Campsmount

Y7 Rugby team interview by Campsmountwebadmin
Y8 Rugby team interview by Campsmountwebadmin

Following on from the fantastic success of the Year 11 side a few weeks ago, Campsmount Technology College became the highest ranked school Rugby League team in South Yorkshire at both Year 8 and Year 7, meaning we now have three sides that are current County Champions, as well as the Year 10 side that finished runners up!

The Year 8 team edged a thrilling final to beat Clifton of Rotherham 16-12 in extra time, after topping their group with victories over Barnsley Academy (8-0) and Hungerhill (16-0). The Year 7 competition was a round-robin tournament with a draw against King Edwards, and victories against St. Michaels (4-0), Rossington (4-0) and a convincing 16-0 win over Balby Carr meaning they finished top of the pile!

Iain Service, co-ordinator of Rugby League in South Yorkshire said;

“The finals are an opportunity for school teams from across South Yorkshire to play off in an exciting, challenging competition. Credit must go to Campsmount Technology College who have won 3 out of 5 South Yorkshire competitions this year. That is an excellent achievement, and one that I am sure has never been done before. Lets hope they can pull off some shocks in the next round.”

Mr A. Mankin, teacher in charge of Rugby League at Campsmount said;

“I have never known a season quite like it. To have three sides as County Champions – with another as runner-up – is an absolutely superb acheivement and without doubt the highlight of my time at Campsmount! All the teams showed a tremendous team spirit which I think is the key to our success. The standard was very high but more often than not we proved to be the best, often with the more able players stepping up to play for the Year above, which just goes to show what talented individuals that we have and our fantastic commitment and team ethic as a school overall. The hard work starts now though as we try and make an impact in the national competition which will be extremely tough but a challenge that we are all definitley up for, bring it on!”

All four sides will now progress to the Yorkshire stages of Carnegie Champion Schools, playing against winning teams from across Yorkshire in the regional stage of the national competition, with the main final being held at Twickenham later next year.

Mr A. Mankin

Coming soon is the the DVD of the Eurovision Dance Show 2011.

Your DVD will be available from Mrs Knowland or Mr Huntridge for the last week of term.

Here is a preview of the DVD.

Campsmount Eurovision Dance Show 2011 from Simon Huntridge on Vimeo.

Here is a slide show of photos taken at the Eurovision Dance Show 2011.

They were taken by A-Level students as part of their course with some very impressive results.

Remember you can order a DVD with all the pictures and video from Mrs Knowland.

Broadcasting updates from Campsmount’s Sports Hall

*Click additional entries at the top when opened in order to view the dance show from the beginning.

  It’s that time of year again, where the Campsmount Eurovision Dance Contest is now a widely recognised event across Doncaster!

In September 2010, I met with students who were members of the Campsmount Dance Academy and they were then asked to get into friendship groups in each year group and were handed their “Eurovision Brief”. This year Bekki Dyas the schools choreographer and I decided that the theme would be “Divas” and so then the students set to work on their routines.

Students worked with Bekki Dyas, Campsmounts Street Dance Coach, Mrs Knowland and Miss Lindley at the academy to develop these pieces. Askern Spa Junior School and Norton Junior School also participated in the contest, working with staff at their school and alongside Campsmount students, who are currently undertaking the Level 1 Dance Leaders Course. Also featuring in the contest this year were performances from the Campsmount Cheerleading Club and all the students put on an amazing display

On the night of the show the doors opened and guests were greeted with a large projector screen showing all the students rehearsing their routines. This was a great way of getting the audience into the Eurovision theme. Alongside this the students all sat around tables with their flags in the middle showing which country they belonged to. Spectators were all handed hand wavers when they arrived for the country that they had come to support and whilst waiting all 85 performers did a fantastic job of getting the crowd going with their hand wavers and cheering for their countries.

