Sports News

We had a fantastic last game of the football season as St Matthew’s beat St Peter’s 5-2. There were some superb goals from Theo, Kodi, Joel & Caleb. Well done to all the year 6 boys, you’ve represented the school so well this year. As for the year 5s in the team, we look forward to doing it all again next season.

Well done to the Year 4 & 5 children that took part in an 8 hole golf competition at Stock’s Green school. It was a great afternoon and all the children had so much fun. St Matthew’s finished in 2nd place with a total score of 138 points.

Huge congratulations to the girls football team that finished in equal 2nd place at the inter school tournament. They were playing against 12 teams that regularly play in the schools league so to win 5 games, draw 1 & lose 2 is pretty amazing. There were some spectacular goals from Rosie, Grace & Naomi. Lilly, Leah & Eva showed some brilliant defending skills and Megan was incredible in goal making many great saves. I’m so proud of the whole team, as they performed well above my expectations. Well done girls.

Congratulations to the Year 1/2 Rapid Fire Cricket team that finished in 2nd place yesterday at the inter schools tournament. There were 12 schools taking part and all the team played really well, winning three games and losing one. It was a closely fought competition with the winners only beating us by 1 point. Well done all of you.

We had another great afternoon at the tag rugby festival at the Juddians Rugby Club. All the boys had so much fun taking part in the skill activities and they won two games and drew one against other schools.

We had great fun today at a Year 3-5 girls Tag Rugby Festival at Tonbridge Juddians Rugby Club. The girls had the opportunity to play skill based activities and then had some friendly games against other schools. There was lots of excitement and laughter and hopefully a new found love for Rugby.

We had the most amazing morning at the inter schools gymnastics competition at the Angel Centre. St Matthew’s had four teams, consisting of four children in each and two teams performed the advanced routine and two teams performed the intermediate routine. The team made up of Bella, Violet, Poppy & Naomi achieved a fantastic 2nd place in the Advanced competition and the team made up of Enya, Maurice, Daisy & Bethany achieved another fantastic 2nd place in the intermediate competition. Poppy, Enya & Daisy scored a 9.9 out of 10 in the bench routine which was amazing but Maurice managed to top them all by scoring a complete 10 out of 10 which was incredible. Daisy achieved the highest combined score for St Matthew’s recording 28.9 out of 30. I am so proud of every single member of the team as they have practiced so hard over the last month and really deserved their wonderful scores

     

Well done to the girls football team that played a friendly game against Temple Grove this afternoon. Both teams had not played a competitive game before but they all played really well and had fun. St Matthew’s won the game 2-0, with both goals being scored by Grace.

Well done to the Year 3 & 4 hockey team that played a friendly game against Speldhurst School this afternoon. The score was 5-3 to St Matthew’s and it was a really exciting game. All the children played really well and considering they had never played as a team before, I was very impressed with them.

There was another fantastic performance this afternoon from the netball team that played in an inter school tournament at SKA. They finished in 3rd place losing only one game by one point. Mrs Cawfield and Mrs Stammers said they were amazing and they were proud of all the girls.

Congratulations to the boys football team that beat St Mark’s School 4-1 this afternoon. It was a really good performance from all the boys with goals coming from Kodi, Riley, Joel & an own goal.

Well done to the Year 6 hockey team that took part in the inter schools tournament this afternoon. They played really well winning 2 games, drawing 2 & losing 1. They all gave 100% effort and I was really proud of them as they haven’t had much chance to practice as a team.

Well done to the girl’s netball team that played a friendly game against Speldhurst yesterday. They all played really well and St Matthew’s won 9-3 & Naomi was named player of the match.

On Thursday 25th January St Matthew’s had their first football game of the season against Skinners Kent Primary School. It was a fantastic start to the season as they won 3-0 with a hat-trick from Zak. All the boys played really well including Mithan who was our goalkeeper and he was representing the school for the very first time. Well done boys.

On the 13th December 2023, St Matthew’s took part in the inter schools indoor athletics festival at the Angel center in Tonbridge. There were eleven other schools taking part and we were crowned champions for the 8th year running. The whole team were fantastic, particularly in the jumping events as we recorded the furthest distances out of all the schools. Congratulations to all the children for such a brilliant performance.

