Amazing!!!!

The year 3 and 4 children amazed parents this afternoon and evening with their amazing performance of Joseph and his Technicolour Dreamcoat. The children worked brilliantly as a team, they sang, acted and spoke their words with confidence to make a thoroughly entertaining performance. Well done and thank you to everyone involved!

A shared victory!

In their last match of the season, the school football team forced a draw in the Vale 7-a-side tournament this evening against Stephen Freeman school.
Playing up hill and against the wind in the first half, Ladygrove held out against a series of attacks from Stephen Freeman. As a hail storm cut across the pitch, we conceded first one then two goals before the half time whistle brought a chance to regroup. Ollie, Thomas and Jack S came on as subs and brought some pace and movement to our play. As the game went into the final quarter, JT slid home a goal to give us hope. With all the play in the oppositions half, Jamie shot from the edge of the box to score an equaliser just before full time.
In extra time, there were chances for both teams and it looked as though we might grab a victory in the dying seconds. But after two periods of extra time it was 2-2 and the victory was shared.
We were all extremely proud of all the players who showed real determination and spirit to fight back against the odds. Well done to everyone and thanks to all the spectators for their support.
The cup goes to Stephen Freeman next term; we look forward to getting our hand on it in term 6!

Second half of the high 5 semi-final

Chilton came to play with fire in their bellies – keen to redress the balance from the previous half (they started with a 4-1 deficit). They won the toss and confidently took the first few passes. Dan and his team fought like troopers, running rings around the opposition. JT scored a hat-trick and Jordan put one through the hoop in the third quarter. Chilton were fast, confident, accurate and they REALLY wanted it. A disastrous start to the final quarter for Ladygrove could have been the start of Chilton's road to victory, however our team did not cave into the strength of the visitors. Dan again proved his reliability in shooting positions and rewarded us with another two goals, ably supported by Katie. Final score: 10-2!

Another brilliant victory for Ladygrove – due to a superb effort from everyone in the team (and not to forget the expert coaching from the irrepressible Mrs Manthorpe!). We look forward to playing either Fir Tree or South Moreton in the finals.

Rain stopped play!!

The high 5 team travelled to South Moreton for the semi-finals of the Garrick League excited at the prospect of another game. As the first whistle went, rain started to fall, but we pressed on eagerly. Dan scored two goal against Chilton and they pulled one back..and the rain fell. During the second quarter Matthew and Becky scored one each...and the rain fell. In fact, the rain fell so hard that Mrs Manthorpe's score sheet started to disintegrate. The match was halted and we went inside for a few minutes to see if the rain would stop – it didn't. The coaches decided that the children would prefer it if the games were completed, and we will therefore schedule the second half of the match for as soon as possible. So far – Ladygrove 4 Chilton 1.

Visit to Wantage Museum

Year 2 visited Wantage museum today to find out more stuff about the Vikings and Anglo Saxons.
They met a frightening warrior, made some shoes, some clay pots and dressed up (again!).
Looks like they had a good time.

Vale of White Horse Primary Schools Open 6 A Side Tournament

Ladygrove Football Team made it through to the semi-finals of the Vale 6-a-side tournament yesterday after school with three determined victories against Hagbourne (1-0), Whitchurch (2-0) and Stephen Freeman (1-0).  Goal scorers were Dan, Joe, other Dan and James with excellent crosses and support from the rest of the team.  The team then played a valiant, closely fought match against Cholsey but lost 0-1 so did not make the final.  Well done for superb team spirit though boys!  And Thank You to parents and Mrs Manthorpe for their full-throated support!

Garden makeover

25 families joined staff on Sunday to give the Foundation Stage / Year 1 garden a makeover on a sunny Sunday morning. Walls were scrubbed, the pergola painted, flower and vegetable beds constructed and filled, stepping stones created ... . It was great to see so many helpers come along; a big thank you to everyone.

Maths week

We've had Maths Week at school this week. An opportunity for the children to get excited about the subject with daily maths wiggle and giggle, maths open classrooms and today, a carousel of maths activities in the hall provided by each year group for children to try out.

High 5 Club versus the staff

The annual match against the staff started with an early goal from Matthew, whilst Miss Tustian and Mrs Jones looked slightly redundant in goal-scoring roles for the staff and Dan and Callum worked hard to ensure it stayed that way! Prolific shooting from Dan and Katie in the 2nd sixth resulted in 5 further goals, however Miss Scammell scored two super goals for the staff, despite the fantastic efforts of Thomas and Ellis. A further goal for the children came from Oliver in the next sixth, and was matched by one from Miss Strange. During the 4th sixth, Mrs Tucker was reprimanded for arguing with the umpire Mrs Lee scored, and Miss Scammell bagged another shot – all part of the children's plan to lull the staff into a false sense of security!! Back on court came Dan – keen to sort out the situation – and scored another goal. Mr Burrows asked the score before the final sixth so that he “could play properly now” - however Thomas was having none of it! Despite the best efforts of Mr Burrows and the staff team, Thomas put one more ball through the net. The final score High 5 Team 9 – Staff 5.