Again we pretended that the United Kingdom had won the contest in 2010 and this was the reason for us hosting the contest. Therefore, first of all a performance was given by what was meant to be the winning dance by United Kingdom in 2010. This was performed by all of the students from Campsmount. After this performance 12 countries in total that had entered the contest performed, which were Denmark, Romania, FYR Macedonia, Cyprus, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Sweden, Turkey, Iceland & Greece and with new appearances from Ireland and Norway returning back to the competition.

At the end of all the performances a short break was given for the judges to reflect on all the performances and for them to decide on the scores they were going to give out. Then each judge from the 12 countries gave points from 1-8, 10 and 12, reflecting the scoring system of the Eurovision Song Contest. Mr Huntridge and Mrs Knowland presented the show and even sampled some excellent french when announcing the points during the results. We had a large scoring system on the projector screen reflecting how the results are given in the contest. Also each judge had to say” Good Evening Europe” in their own language, then say for example “Here are the results of the Danish Jury” then after giving their scores they had to say thank you and goodbye in their own language.

After a very close contest between new comers Ireland and Cyprus, Ireland just sneaked in to win the 2011 Eurovision Dance Contest, with their Cheerleading performance to Tina Turner’s Proud Mary. The winning performers were invited to the stage to receive their trophy and medals and all students received a school trip to City Limits Dance Studio in Sheffield, to experience a taster day of Street Dance and Latin/Ballroom. Following this the winning country performed their winning dance.

This was a fantastic evening and all of the students who participated in the contest were a credit to our school. What a great end to the year showcasing all of our student’s hardwork and dedication to extra-curricular dance and cheerleading. Also special thanks again goes to Upstage School of Theatre dance for putting on a fabulous display to Blondie during the interval.

A great successful third Eurovision Party!!!

C.Knowland (Campsmount School Sports Co-ordinator)

On Thursday 7^th April 2011, the CTC girls departed Campsmount ready for the Netball tour of their lives. We had the amazing privilege of flying out from Manchester with the airline Emirates, where our girls experienced a choice of over 1200 channels.

After landing in Dubai in the early hours of the morning, we were swiftly taken by our fabulous bus driver who we had for the week, Arshad aka “Our Shed” to the Flora Creek Apartments, which would be our base for the next 6 nights/7 days. After a quick change and checking out our HUGE apartments, we spent our first morning/afternoon at the Deira City Centre Mall, where the girls checked out the enormity of shopping malls over in Dubai. Late afternoon we then departed for the girls training session over in Dubai at the Sevens Emirates Stadium, where the girls completed a 2 hour training session working on developing their skills and tactical awareness within the game. We were well looked after at the venue and were supplied with ice cold water free of charge, which was a lovely treat in the 40 degree heat. Following this everyone enjoyed a well earnt soft drink in the players’ lounge and some of the girls enjoyed dipping their feet in the pool. We then returned to our apartments to get changed and enjoy a Pizza Party, utilising Pizza Hut across the road. Then early to bed after a long 24 hours, ready for our first game in the morning.

Our first fixture was against English College, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Prior to the game the CTC girls put on a great Cheerleading display, which they had learnt prior to going out to Dubai and Gordon the mascot got his place at the front of the Netball courts! The results of this first fixture was the U14’s lost 8-16, however they played some of the best netball they have ever played and the U17’s also lost 9-19, however this score does not reflect the game, there was some brilliant centre court play. The Players of the Match were for the U14’s Becky Greaves and U17’s Hollie Ellison. Both were awesome in their circle defence play. The hosts were lovely to us putting on a great BBQ following the game and the girls enjoyed socialising with the English College girls. That evening we enjoyed a trip on the metro to Dubai Mall, where the girls sampled some shopping and indoor Ice Skating, followed by an evening meal at Nandos.

