YEAR 9 v ALSAGER- 23rd September

Year 9 Start League Campaign with a Win

Year 9 started their league campaign away at Alsager School yesterday (Tuesday 23^rd September) looking to bounce back from their previous defeat in the ESFA Cup. Mr de Souza’s starting formation was his favoured 4-2-3-1 system, which saw the addition of Nathan Lupton at right back coming in for Rory Hughes.

Six minutes in, an unlikely situation occurred when Jamie Casey (aka J.C) went off with an injury which resulted in him missing the rest of the game. He was replaced by Olly Byram.

Shortly after the substitution, Josh Brindley cracked one into the net after some great build up play. 1-0 CHS. The whole team were rewared again after Josh got his second goal of the match, from close match.

The opposition were held to very few opportunities although their most clear cut chance was an in swinging that was headed wide at the back post. A close shave for CHS. However, CHS held firm to go into half-time 2-0 up.

The message at half-time was to be more clinical with the chances CHS had created and be weary of the speed Alsager had up front. Mr de Souza made some key decisions at half-time by replacing Tom Bestwick with Harry Grigg at left back and Josh Brindley made way for Alex Turner.

Harry Pointon smashed in a long range shot into the bottom corner, shortly after the break. 3-0 CHS. Mr de Souza was enjoying the entertainment after seeing his side dominating in midfield and being solid at the back, with plenty of chances created.

A short corner from George Johnson was returned back to him by Harry Grigg and was whipped into the box. The cross was deflected and was nodded in by Finley Jackson, which wrapped up the win for CHS.

Alex Bell had the main striker in his pocket for the whole game and Josh Robertson made some important saves as well as communicating with the back four. Matt Needham and Alex Turner’s contribution to the side was acknowledged by the team.

All in all it was a great day for year 9.

Goal Scorers- Josh Brindley 2, Harry Pointon, Finley Jackson.

Man of the Match- Alex Bell

Written by Alex Bell and Jamie Casey

YEAR 9 ESFA CUP ROUND TWO- 22nd September

Year 9 Knocked Out of English School’s Cup

After their penalty shoot-out victory last week in round one of the under 14’s Playstation School’s Cup, Year 9 were unable to progress any further in the cup following a 4-1 home defeat to Tameside’s Audenshaw High School.

Before kick-off CHS knew they would have to beat a tough team with Audenshaw thrashing Cheadle Hulme 9-0 in round one and during the warm-up they looked organised and disciplined. They also had a height and physical advantage. The big question was would CHS have enough firepower to outscore the team from Tameside and would Congleton’s defence be able to cope with Audenshaw’s firepower? The answer to both of those questions was no they wouldn’t.

Year 9 lined-up similar to their last match in the cup with manager, Mr de Souza looking to play 4-2-3-1. Congleton were missing a few of their players from the team that beat St Thomas More with goalkeeper Josh Roberton returning to the starting XI after being unavailable for the last match. Mr de Souza had to referee the match and would be a big miss on the sidelines, not only to keep me company, but he is normally very vocal on the touchline.

First Half

CHS made a dream start to the match with them opening the scoring just three minutes into the match although against the run of play. Audenshaw dominated the opening exchanges of the match and the first time CHS had the ball in Audenshaw’s half led to them breaking the deadlock. The move came from Harry Pointon’s throw-in, on the halfway line, which found Matt Needham who was running towards the left edge of the area. Audenshaw’s defender put the ball out for another throw-in, near the corner flag. The resulting throw-in found Matt Needham just inside the area, he turned before getting ready to have a shot at goal. However, before he was able to pull the trigger, Audenshaw’s defender was deemed to have tripped him and the referee awarded Congleton a very early penalty and allowed Finley Jackson a chance to give CHS an early lead.

Jackson made no mistake in scoring the penalty, coolly placing the ball in the bottom left corner, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way. 1-0 CHS.

Audenshaw continued to dominate the possession and on six minutes they had their first shot on target although the long range effort did not cause Josh Robertson any problems. However, a minute later, Audenshaw were back on level terms. It was a great strike from Audenshaw’s midfielder, which went just over Robertson’s reach. 1-1.

