News 2008-09

July 2009 - Y7 Coventry Cricket Final
Finham Park School 95 Runs for 8 V Bablake 93 Runs for 9

Finham started off with Captain George Ball winning the toss and electing to bat first. From the outset Matthew Naylor and Oliver Gardiner were looking like they had the ability between the pair of them to beat Bablake all on their own! The runs came thick and fast for the first 6-7 overs. With the dismissal of both Naylor and Gardiner in relatively quick succession the run rate began to slow down and several wickets fell quickly to leave Finham on 95 for 8 at the end of their 20 overs. Bablake came in to bat but found it very difficult to deal with the bowing of Naylor and their run rate was significantly less than Finham's in the first few overs. However the Bablake batsman's persistence was rewarded with more runs in the middle to late part of the innings. With 3 overs to go it was Finham who looked to be on the ropes staring defeat in the face! Enter man of the match Ben Wheeler into the fray! With Bablake needing just 12 Runs from the last 3 overs, Wheeler needed to bowl brilliantly to ensure that it would be Finham taking the trophy home and this is exactly what he did! His first feat was to take two of the Bablake batsman's wicket caught and bowled by Wheeler himself. This was important because it meant that Bablake had lost more wickets than Finham so in the event of the score being tied on runs it meant that Finham would be champions on the premise that less wickets had been lost. This wasn't needed however because Wheeler's bowling was so tight that Bablake needed 2 runs off the last ball just to draw level on runs which wouldn't be enough for them to win! The last ball was every bit as good as the balls that preceded it giving Bablake no chance of getting anything and leaving Finham's year 7 as Coventry Champions for the first time. Well done boys, unbelievable game!

May 2009 - Finham top the trophies at Highway
At the weekend two Year 7 Finham Netballers were awarded trophies from their Netball Club 'Highway'. Since winter term Daisy Turnecliff and Asha Jagatia have been attending the club and playing for their U12 team in a local Junior League. The girls have been dedicated to improving their Netball all year and this culminated in an awards evening at which Daisy Turnecliff was presented an award for 'Player of the Year', U12s and Asha Jagatia was awarded 'Best Newcomer'.

Well done to both of them!

Friday 15th May 2009 - School Sports Team Photos
After five years the school team photos returned. Over 200 students from all year groups were involved. More than 30 team photos were taken. Students will have the opportunity to purchase their respective team photos in the next few weeks.

Thursday 14th May 2009 - English Schools Cup Relay Magic
Finham Park swept away all competition to pick up three out of the four relays to complete a fantastic day at the County stage of the National Schools Competition. In the second year Finham Park has entered the competition all 4 competing teams finished in fourth place. The Junior Girls (year 7 & 8) finished 47 points behind Tile Hill School, but more impressive scored 44 more points than last year (total 192). Four School records were broken by the junior girls - Sophie Thompson (Y8) 200m - 32.1secs; Rebecca Hyndman (Y8) - Javelin 13.59; Ramnik Soar (Y8) - 800m 2.42mins & Meghann Smith (Y8) 1500m - 7.00mins.

The intermediate girls team (Year 9/10) finished only 13 points behind Tile Hill School. Star performers of the day Courtney A Clowes (800m - 2.24mins - Y10) & Katie Phillips (100m - 13.8sec - Y9) both smashed the school's records and bagged the most points by any Finham athlete. Kelsie Armstrong also broke the year 9 long jump record with a jump of 4.12m. The junior boys were agonisingly close to finishing third, only 4 points behind Woodlands. More impressively the boys beat last years team total by a huge 51 points. School records were set by Greg Wright (Y8) in the triple jump - 8.13m, Jack Jarvis (Y8) in the 100m - 13.8sec, Macauley Jones (Y8) in the discus - 19.57m & Adam Shanahan (Y8) in the Javelin - 23.75m. Finally a depleted intermediate boys team performed creditably with one school record being set by Ethan Fox (Y10) in the 400m - 61sec.

