was assured at the back and Dylan cleared his lines well. Jasper ran his socks off and stopped two or three dangerous counter attacks. Jacob helped out in attack and defence as the ball went from end to end. In a frantic finish, Blake hit the crossbar and with the last kick of the game, St Augustine’s were clean through on goal but Matthew narrowed his angles and their shot went wide.

 

We won the game one nil which means we have won three and lost just one of our games. We are in a strong position but await the final standings to see if we have qualified for the semi-finals. The players deserve massive credit for their performance. Many thanks for all our parents for their support and help with transport. Thank you also to Tosh, Blake’s Dad and Matthew’s Dad for coaching the squad, and refereeing the matches. What a team effort!!

On Tuesday, six children from Class Five and a surprise guest from year 3 (Gracie’s brother, Tom) visited a handball competition / training session hosted at Unity College. Firstly, we went through a few drills that gave us a good idea of the game. Then we played a few mini games against children from other schools . Once we knew the rules and the tactics, we participated in some big games. One child from each school was the goalkeeper, and the rest of the team had to use the skills they had just learnt from the drills. We all enjoyed it very much. Although the handball session was just for fun, it was a very memorable moment to remember forever. Lewis was grinning from ear to ear when he told his Mum about the event – he loved it!!

Report written by Ella, Gracie and Eidie.

On Wednesday, the previously unbeaten Year 5/6 football team played their third game in the Hartley Cup against St John’s Padiham. In a close, well fought first half, St Johns scored the opening goal but then Worsthorne dominated and had two glorious chances, one that went just over the bar and the other brilliantly saved by their goalkeeper.

In the second half, St Johns played some really good football and caught Worsthorne on the break with two quick goals. The children never lost their heads and battled all the way to the end of the match. St Johns scored two more late goals to give them a flattering 5-0 win.

The team have one further game to play and a win could see us progress to the semi-finals.

On Tuesday, six of our Year 2 children visited Unity College to participate in a Sports-hall Athletics event. There were six schools in total competing in different running, jumping and throwing activities. Our children showed great speed, agility and skill in all of the events that they participated in. Thank you to Harriet, Saskia, Hattie, Toby, Danny and Ellis for representing Worsthorne Primary School.

There are a plethora of photographs to scroll through courtesy of Olivia H in Year 5. Thank you for these Olivia.

Thank you to all our parents, grandparents and carers for helping with transport and for supporting our wonderful children.

On Monday, eight of our Year 6 girls went to the Spirit of Sport to play netball against a number of other schools. The children played four games altogether and they were all very close games. We drew two of them and lost the other two narrowly. All the games were played in good spirit and all the children represented our school showing ‘Respect’ to their opponents.

 

We played some really good netball but we just could not get the ball into the hoop. Eloise showed great leadership because she is a regular netball player. Tayla, Anna and Daisy used their height and power to pass through the thirds and defend their areas well. Lilia and Molly showed great footwork when receiving and passing the ball. Darcy and Holly showed great athleticism when supporting the attacks and whilst defending. The biggest cheer of the day was for Eloise who finally scored in our third game.

 

Thank you girls for representing our school with class and dignity. Lots of staff from other schools commended them on their behaviour, attitude and playing style. It was wonderful to hear.

On Thursday, Lucia represented Burnley in the East Lancashire cross country finals at Witton Park in Blackburn. The top 25 runners from each of the 6 East Lancashire boroughs, over 100 girls altogether, participated. They were all very strong athletes. Lucia came home in 26th place and helped Team Burnley to a third place finish, thus winning a bronze medal. What a brilliant achievement as all the girls were classed as elite runners. We are so proud of you Lucia. Thank you for representing our school and Team Burnley, and thank you Mum for getting her to the event.

On Tuesday, it was the turn for children from Years 5 and 6 to run in a ‘masses’ race. All the runners were children who hadn’t run in a cross-country event before. To be fair, the weather was appalling and it put off runners from across the town. However, we had three super-brave girls who participated despite the wind and rain blowing into their faces.

 

Thank you and well done to Matilda (39th place), Lillia (19th place) and Eloise (6th place). There were 81 runners altogether in the girls’ race. Matilda said it was one of her most memorable moments of the year – brilliant.

On Thursday, Willow, Elodie, Theo and Theo from Year Three and Bear, Thomas, Alexandra and Sophia from Year Four represented school at a Tennis Skills event at Spirit of Sport. The children had to test their balancing, throwing, hitting and catching skills in a range of different challenges and activities. It was a fantastic event and our children were amazing. Theo M was awarded a badge for being able to change his tactics when things hadn’t worked out. Well done to everyone involved!

Our Reception children had a great first session, learning to balance correctly on balance bikes and manoeuvring around the hall. Mrs. Wells and Mr. Parsons were very impressed!

On Thursday, our Year 5 and 6 football team played Padiham Primary in the semi-final of the Hartley Cup. Matthew, in the goals, pulled off a string of good saves including one that he superbly tipped onto the crossbar. Isaac, Ryley and Dylan had strong games at the back, whilst Jacob, Louis, Arthur and Jasper all put a good shift in in wide midfield. Blake, who scored a screamer of a free kick, went toe to toe with their two central midfielders, and Benjamin and Brody put themselves about up front.

In a topsy-turvy first half, Padiham Primary scored two quick goals. Matthew made a couple of good saves before Blake’s free kick pulled one back. The Padiham centre forward, who was a skilful customer, completed his hat trick as they caught us on the counter attack. There was still time for Blake to drive another free kick narrowly over the bar as we pressed to narrow the arrears.

In the second half, we had all the chances. Louis, who moved further forwards, forced a good save from the keeper, whilst Arthur fired one just wide of the far post. In a frantic finish, Benjamin was clean through on goal but their keeper saved it with his leg. The game ended in a 3-1 defeat. It was a spicy encounter that was played in good spirits, but we lost to a very good team. Good luck to Padiham Primary in the final.

We received an email on Monday asking if we would like to take some of our Year 6 children to Turf Moor for an opportunity to go on the pitch as a ‘Well done’ for completing their SATS! This was an amazing opportunity and something that we knew most, if not all, children would want to experience. To make this as fair as possible, the names of those children who wanted to go were put into a draw and drawn out at random.

The children worked with BFC staff and participated in a carousel of activities ranging from 2v2 to 4v4 to football tennis. The children loved it!!! (as did Mr. Lomas and Mrs. Pier!)

On Tuesday, 8 of our children from Class 3 and 4 went to Barden Track to participate in a fun sports’ day. They ran, jumped, threw, bounced, pulled and raced with water on a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon. Check out the action shots and video below!

On Tuesday, Gracie and Arthur from Class 5, and Lucia, Mahsa, Blake, Jasper and Benjamin from Class 6, represented school in a cross country event. The weather was really warm and the course was heavy, which meant that running was extremely tough. The children performed admirably and all of them finished in the top 25%. Thank you to all the children who took part and parents for transporting the team.

We are proud of you all for agreeing to participate – you all did a fabulous job and are a credit to the school. Special mention to Blake who came 2nd overall and earned a silver medal.