CHS were awarded a free-kick in the 11^th minute. Harry Pointon curled the ball over the wall but could keep it down enough to go under the crossbar with his strike going a few feet over.

Audenshaw took the lead for the first time six minutes later. A brilliant ball from the left sideline got in behind CHS’ defence. Audenshaw’s striker and CHS’ defender Tom Bell both gave chase, battling to get to the ball first, but a lack of communication between Bell and goalkeeper Josh Robertson, saw Robertson rush to the edge of the area to try and get to the ball first too.  However, both Robertson and Bell missed the ball which saw Audenshaw’s striker latch onto it and left him with a simple tap-in. 2-1 Audenshaw.

With 20 minutes on the clock, the match was interrupted because of a dog on the pitch- not something you see every day!

Congleton started to come into the match more in the last ten minutes of the first half and they were actually the better team in this period. First, George Johnson’s shot was straight at Audenshaw’s goalkeeper after good work from Harry Pointon on the left. A minute later, CHS were again breaking on the left flank. George Johnson again accelerating on the left wing but his cross was gathered by the goalkeeper. The left side was an area CHS could see they could exploit but still the final ball was missing.

With CHS unable to make more of their chances at the end of the first half at halftime the score was Congleton 1-2 Audenshaw.

Second Half

Congleton’s first shot on target in the second half did not come until the 10^th minute of the half. Finley Jackson’s volley needed a good save from Audenshaw’s goalkeeper to keep Audenshaw ahead.

Two minutes later, Audenshaw extended their lead. Josh Robertson had to react quickly to stop a shot from close range to the left finding the net. Robertson got down low and pushed his right leg to the near post to block the ball. The ball bounced off his lower leg back into the danger area. CHS did not clear the ball despite Robertson’s shouts to clear the danger and Congleton were punished, by not responding, with Audenshaw powering the ball into the bottom left corner from 14-yards out.

Robertson kept CHS in the game with two good saves to deny Audenshaw extending their lead further. First, he came off his line to deny an Audenshaw shot. He then came out during a one-on-one and gathered the ball from the striker’s feet- brave goalkeeping.

CHS’ goalkeeper, however, could not keep out Audenshaw’s next advance into the CHS box. Audenshaw broke on the left, a cross came into the six yard box and a first time finish into the net surely would seal an Audenshaw victory with just 12 minutes left. However, CHS came back from 3-1 down with less than five minutes to go in the last round. The question was could they do it again today?

There were signs that they could after some brilliant work from George Johnson on the right. He picked the ball on the halfway line before running at the Audenshaw left back. He then played the ball beyond the defender before sprinting past him. Johnson’s cross across goal was dangerous but went straight across the goalmouth with no CHS connection coming from inside the box.

Johnson had another chance with five minutes left of the match. Finley Jackson played a beautiful ball forward which put Johnson one-on-one with the goalkeeper. He rounded the keeper but his touch was too heavy and the ball went out for a goal kick. A missed opportunity.

Less than a minute later, Finley Jackson’s chip from left of the goal beat the Audenshaw goalkeeper but hit the top of the crossbar. That turned out to be Congleton’s last chance and the result was Congleton 1-4 Audenshaw at fulltime, which sees CHS’ year 9 knocked out in their second match of the English School’s cup for the second consecutive year.

Year 9 manager, Mr de Souza said after the match-

“The best team won. They [Audenshaw] were the better team all-round. Having said that we had four or five chances to score.”

Mr de Souza and year 9 now turn their attentions to the league with them looking to bounce back with a win away at Alsager tomorrow.

Written by Adam Bailey

OPENING ROUNDS OF ESFA CUP- September 2014

Opening Rounds of the English School’s Cup

It has been a mixed start to the English School’s Cup for Congleton High School’s teams. Following the year 9 boys comeback which saw them beat St Thomas More last week, year 7 boys and the under 16 girls both joined year 9 in the next round this week. However, year 11 boys will not be going any further in the national tournament.

Year 7 play 9-a-side on a smaller pitch and they started with a 1-0 win away at Woodhouse Academy last week and now face an away tie at Ormiston Horizon Academy [Stoke-on-Trent] in the next round.