139 points - 21% improvement from last year

You all can proudly proclaim that Finham Park have the best Cheerleaders in the City!
On Monday, 6th May, Finhams' Cheerleaders participated in the first City Cheerleading Competition. Our wonderful girls were outstanding and delivered their routine with brilliant cheering, loud and clear, and with perfect timing. The girls did so well and managed to beat massive squads from Cardinal Newman, Whitley Abbey, Sidney Stringer and Coundon Court to become the best Key Stage 3 Cheer dance squad in Coventry! I am so proud! In great cheerleading spirit they cheered for all participants in every age group and were gracious in their success.

The girls now go forward to represent Coventry in the next round! Dates have not been organised as yet.

Cheerleading club is Monday, 3-4:30pm in the gym. Come and join in!

Thursday 26th March 2009 - Coventry Schools Cross Country Championships
Well done to all athletes who took part in the Cross Country Championships at Memorial Park. Finham was represented by 45 students from year 7 -12, far more than any other school and the most we have ever entered before. In very blustery and cold conditions Finham Managed to grab three Bronze medals with Ben Taylor (Y7), Ramnik Soar (Y8- only finishing behind two year 9 students) and Tom Delaney (Y12).

It was very frustrating for the Year 7 boys, who missed out on winning gold in the team race by 1 point to Henries. Other team results are yet to count but it looks like we may have picked up team medals in the Y7 girls and Y8/9 girls. A full listing where all athletes finished can be seen on the Sports Section of the Finham Park Website.

Managers: Mr Amos, Mr Band & Mr Kerry

Wednesday 18th March 2009 - Dominique Matthews Tournament @ Coundon Court
10 girls from 6th form and Year 11 represented Finham at the annual Netball Tournament at Coundon Court in memory of Dominque Matthews. It was a beautiful day, with the sun shining and a great turn out. Our girls had a tough group consisting of Coundon Court 'A', Bablake 'A', Kenilworth 'B' and Caludon Castle. The girls managed to win 2 of their 4 games entering them into the Plate competition where they finished 4th.

The girls played and acted as perfect ambassadors for Finham on and off the court and it was a pleasure to umpire their matches. The day was topped off with many of them deciding to go to Coventry Sphinx Netball club for a bit of training seeing as they had enjoyed themselves so much in the run up to the competition and realised that they missed playing.

If anybody else fancies joining them - 19:30 @ Excel Centre on Wednesday evenings.

Tuesday 17th March 2009 - Away Derby Leg v Bishop Ullathorne School
Well done to all 100 students who took part in the away leg of the derby fixture against Bishop Ullathorne School. It was fantastic walking all the students across to Bishop Ullathorne and seeing the cavalcade of competitor and supporters stretch back over 150 meters. The two derby fixtures have been a real success with all staff and students enjoying the experience. This will definitely be a tradition here to stay with hopefully more sports added to the programme and a trophy being awarded to the winning school (Finham v Ullathorne Ashes!). Results are as follows:

Year 7 Netball DREW 10-10

Year 8 Netball WON 11-3

Year 9 Netball LOST 27-7

Year 10 Netball WON 11-8

Year 11 Netball WON 3-1

Year 7 Football WON 5-1

Year 9 Football LOST 3-2

Year 10 Football WON 1-0

Thursday 12th March 2009 - End of the rugby season

Wednesday 11th March 2009 - Coventry School Boys U15 v Swindon
The game started with Swindon on top with a few early chances. Coventry hit back with a break and a goal from their number 10, Wyatt Jones. 1-0 Coventry School Boys. Swindon had a good chance, but the ball went over the bar, but the referee brings it back for a free kick for an earlier infringement. It's blasted over the bar yet again.

Another counter attack sees the ball cleared and Coventry strikers get the ball under control. Wyatt plays the ball through to Taylor but it runs wide. Taylor plays the ball back inside to Will Brown and he hits it first time, Paul pulls it wide.