The following day we were up bright and early ready for a morning at Jumeirah Beach, “Our Shed” the bus driver dropped us off so were situated in front of the famous 7 star Burj Al Arab Hotel. We all had a great time at the beach, where the girls enjoyed performing their Cheerleading routine in the shallow waters and sunbathing in the hot sun. We then departed at lunch, to enjoy a nice buffet in the hotel before being taken to our second fixture against the Dubai British School. This fixture was one of the highlights of the tour and the U17’s who played their game first won 10-8. What a fab close game, it was 6-6 going into the last quarter and did the girls gave it everything they had in the last quarter to win this. Some excellent shooting and player of the match went to Billie Canning-Birtles. Following this game the U14’s lost 4-8, this was a close game to start however in the last quarter the Dubai British School took the lead and we couldn’t catch up. We unfortunately missed quite a few shots, which could have made this a much closer and tighter game. The Player of the match went to Rosie Ward for grit and determination and never giving up. We then went back to the apartments that evening to enjoy a great Birthday Party for Rosie Ward, celebrating her 14^th birthday with a nice big Birthday cake.

The next day we were free from any fixtures or training, so we enjoyed a relaxing morning around the hotels pool, which was hilarious when the girls discovered they had to wear swimming caps. They enjoyed pool volleyball/netball and synchronised swimming, followed by fun relay races. We then went back after lunch to the apartments to get changed for a great excursion Dune Bashing in the desert. This afternoon/evening was fantastic and the girls had such a laugh driving very fast around in the desert in 4 x 4 vehicles and then following this we all experienced camel riding, sandboarding, a moonlight BBQ and Belly Dancing show.

The following day, in the morning we went to our final fixture at Dubai College, where we had very tough opposition renowned for being one of the best over in Dubai. The results of the games were the U14’s lost 2-17. This was a tough game against a very high standard. However the CTC girls never gave up fighting and their play down centre court was lovely, some excellent spatial awareness. We had 14 missed shots, which at the end of the day lost this game massively for us and this was the main difference between the two sides. The player of the match went to Charlotte Viggars.  The U17’s lost 4-11 and this game had a very unfortunate accident, our star shooter Billie Canning-Birtles took an ankle injury and had to have a trip to the hospital. However, she was all checked out and nothing was broken, but badly sprained. The girls however came fighting back after this and won the last quarter for her, some excellent fighting spirit from the CTC girls as always.The U17 Player of the Match went to Kelly Sayles for playing out of position as centre.  In the afternoon we then went to The Mall of the Emirates to experience the Indoor Snow Dome at Ski Dubai, the girls had a go at Tubing and going on the Indoor Bob Sleigh run. To complete the evening we went to Apres Restaurant overlooking the slopes for a great 2 course meal.

Our final day was spent at The Atlantis Hotel, where we enjoyed a Shallow Water Interaction Dolphin swim, followed by an afternoon at Aquaventure waterpark. What an experience for everyone swimming with dolphins in Dubai and then riding the Leap of Faith. We then completed our last evening with a visit to the Dubai Mall, where we enjoyed the magnificent views at the top of the Burj Khalifia, followed by a lovely 3 course meal at the Italian restaurant Urbanos overlooking the famous fountain display.

On our last morning we enjoyed a short trophy presentation before completing our trip to the airport to board our late afternoon emirates flight back to Manchester airport. We arrived back at Campsmount on Thursday 14^th April after experiencing an amazing 7 days in the wonderful City of Dubai. Our girls were truly a credit to the school and I am sure they will all say that this definitely was a tour of a lifetime!

C.Knowland (Campsmount School Sports Co-ordinator)

In September 2010, a large number of students opted to complete the Netball Youth Umpire course during PE Curriculum time. Part of the option was ensuring that students knowledge of the game of Netball was there as a grounding in preparation to complete the course. Then the second part of the option was the completion of the course.

This took place over the next 3 months and consisted of students developing their knowledge of the rules of the game and how to be an effective umpire. Following this then over the next  8 months the students have continued to gain experience of umpiring games at various Netball fixtures and festivals that we hosted as part of belonging to the Flying High School Sports Partnership. The students found this very useful and also an enjoyable experience.