The Year 11 boys were hoping to pick-up where they left off last season in the English School’s Cup when they reached the last 32 before losing 4-1 to Range High School. They started their cup campaign this year away at Tythrington High School on Wednesday. Mr Donnelly would have been hoping for a repeat of when the two teams met last November in the Cheshire Cup when a dominant CHS won 4-1. On that occasion, the scores were level after the opening half. However CHS found themselves trailing 2-1 at half-time, this time around, but with only one goal in it everyone knew the game was still anybody’s. However, Tythrington added another three after half-time with CHS only managing to add one. A 5-2 defeat saw CHS leave the competition at the first time of asking.

The girls have fared well in the English School’s Cup in recent years with the under 15 girls last year reaching the national semi-final and with the girls now competing at a higher age group than last year, hopes are still high about their chances this year. The under 16 girls started their cup campaign away at Flixton Girls’ School in Trafford and triumphed in a hard fought 7-5 victory. Goalkeeper, Chloe Tatton impressed on her debut in goal and Amy Rodgers was different class scoring five goals.

CHS found themselves 4-3 down at half-time with CHS’ first half goals coming from Beth Jones and two from Amy Rodgers. Rodgers added a second half hat-trick to her brace from the first half and Poppy Jones also got on the score sheet which secured a 7-5 victory and a place in the next round. The girls are still waiting to find out who will be their next opponents.

The year 9 boys will play Audenshaw School from Tameside at home tomorrow (Monday 22^nd September) in round two of the competition and there will be a match report on the blog later tomorrow night. They came back from losing 3-1 at half-time to win 5-4 on penalties in the last round (full match report below).

This week also sees the opening week of league fixtures with all years battling it out against Alsager.

Written by Adam Bailey

YEAR 9 v ST. THOMAS MORE (English School's Cup) - 11th September

An Inspired Comeback Ends with a Grandstand Finish

Congleton High School’s football season got underway tonight (Thursday 11^th September) with year 9 facing St. Thomas More (Stoke-on-Trent) in round one of the ESFA under 14 boys Playstation Schools’ Cup. Congleton High were trailing 1-3 but two goals within the final five minutes was enough to force penalties and saw them triumph 5-4.

Congleton started brightly and went close inside the opening five minutes of the first half. First, Finley Jackson could not keep his header down from a corner and saw the ball go over the bar. Congleton then went close again from a corner, this time Harry Pointon was unchallenged in the area but could not direct his header goal wards from close range. Pointon went near again but his ball across the box from the right hit the top of the crossbar.

However, it was St Thomas More who broke the deadlock after six minutes. A long ball from St Thomas More’s defence bounced over the CHS defence. Congleton’s goalkeeper Grigg came out of his area but More’s striker beat him to it. One of CHS’ defender did well to recover and get back but he could not prevent the ball from rolling across the line despite sliding to try and reach it. 0-1 St Thomas More.

Ten minutes on the clock and CHS nearly equalised after a good move. Pointon was put through on the right wing but his shot went just over. Five minutes later, George Johnson broke clear on the right. He decided to cross it instead of going for glory himself but it fell straight into the keeper’s hands.

St Thomas More doubled their lead after 20 minutes. Congleton’s goalkeeper produced a good save at the near post, pushing the ball around it for a corner after St Thomas More got in behind CHS’ defence. The corner was played in low into empty space 12 yards out. There was a rush to get to the ball, St. Thomas More got there first but the shot was deflected off a CHS leg. The ball then fell to another St. Thomas More player whose shot evaded the dozen legs and went past Congleton’s goalkeeper, who would have only seen the ball late on. Two minutes later it was 0-3 St. Thomas More. The ball was played to the right of the CHS area. Congleton’s goalkeeper came out but couldn’t get there. St. Thomas More’s striker’s shot from 14 yards out evaded Nathan Lupton’s attempted header on the line en-route to finding the back of the net.

Five minutes before half time, Congleton deservedly pulled a goal back. Logan Clowes’ shot was blocked by a sliding St. Thomas More defender however, the ball appeared to strike his arm. The referee hesitated before giving the penalty for handball. Finley Jackson stepped up, the goalkeeper went the right way but couldn’t keep his penalty out. It was a well taken penalty by Jackson, which ended in the bottom right corner of the net.