Further on into the first half, Coventry are on another break and Will Brown plays a ball across the field to Lewis Martin, who then plays Taylor Mcgregor through on goal, he shots but hits the inside of the post, then the other, and then rolls over the line! 2-0 Coventry School Boys.

On the stroke of half Swindon cut Coventry apart, and hit back with a good goal. 2-1 Coventry.

The second half gets under way and it is end to end football as lads are getting very tired on the big pitch! The match ends 2-1 to Coventry after a nail biting finish.

Written by Will Brown Year 10

Sunday 8th March 2009 - National Schools Trampolining Competition
On Sunday Lucy Bagworth (Yr10) competed in the National Schools Trampolining Competition in Birmingham, representing Central England after coming 3rd in the Zonal Competition in Coventry earlier in the year.

There were 31 girls competing in her age group from across the UK and the standard was extremely high. Although slightly nervous (being 2nd on does not help!) Lucy competed to a high standard and certainly proved herself to be one of the strongest competitors in her age group, demonstrating excellent control and fluidity in both sequences.

After a very long afternoon and an anxious wait Lucy finished 9th in her group putting her in the top ten competitors in the country for her age, a massive achievement and putting Finham Park school on the map in terms of Trampolining.

She should be proud of her achievements as are the PE department in the way she represented school sport at such a high level.

Well Done.

Saturday 7th March 2009 - U13 Coventry Schools Netball Tournament
On Saturday the Yr8 netball team took part in their annual Coventry Schools Tournament at Tile Hill Wood. Looking smart in their new bibs and skirts the girls got ready to play against Bluecoat, Coundon, Stoke Park and Cardinal Newman in the group stages.

Having lost their first two matches the girls were understandably de motivated but with the fantastic support provided by the girl's parents the girls went into their match against Stoke Park with rejuvenated spirits.

The girls played some outstanding netball with excellent linking play down centre court and with some superb shooting in the circle the girls came away victorious winning 11-1.

With lifted spirits the girls went into their final group fixture against C.Newman who, on a previous meeting had beaten us 13-8 but Newman did not know what hit them when the whistle blew and again the girls gave a performance of their season and with some tight marking by the GK and GD we held them to a 3-3 draw.

This meant that the girls went into the semi final for the plate and had drawn Tile Hill Wood. The girls maintained the high level of netball they were now playing and they were in constant possession of the ball. The teams were evenly matched which provided a heart stopping semi final with parents and coaches alike praying for the final whistle and when it did Finham emerged as the winners beating THW 4-3.

Before we could even breathe the girls were on court facing Bluecoat in the final of the plate competition the same team they had lost to at the start of the tournament but being the underdogs gave Finham the advantage as Bluecoat did not expect to see such a refined and well oiled team. With parents maintaining the constant support from the sidelines (we clearly had the most support there!) Finham got underway in what would prove to be a nail biter final! With 2 minutes to go Finham went ahead by 2 goals and managed to hold onto their advantage and winning the Plate!

A massive congratulations goes out to all the girls who did everyone proud and played some outstanding netball, as well as Sally Lewis who took the time out to umpire the matches.

I would also like to thank the parents of the yr8 team who not only in the tournament but during the whole season provide immense support not only to the team but to me and Miss Wildig, we would be lost without you.

Go Finham Go!!

Monday 2nd March 2009 - Lightning strikes for Finham
On Monday 2nd March, Finham's netballing elite went to watch a Netball Super League clash between Loughborough Lightning and Team Northumbria at Loughborough University.

It was a great evening where both teams played hard and the girls were able to appreciate the speed and high level skill at which top level Netball is played. The team consisted of England stars Jo Harten and Jade Clarke returning from international duty; Harten continuing her fine shooting form into the first quarter and Clarke bringing tenacity and desire in defence.