Thank you to every member of high 5 club for taking part. Thank you to all the staff for playing with good humour. Thanks also to the spectators and to everyone for their donations to Sport Relief.

Squeak squeak

Ladygrove football team squeaked through to the finals of the Vale 7-a-side tournament this morning with a 1-0 victory against Cholsey. A first half goal from Joe after a pass from Zack flicked on by Dan. Ladygrove needed some excellent defence from Dan and Jamie to hold on to the lead. It was great to get support from year 6 and year 1 from the touchline. The final will be during the last week of term. Well done team!!

Manor Tournament 2010 - part 2: High Five

Ladygrove were the team to beat – at least that was the word on the Manor field, early on Saturday morning – no pressure! The superb seven – Matthew, Thomas, Jordan, Becky, Katie, Mirren and Darcey dismissed Fir Tree (1-0), Manor B (4-0), Northbourne (2-0) and Chilton (3-0) easily, however the next game against Hagbourne was more keenly fought. Becky and Mirren had their work cut out, marking the Hagbourne attackers; however, they did an amazing job. They were matched at the front by Jordan and Thomas, who managed to score 3 great goals between them. The final score was 3-1. In the final game – against local rivals All Saints – we were held to a 0-0 draw. A staggering number of wins meant that Ladygrove were in the semi-finals against Stephen Freeman. Further goals from ever-effective goal-scoring combination of Katie and Darcey put us through to the finals – for the third year running. This time the team faced Fir Tree. With Matthew as captain, the team took their places. With Matthew and Jordan at the front and Thomas and Becky at the back with Katie as centre - could we lose? Of course not! Final score 3-1.

A great morning out - everyone in the team scored. Everyone played their best as great team-players. Many congratulations to a fantastic team, whose behaviour was exemplary throughout the tournament, and thank you to the parents who turned out to support us again.

Manor Tournament 2010 - part 1: Football

Once again, we took two football teams to the Manot Tournament this year; the A team captained by Joe, Josh in charge of the B team.
The morning got off to a brilliant start with the A team hammering Northbourne 8-0. A less convincing 1-0 win against Hagbourne followed for the A team and they finished the group stages with a 0-1 defeat against Fir Tree. The As felt confident as they were drawn against Berinsfield in the quarter finals but they suffered a surprise defeat and went out feeling disappointed. Never mind - there's another match this week!

The B team were less successful with three defeats in their group matches. But the year 6 boys who were having their last chance to play for the school had a great time. We heard they had being doing lots of extra practice beforehand - in school and in the back garden! A special mention for Harry who was kept busy in goal and played brilliantly! As one of the parents commented: "Well done guys you did yourself and your school proud."

'ere we go etc

The football team booked their place in the semi-finals of the Vale 7-a-side Football tournament with wins in the play off against Manor School and Goring. An excellent first half against Manor saw Ladygrove 4-0 up, the match finally finishing at 4-1. We were expecting a tougher fight against Goring and we were 2-0 down after 10 minutes. But a brilliant performance in the second half gave Ladygrove a 4-2 victory by the final whistle. JT was top scorer with 6 goals in all.

Two from High-Five

Here are two more amazing blog posts from the irrepressible Mrs Manthorpe who, as usual, got so excited she forgot the camera ... again
High vs Northbourne


Another cold afternoon – another high 5 match! Again under Captain Dan's leadership, the team took an early lead, scoring 6 goals in six minutes. Ellis, our newest recruit, showed he had truly earned his position in the team by scoring two fabulous goals in the second quarter. Charlotte was also on form and scored. As always, Matthew made it look easy, and was ably assisted by Mirren, who had her best scoresheet of the season with 4 great goals. In the final quarter, the mean, keen goal-scoring team of Dan and Jordan excelled themselves and stuck another 7 seven goals through the net.

In fairness, Northbourne's main players were on a residential trip, but our players looked like professionals and were, once again, fabulous ambassadors for Ladygrove Park School.

Ladygrove 22 Northbourne 0

 
An important match


Fir Tree's bus wouldn't start, so the high 5ers got in some important goal shooting practice before the opposition arrived. Fir Tree are our biggest rivals in the league, with similar goal differences to our own. Scoring the first goal was captain Dan. Hot on his heels came Darcey's goal, and then another two for Dan. Good advice came from the mums – who are now playing netball of their own! The second quarter was so well matched that no goals were scored. Ellis, playing his first league match did well, finding great spaces and making accurate passes. An early lead in the third quarter caught us slightly unaware, however, Ollie soon fought back with two fantastic goals. In advance of the final quarter, Dan and Katie were discussing tactics – these obviously paid off as, despite Fir Tree's two goals, Dan pulled another two out of his hat. Becky and Jordan played, as always, quite brilliantly – passing accurately and not giving the opposition any opportunities to get far ahead. The final score - Ladygrove 8 Fir Tree 3 reflected the hard work and determination of this excellent team.

After-school Olympics

The After School Club held their own Winter Olympic games last week - but without the snow! All the children joined in with slalom big feet, paired skiing, curling, figure dancing and relay races. The red team, Jack, Angus, Rosie and Megan, took gold with 24 points. It was a fun session – budding ice dancing stars  perhaps.