Congleton went near again three minutes later. George Johnson used his pace down the right to escape the defenders before crossing the ball into the box. A deflected shot fell to Finley Jackson whose header went straight across the goalmouth.

Half time- Congleton 1-3 St. Thomas More 

Congleton were unlucky to be behind never mind two goals down. They created a number of chances but just lacked that killer edge or the ball didn’t fall to them something which manager, Mr de Souza hoped would change in the second half.

It was St. Thomas More who had the first chance of the second half after a long ball from the restart went over CHS’ defence. St. Thomas More’s striker latched onto it but, luckily for CHS, his effort was off-target.

Harry Pointon’s long throw caused St. Thomas More problems before half time substitute, Matt Needham’s shot was stopped by Thomas More’s goalkeeper. Six minutes into the second half, Elliot Darmon’s ball from the left went across the goalmouth but CHS could not apply the faintest of touches it needed to send the ball into the back of the net.

Halfway through the second half, St. Thomas More had their first shot on target in the second half but it was a routine save for the CHS goalkeeper at the near post.

Mr de Souza decided to switch to the more traditional 4-2-2 formation and brought Logan Clowes back on with 13 minutes left.

Matt Needham made it 2-3 with four minutes to go to set-up a grandstand finish. CHS’ initial shot was cleared on the line; the rebound was then deflected before Needham was on hand to knock the ball into the net from a yard out- perhaps one of the easiest goals he will ever score. Following, Needham’s goal Mr de Souza switched to 3-4-3 to try and grab an equaliser. However, many thought it was too late with only a few minutes left.

How wrong they were.....as in the final minute of the game Congleton were awarded a corner. Mr de Souza wanted the ball to be played to Finley Jackson, who had a height advantage and is good with his head. After a flick-on the ball was in the air and Jackson attacked it and his header was powerful enough to send the match to penalties.

St. Thomas More took the first penalty and made no mistake powering the ball to the right side of the net (0-1). Finley Jackson then virtually re-enacted the penalty he scored earlier in the game for Congleton. The goalkeeper again going the right way but couldn’t get a hand to it due to it being right in the bottom corner (1-1). St. Thomas More kept the pressure on CHS after they scored their second which was a less powerful version of Jackson’s penalty (1-2). Congleton’s second penalty taker made the scores level with a composed finish to the right (2-2). St. Thomas More then missed their following penalty. Congleton’s goalkeeper would have been glad to see it roll past the post as he would not have been able to get a hand to it (2-2). Man of the Match, Harry Pointon then confidently found the bottom right corner (3-2). St. Thomas More kept the pressure on CHS with a lovely finish, right and high (3-3). Matt Needham made no mistake with his penalty finding the bottom left corner (4-3). St. Thomas More then scored their fifth penalty (4-4) which meant that Logan Clowes had his penalty to send Congleton through to the next round. Clowes emphatically made sure CHS won the penalty shoot-out with his penalty high and hard down the centre of the goal (5-4).

It was an incredible turnaround from Congleton to comeback from three goals down to win. Every player can take pride in how they performed as it was definitely a team effort. Congleton will now play either Audenshaw School (Tameside) or Cheadle Hulme School in the next round.

It was also excellent and very encouraging to see over 100 students participating in extra-curricular activities tonight including football and rugby.

Written by Adam Bailey

SPORTS AWARD EVENING- 2nd July

Sports Award Evening

Congleton High School’s 7^th annual Sports Award Evening took place last night [Wednesday 2^nd July], which celebrated another successful year, with success coming in every sport.

The evening started with a Commonwealth Games themed delicious three-course meal for the guests, award winners and their families, provided by Year 10 catering students. After the meal the awards ceremony took place, which was an opportunity for CHS to celebrate the sporting success of students both inside and outside of school. 120 students were presented with awards including Contribution to Sport, Extra Curricular Awards, Player of the Year, Athlete of the Year and Sports Persons of the Year.

Mrs Salt, head of PE, started the evening by saying again what another busy and successful year of sport it has been at Congleton High School. The gathered audience were amazed to hear that CHS had entered 100 different leagues and competition over the last nine months, showing the strength in depth the school have.  She once again praised the students who she said are “consistently outstanding”.