The final score was Loughborough Lightning 56 - 42 Team Northumbria. The girls all had a great time and even managed to pick up some photos and autographs of the stars.

Monday 9th February 2009 - Trampolining Success!
Congratulations to Emma Armitage (Yr 12) who recently trialled for the British National Trampolining Championships. Emma achieved the following positions in the different trampolining disciplines:

Emma now goes through to the British National Finals on 18th and 19th July at the NIA in Birmingham. In addition, Schools Trampolining National Finals, in which Lucy Bagworth is performing, will now take place on Sunday 8th March 2009, at Cocks Moor Leisure Centre in Birmingham. Good luck Lucy!

Wednesday 4th February 2009 - King Henry's Cross-Country
This was a very prestigious event that Finham Park was incredibly lucky to be involved in. This is a historic annual competition at Coventry's War Memorial Park that traditionally invites private schools across the country. Schools travelled afar from Manchester to Somerset; making up seventy-five in total.

This was a challenging two and a quarter mile relay run across tough terrain. As this was our first year our intention was take developmental teams that will continue to develop and improve. Our girl's team comprised of three year ten students; Courtney Archer-Clouse (15.44 minutes), Zoe Bryden (17.04 minutes), Laura Jones (20.29 minutes) and one year eight student; Ramnik Soar (16.38 minutes). The girls did incredibly well, finishing with an overall time of 01:09:55 coming 12th out of 17 teams. There is no doubt they will improve on this in future years.

Our boys team comprised of three year eight boys; Greg Wright (15.54 minutes), Jack Murry (16.50 minutes) and Jack Jarvis (17.52 minutes), and three year seven boys; Matt Naylor (16.35 minutes), Jamie Innes (16.51 minutes) and Harry Lumb (16.44 minutes). The boys did superbly as they were competing against year 10 and 11 very talented boys, they completed with a time of 01:40:46. Although they did come last on the day this is definitely a team to look out for in the future.

Saturday 31st January 2009 - Finham Rugby
40 Finham Park rugby players enjoyed a great day out watching Coventry v Doncaster. In freezing conditions Coventry won a nail biting game, just managing to hold off Doncaster from scoring in the dying seconds of the game and finally winning 26-20.

For the first time in many years Finham Park have entered teams into the Coventry Rugby Cup. In previous years this competition has been dominated by Woodlands, Bablake, King Henry's and Coundon Castle School. Under rugby master Colin Day, rugby is now thriving as a flagship sport at Finham. Year 11's made a fantastic start in the Quarter-finals of the Cup, beating Cardinal Newman 48-0. They now go on to face Bablake in the semi-finals. Unfortunately Year 9's were on the wrong end of a heavy defeat to Cup favourites Woodlands School. They lost 52-5, but they were only playing with 12 players, as 6 first team players were suffering from illness.

Monday 26th January 2009 - National Inter-school Badminton Championships - County Championships
Nataya Wathanasin(y8), Nisha Prajapati(y8), Jessie Bath(y8), Lia Gymesi(y9) and Ellie Tims(y9) competed in the County round of the National Inter-Schools Badminton Championships on Monday 26th Jan at Alderman Smith Sports College. Finham were drawn in a difficult group with Stratford School and Solihull School, and played a combination of five games of singles and doubles in each match.

All the girls performed well, but struggled to compete in what was a high standard of competition. Nataya Wathanasin played particularly well and won both of her singles against the number one girls from Stratford and Solihull. Well done to all the girls for getting this far in the competition.

Wednesday 21st January 2009
On Wednesday 21st January the PE department held their first inter college competitions for the Year 7s in rugby and bench ball. The whole year group turned out to represent their college and more importantly to have some fun.

The year 7 girls provided some very entertaining games of bench ball and a dramatic final that had to be played twice due to a draw the first time round! In the end Westgate won with Southgate being worthy opponents and coming in second. Northgate and Eastgate came 3rd and 4th.