Then in October 2011, 12 umpires were put forward who had shown a willingness to work towards achieving this award to gain extra vital experience by organising and umpiring  a Year 7 festival to take place at Hayfield School just before October half term. The students worked with testers from England Neball to develop their knowledge further in preparation for being tested for this award.

The Year 7 students who played in the festival were from a range of schools across the Doncaster borough and they were released from school for the afternoon to play a fun round robin tournament. All of the 12 umpires worked as a trio to take it in turns to umpire different games on their court. This was a fantastic experience and one which the Year 7 students all benefited from and enjoyed too.

After completing this a handful of those students who have shown a high level of ability are now working towards completing their qualification and the remaining students have been given an opportunity to work hard and re-visit this being tested for this later in the academic year if they choose to. I was extremely proud of how the students have handled themselves during the process of completing this course.

C.Knowland (Campsmount School Sports Co-ordinator)

In January this year, 26 students opted for completing the Level 1 Dance Leaders Course during core PE time in Year 10. All students regularly attended their lessons and worked really hard to develop their leadership skills and delivery of dance.

Upon completing this course they then attended their assessment dates in September at Askern Spa and Norton Juniors. They worked in pairs to deliver an hour’s session to a range of students from Years 5 & 6. Both students and staff really enjoyed the dance sessions from our students and one staff member commented on how great 2 leaders were and that they would love them to permanently deliver dance sessions at their school.

At the end of all the assessment dates it was brilliant to see that 25 students passed the award and only one student was deferred for another year, to gain more practical experience. This is the largest amount of students from Campsmount that have passed this award in one cohort.

It is also great to see now that some of the students are utilising this award by assisting either at Campsmount or any of our feeder schools within our pyramid, to deliver after school dance sessions. They have become members of the Campsmount Leadership Academy and are a credit to the school. Well done girls and keep up this great volunteering work!

C.Knowland (Campsmount School Sports Co-ordinator)

  In April 2011, the Campsmount Cheerleading Club entered the first Doncaster Cheerleading Competition which was held at Campsmount Technology College. The students had to perform a routine without stunts, only using Pom Dance material.

The students performed a rendition of their Insomnia piece, which they had previously performed at the Grease Production in January. The routine consisted of 15 students who had auditioned to take part in the competition and they had been selected by our own Cheerleading Coach Bekki Dyas.

All students put on a fantastic display and performed the routine to an excellent standard, which impressed the judges as they finished top of the leader board. The competition was judged by members from various Leadership Academies across Doncaster, who had completed the British Gymnastics Cheerleading Judges Course and included our very own Monique Woolridge and Jessica Walsh as judges.

The CTC squad then qualified to represent Doncaster at the South Yorkshire Cheerleading Championships in May 2011 at Sheffield Park Academy, along with Danum School who finished as Runners up. This was a tough competition and the girls fought hard for a place in the rankings and after performing their hearts out, they finished in 3^rd position which was a great achievement.

After their first experience of a Cheerleading competition the girls are now looking forward to putting together an extra special performance in 2012 and hopefully look at fighting to win the South Yorkshire title.

Well Done Campsmount!

C.Knowland (Campsmount School Sports Co-ordinator)

  In March 2011, a selection of our CTC Dance Academy and Cheerleading Club attended the Doncaster Dance Showcase at Danum Upper School, to showcase the work that they have been doing in the academy.

They performed 2 routines, firstly a piece they had recently performed in the Grease Production at Campsmount and secondly they performed a Cheerleading routine to Insomnia by Faithless, consisting of also a Contemporary duet by Emily Ball and Ebony Kitts.

The girls put on a fantastic display as always for the audience and it was great to see two performances typically away from the street dance trend that has become so popular these days. The audience were very appreciative of the students work and it was commented upon by Doncaster Dance Coaches what talent we have at Campsmount.

An enjoyable evening had by all the staff and students!

C.Knowland (Campsmount School Sports Co-ordinator)