Within ten minutes of the awards ceremony starting it was evident why Congleton High’s PE department has so much success in a wide range of sports. Over 30 students were invited to the stage, all of them play for either football academies, represent the county at sports from netball to athletics, some students have even set national times with at least three people representing Great Britain on an international level. 

The special guest on the night was former Rugby Union hooker, Andy Titterell. He took part in a question and answer session with the questions provided by Mr Cross, which was very insightful and inspirational. Andy talked about how he has had to stay resilient during his journey from being on the school rugby team to playing for the British and Irish Lions in 2005, a value which is strongly rated at Congleton High School and one which they want every student to follow.

The most important point Andy made and the one which students should take the most advice from is “don’t let anybody tell you who you are or who you should be because you know who you are and you know what you are good at”. Andy knew the player he wanted to become and be. He didn’t want to be judged or compared to someone who he looked up to; he wanted to be who he was. He always stuck to his word and he was told he was too small to play on the front row but he has still played over 230 games professionally including five England caps because he didn’t let anybody tell him who he was or who he should be.

He says that rugby is “for all shapes and sizes” despite the stereotype. Last year, less than ten students regularly turned up for rugby training at CHS but this year that has increased to between 60 and 70. Next year, why don’t you give rugby a try because as Andy said it is for all shapes and sizes.

Team of the Year Award
Boys: The boys team of the year award went to the combined boys football team which played exceptionally well during the Tour of Malta, last October. The team, consisted of players from different years, and dealt with the hot climate very well against local Malta teams.

Girls: There were no prizes for guessing who won the girls team of the year. The under 15 girls football team, who embarked on yet another gripping journey. They scored 36 whilst conceding just eight goals en-route to becoming national semi-finalists. They gripped the whole school with over 300 people turning out to watch CHS take on St. Bede’s in the semi-final at Congleton Town FC. The under-15 girl’s manager Mr Naylor said after their semi-final defeat that the girls can take “incredible pride in their achievements”.

Daniel Sturridge Rising Star Award
The Daniel Sturridge Rising Star Award is named after former CHS student and Liverpool and England striker, Daniel Sturridge and how fitting that this year the award went to Jenna Baxter. Sturridge, as I am sure many will know, played for England at the World Cup in Brazil and Jenna also competes internationally for Great Britain in taekwondo. She is definitely a rising star and I am sure that we will see her wearing the Team GB kit at either the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janerio or in Tokyo in 2020.

If you saw Jenna around school you wouldn’t think she was one of the world best in taekwondo, a quiet, friendly girl but beneath that is a determined, focused and driven mentality.  She has just finished her GCSE’s and between all the revision and hard work she has been doing over the recent months and years she still finds time for an intense training regime, which has seen her become one of the world best and a real contender for an Olympic medal in the future.

The Lynda Arnold Award

The Lynda Arnold Award, named after a former PE teacher, is for outstanding contribution to school sport. This year the award went to Cameron Geimer, who has shown outstanding contribution to school sport throughout his time at CHS. He is a very talented all-rounder competing for Congleton high in football, badminton, hockey and athletics. He has given up time to coach the boys hockey teams and is chairman of the school sport student committee. Mrs Salt only had good words to say about him saying he is “organised, has great manners and his work ethic is second to none”. Mrs Arnold taught Cameron before retiring when he was in year 9 said she is “not at all surprised” that he has won the award.

Mrs Salt concluded the evening by thanking the PE staff and all the other teachers who have contributed to school sport over the last year. I just want to thank Mrs Salt and all the PE staff on behalf of all the students in attendance last night for all their hard work and support they have given over the last 9 months as without them then CHS wouldn’t have had half as much success this year.

Written by Adam Bailey

SPORTS DAY 2014- 24th June

Sports Day 2014 A Real Success

One of the highlight’s of the school calendar took place today, CHS’ Sports Day and the standard throughout was high.