The year 7 boys braved the elements and went out to compete in a rugby tournament and again not only demonstrated a high competitive spirit but some exceptional rugby. Southgate proved triumphant at the end of the tournament a good five points ahead of Eastgate, with Northgate and Westgate finishing 3rd and 4th.

The PE department were extremely impressed with how well the year 7s represented their colleges...well done!

Tuseday 20th January 2009
It's back at long last! The PE department will be launching the 2010 February half term Skiing trip to Folgaria in the Italian Alps in the coming weeks.

The trip will be run through the reputable provider 'Ski Plan' which the school has used in previous years. Folgaria is a stunning resort. It offers an excellent range of slopes for beginners and intermediates.

The cost of the February trip is £769. This price includes:

• Return executive coach travel from school to resort
• 6 nights Full Board accommodation
• Fully comprehensive travel insurance including medical, travel delay, personal liability and 24 hour emergency service
• Ski breakage guarantee insurance
• All Local Taxes
• Resort representative service
• Resort lift pass for 6 days to cover areas as described on the resort page
• Ski lessons - 24 hours of ski tuition (4 hours per day)
• Hire of skis, helmets (compulsory for all students), boots and poles for 6 days
• Fleece ski trip jacket

For more details please ask a member of PE for a Ski letter which contains all information regarding the trip.

Thursday 18th December 2008
Well done to students who were nominated by the PE Department for the awards in term one.

Best Sports Performer

Most Involved Student at extra-curricular Sporting Clubs

Theo Curran - Y7 West Gate

George Swain - Y8 West gate

Sally Lewis - Y8 North Gate

Lia Gymesi - Y9 West Gate

Ramnik Soar - Y8 West Gate

Daisy Dee - Y7 North Gate

Saturday 6th December 2008 - Trampolining Country Success
Our students successfully competed at the 1st round (Schools rounds), then went on to compete at the County Round in Tamworth in October, then 30 students went onto compete at the Regional Schools Trampolining Championships on Saturday in Birmingham. The standard of performance was exceptionally high. Emma Armitage in Yr 12 did exceptionally well in the U19 Elite age group, achieving 3rd place in the individual competition and she now goes through to the next round, the Zonal Championships on 25th January 2009, then hopefully to the Nationals. In addition, for the first time in our schools history, we have a team through to the Zonal Championships. Our U15 team achieved 2nd place, the top two teams going through to the Zonals on 25th January 2009 and hopefully to the Nationals. The girls are as follows: Amy Field, Lucy Bagworth, Sophie Elliott and Vicky Griffiths, all in year 10. Individually, Lucy was ranked 2nd and Amy was ranked 4th for the majority of the duration of the competition, and individually, they finished in 4th and 6th place (respectively) at the end of the competition. There were hundreds of competitors form across the UK. All the girls performed to an exceptionally high standard, so please pass on my congratulations to everyone who took part. Other students who deserve a mention are: Hannah McGrory, Emma Button and Saskia Keatman in year 7, Penny Lewis, Olivia Miles and Vicky Parsons in Year 8, and Ellie Drew in Year 9.

The Zonals were scheduled to take place in Wales on 25th January 2009, but I think the venue has now been changed to Coventry at the Alan Higgs Centre or AT7 centre, so if you are around, I'm sure the girls would love your support!

Sunday 16th November 2008 - Year 10/11 Girls Win Coventry Cross Country League
After 4 rounds of the Schools Cross Country League, Finham Park year 10/11 girls picked up the overall title, narrowly beating rivals Tile Hill School. Winning team members Courtney A Clowes and Zoe Bryden also picked up 2nd & 3rd respectively in the individual League title.

It was also good news for Ben Taylor who finished 3rd overall in the year 7 boys. Ramnik Soar ran so well but was left frustrated finishing just outside the overall medals in 4th. There was also disappointment in the year 7 boys with three of the usual team being side lined through illness and holiday, meaning that they were one team member short for the last league race and thus ruling themselves out of contention for a probable league title instead being won by Kings.