The first part of the morning saw the field events take place. These include shot put, javelin, discus, long jump, triple jump and high jump. Matt Gilham [Year 10] in high jump, Lucy Wright [Year 10], Shannon O’Connor [Year 10], Caitlin Green [Year 9] in javelin, Lewis Haliday [Year 8] in shot-put and Johnny Adderely [Year 9] in discus, who competed for Cheshire Schools at the weekend, all broke school records in the morning field events.

After the conclusion of the field events, the whole school made their way out onto the field to support their friends and colleagues. The conditions were perfect for running; humid with a firm track. The 200m and 800m were held before lunch with the standings as followed at the halfway stage.

SH led the year 7 standings ahead of SDR, JC were in front of DWN in the year 8 standings, AB were just ahead of GDS  in year 9 and MH, looking to be crowned champions of year 10 for the fourth time, led GXT at the halfway stage.

100m

The track events got back underway after lunch with the most prestigious and shortest running event on the schedule. All the 100m races were tightly contested with Phoebe Gates [9TW- pictured left] triumphing for the second time today in the year 9 girl’s race. Lucy Wright [10MH] also won her second event, in what was a two horse race between her and Abigail Davies in the year 10 girl’s race. However, Wright seemed to pull out an advantage with 20m to go and won by just under a second ahead of Davies. The year 10 boys 100m was just as exciting with Jay Mceeler [10MH] proving too strong for the rest of the field in the final few metres. At one point in the race the top three were level.

1,500m

The one event that only a small minority want to complete in is the 1,500m, the dreaded three and three quarter laps around the track. However, one hand that goes straight up, when asked who wants to run in the event, is Hollie Massey’s. The all round sportswomen during her time at CHS has fared very well in the 1,500m, beating records every year. This year she wanted to beat her time of 5mins 21 secs which she set last year along with the year 9 record, for this distance, which was set 10 years ago.

Hollie set a lightning pace on the opening lap, with her lead reaching 60-70m after 300m. Massey’s lead extended to 200m after lap two. Her sprint finish was faster than most of the 100m races, we saw earlier in the afternoon. However, it wasn’t fast enough as she narrowly missed breaking the 10 year record by just two seconds. She was clearly annoyed with her time, despite lapping her opponents, saying “I want to run again”. Hollie looked so comfortable when she was running with a smooth rhythm throughout, long, powerful strides and arms swinging. If she runs like that next week at the South Cheshire Athletic Championships then she will be very tough to beat.

Another one to look out for in the 1,500m was year 8 Megan Sheard she ran 5 min 40 seconds last year to win and break the year 7 record for the event. This year she led from the front in the year 7 and 8 girls race and she set a fast pace over the opening lap. Sheard led by about 10m after lap 1 over the rest of the field. Olivia Sweeney [Year 8] was evidently struggling after a quick opening lap in which she tried to stay with the strong Sheard. Sheard looked to be increasing her lead by every stride and after lap 2 her lead had reached over 30m. She showed no sign of slowing with her lead extending to 50m, as she took the bell for the last lap. Megan even had enough energy left to sprint the final 100m and she didn’t even look out of breath after finishing- I was out of breath just watching her very impressive run! Megan is a strong all round athlete; she is also a national swimmer.

The year 7 and 8 boys 1,500m was more of a race. After the first lap the field were together with Jamie Casey [Year 8] taking up the pace making at the front. Casey then had a 5-6m lead over Harper [Year 7] at the end of lap 2. Harper had Casey to aim for and within a quarter of a lap, Harper and Casey were shoulder to shoulder with a 30m gap to the chasers. On the last lap, Harper set the pace and led Casey on the back straight and although Casey tried to go around Harper coming off the final bend onto the home straight Harper had enough energy to win the year 7 and year 8 race in style beating the year 7 record by over 11 seconds in a time of 6 minutes and 2 seconds.

Ben Horgan [10MH] put in an impressive display to break the 1,500m record for the year 10 boys. Horgan made his move on lap two pulling out a 20m lead over Ramtin Musah, Tyler Finch and Bailey Hopkins, all year 9. He was looking to beat a time of 5mins and 2 seconds, which was set in 2007. At the top of the home straight Horgan had 20 seconds to spare and he finished strongly to comfortably defeat the record by 7 seconds with a time of 4mins 55 seconds, three seconds better than his year 9 record last year. Bailey Hopkins won the year 9 race by five metres ahead of Tyler Finch, whose strong finish saw him finish ahead of Ramtin Musah.

300m and 400m

Bradley Oliver comfortably beat his year 9 colleagues in the 300m with a strong finish. There were also wins for Ollie Byron [year 8] and Eloise Smith [year 10] in the 300m. Eloise was the only competitor in the year 10 girls category which saw her rewarded with a guaranteed six points. That is what sports day is all about; representing your form and giving it a go.

Conor Docherty perfectly demonstrated how the 400m should be run in the year 10 boys category. The 400m is a sprint event and he did exactly that throughout, from the starting block to the finish line.

Relays

Year 7 form, KMA had a clean sweep in the relay events, winning gold in the boys, girls and mixed relays. Year 8 form, JC managed a double victory with them being denied a third in the boys relay. MH nearly managed a perfect feat in the year 10 relay’s but CD denied them in the mixed relay, with Morgan Bratt bringing it home convincingly for Miss Dixon’s form.

Teacher’s v Sixth Form

The much anticipated ‘Teacher’s versus Sixth Form’ race concluded the day’s events. Mr de Souza was issued a yellow card after a false start but once he was away from the blocks on the clean restart he was lightning quick, giving the PE team a 10m lead going into the first change. Mr French saw the PE’s lead shortened on the back straight with the sixth form team eating in to his lead with every stride. Mr Cross ensued the PE team went into the final leg in front. There were a few stumbles one at change two from one of the sixth form teams then another from the other sixth team before Mr Calogirou, a member of the teacher team, consisting also of Mr Franklin, Mr M Naylor and Mr Watkins, fell on the home straight. Mr Naylor of the PE team had enough time to slow down and play to the crowd before crossing the line with a forward roll. The first sixth form team then followed, followed by Mr Calogirou, who picked himself up from his fall and copied Mr Naylor’s forward role to finish. The second sixth team then rounded up the field in fourth.

 

What everybody wants to know what are the final standings.

Year 7 was very tight between the top two, with only one point separating them. SDR won with 96 points ahead of SH on 95 points and GXE in third.

JC comfortably won the year 8 standings in front of GSA and DWN.

Just six points separated the top three forms in the year 9 competition. AB finished on top with 109 points, three points ahead of GDS with 106 points. FWJ were three more points back on 103 points.

MH were once again crowned champions of year 10 for the fourth time in succession, ahead of CD.

Well done to all of the competitors and I am sure that the day was enjoyed by everybody (well nearly everybody!).

Written by Adam Bailey

WORLD CUP FEVER HITS CHS- 13th June

World Cup Fever Hits CHS

 

The FIFA World Cup in Brazil got underway last night with the hosts beating Croatia 3-1, in an opening match overshadowed by the referee’s decisions.

And once again, Congleton High School never fails to bring the spirit of a major sporting event to the centre of their community. Mrs Henderson’s modified car (pictured above) proved a real hit with students and staff at CHS. The PE Teacher covered her car with World Cup stickers to show her support for England’s national team. Both students and staff took the opportunity to pose for a selfie with CHS’ ‘World Cup Car’.

 

There has been a real samba feel around the school today (and not just because it was the year 11’s last exams) with students and staff discussing the talking-points of last night’s match, which had plenty to discuss.

Although, England come into the World Cup with less expectation compared to prior World Cup’s, a lot is expected of former CHS student Daniel Sturridge to carry on his club form for his country. Sturridge scored 24 goals in 33 games for Liverpool last season something that all England fans hope he continues to add to in the World Cup. The school are all behind Daniel and are very proud of him and wish him and his teammates all the best in Brazil.

This is not the first time a sporting fever has struck CHS. During the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, some students linked up to CHS’ twin school in South Africa via Skype and learnt how to play a vuvuzela (can you remember that swarm of bees four years ago inside the stadiums?). Then in tandem with the 2012 Olympic Games in London the PE department organised a special Olympic Sports Day along with taster sessions for students to try different Olympic sports (for example, archery, sailing). Earlier this year, the school fell in love with the Winter Olympics in Sochi with the events being broadcast in the hall during break and lunchtime.
 

Written by Adam Bailey