Next year the aim will be to win at least 3 three out of the 6 league titles, as well as having at least 6 students in each category.

Monday 3rd November 2008
Well done to the following students who have qualified to represent the West Midlands Schools on 22nd November. Ben Taylor 4th (Year 7), Ramnik Soar 8th (Year 8) Courtney Archer Clowes 7th Zoe Bryden 9th (Year 9 Girls). Other students who did really well at the County Championships were: Year 7 Boys: Jamie Innes 16th & Harry Lumb 18th.

Wednesday 23rd October 2008 - Derby Day
A fantastic evening of sport took park as over 200 students took part in the first ever derby fixture verses Bishop Ullathorne School. All years were involved with the girls playing netball and the boys playing football, with the exception of year 8 who played rugby. The majority of results went Finham way, but the real success of the night was seeing so many students playing sport to a high level.

The atmosphere was fantastic with many parents and students spectaiting. February will see Finham repeat the fixtures, but this time away at Bishop Ullathorne. It is hoped in the next few year to build on this success and have more big sporting night, where all year are involved.

Penny Lewis is 'a rising star'
Penny Lewis in Year 8 is the most recent addition to U14 Coventry Netball Satellite Academy. Penny had to go through some challenging trials last weekend but managed to get one of the 20 places available to the most talented Netballers in Coventry. This is the next step as Penny is already a member of the local club 'Highway' and has been playing highly competitive Netball for a while. If you want to improve your Netball and are thinking about joining a local club, come and get some information from the PE department!

Tuesday 23rd September 2008 - Coventry Schools Cross Country League
Finham Park hosted the first cross country race of the session. There were 100s of students that took part from over 10 Coventry Schools. Among the highlights were a strong team performance by the year 7 boys, with Ben Taylor finishing 3rd, James Innes 7th & Harry Lumb 12th, all qualifying for the Coventry Schools Team. Also qualifying for the Coventry Schools team was Ramnik Soar 5th (Y8), Greg Wright 15th (Y8), Courtney A-Clowes 3rd (Y10), Lee Marrs 7th (Y11) & Gareth Price 9th (Y9).

All results can be seen on the online PE results page.

Saturday 13th September 2008 - Netball season is go!
Netball season has started and it's go go go! Last Saturday there was a Netball Transisition festival held at Finham for Yr 7s. The objective of the day was to assist the girls with the change from High 5 Netball to 7 aside and to have some fun and meet new people along the way.

The Festival was organised by Finham Parks own young leaders and members of our Yr8 and 10 Netball teams who coached and umpired the warm up, skill drills and matches for all the teams involved.

The day ended with a round robin tournament in which Finham played King Henrys and Blue Coat. The girls did extremely well and were knackered from all their hard work in all the 4 matches with no breaks in between! A massive thank you to all the girls and their parents that attended, it was a great day.

If you want to get involved in Netball, please come and speak to any member of the Girls PE department- we always welcome newcomers! See these photos for a peek at some of the fun we get up to!

Thursday 11th September 2008 - Team building with the Army
GCSE & BTEC Sports students spent two lessons with the army on Thursday afternoon. Students were given a presentation as to what the army does, and were then put through their paces with a group team building session.

As part of the BTEC First Diploma in Sport, students will meet several guest speakers to find out about the different sports related careers.

Monday 8th September 2008 - Sports Honours Board
Finham Park Physical Education department proudly displayed their new sporting honours boards. The two honours boards celebrate the best male and female sports performers in each year, and students who have represented their region or country in their chosen sport.

"The honours boards look fantastic. Students whose names feature on the boards are really excited, and many more hope to get their name on the honours boards. The department are proud of the student's achievements and hope that some of them may go onto compete at London 2012"
Mr Amos - Head of PE