Huge congratulations to the Year 2 rapid fire cricket team that finished in 3rd place today at the Kent School Games Finals in Sittingbourne. After a slow start they really got into the swing of the game winning 6 games in a row. There was only 2 points between first and third place, so it was a huge achievement for the whole team and a brilliant finish to yet another year of great quality sport at St Matthew’s. Well done guys you were all fantastic.

We had another fun packed afternoon today at the colour dash run at Dunorlan Park. The children had the best time throwing paint at each other and running around the lake. Well done to Joel and George who finished in the top ten in their race.

 

We had great fun at a Wimbledon tennis event this afternoon. The children had a carousel of 10 different tennis skill stations, including racket skills and agility. After this we had a tennis themed quiz which we scored 8 out of 10 and we were also given strawberries whichwere very tasty. George had done some amazing revision about Wimbledon and produced a wonderful fact file for us.

Well done to the Year 6 rounders team that played in the first ever inter schools tournament at the Weald of Kent School this afternoon. They displayed some great batting skills scoring many rounders and I was really proud of their mature attitude and sportsmanship when dealing with some dubious scoring.

Huge congratulations to the Year 3/4 Cricket team that were runners up in today’s inter schools tournament. All the children played so well displaying some fantastic bowling and fielding. Well done guys you made me very proud.

We had a fantastic time this afternoon at the Year 2 & 3 Dodgeball Festival at St Greg’s School. We had 2 teams, the Marvels and the Cheetahs and they were both brilliant. There were 3 groups of 5 teams and both of our teams won the group they were in. The Cheetahs won all 5 of their games and the Marvels won 4 & drew 1. In the final game our teams had to play each other, resulting in a very narrow win for the Marvels. Thanks to Henry Shepherd who was brilliant as my other team manager and he looked after the Marvels really well. Well done guys you were all great.

   

Huge congratulations to Caleb who was presented with the St Matthew’s sports personality of the year award today. He has been in virtually all our school teams this year and he has been a great winner and a gracious loser. He always gives 100% effort in anything he does and he has a wonderful attitude to sport. Well done Caleb you are a very worthy winner.

We had great fun at the Year 3 & 4 Tri Golf Festival this afternoon. Ten schools came to take part, and in total there were 80 children showing off their golfing skills. Huge thanks to the St Matthew’s sports leaders who did the scoring on each event for me and I got several compliments from teachers from other schools saying how polite and supportive they were. Thanks also to the wonderful PTA ladies who sold refreshments last cakes.

 

Well done to the Year 5/6 cricket team that took part in the inter schools tournament today. They played well against some very strong schools, winning 3 games and losing 3 games.

Huge congratulations to the Year 1/2 cricket team that were champions at todays inter schools rapid fire cricket competition. They all played so well winning all their games convincingly. The team will now progress to represent the Tunbridge Wells area in the Kent School Games finals in Canterbury on July 11th. Well done guys you were all fantastic.

We are delighted to announce that St Matthew’s have achieved the School Games Platinum Mark Award for the 2022/23 academic year.
The School Games Mark is a Government-led award scheme launched in 2012, facilitated by the Youth Sport Trust to reward schools for their commitment to the development of competition across their school and into the community, and we are delighted to have been recognized for our success.
We are extremely proud of our pupils for their dedication to all aspects of school sport, including those young volunteers, leaders and officials who made our competitions possible.
As part of our application, we were asked to fulfil criteria in the areas of participation, competition, workforce and clubs, and we are pleased that the hard work of everyone at our school has been rewarded this year.

We had the most amazing time this evening at the Let’s Dance Festival at the Stag Theatre in Sevenoaks. There were 13 schools taking part and our girl’s performance of the ‘Circle of life’ was incredible and every one of them danced so well. It was a big stage and there were 500 people in the audience but the girls were all so confident, even little Lottie who is only Year 2. Huge thanks to Rebecca Smith who was my right hand woman and did an amazing job plaiting hair and face painting. Thanks also to all the parents and family that came to watch, you’ve been so supportive and it’s really appreciated. Well done girls you made us all at St Matthew’s very proud

Huge congratulations to the Year 5 Handball A team & B team that respectively finished 1st & 3rd in the inter schools Handball competition this afternoon. The A team were superb winning the group stages then progressing to the semi final where they beat Claremont 10-1 & then they won the final 2-0 against Woodlands. The whole team was brilliant, scoring so many goals. Grace was incredible as goalkeeper, the hardest position on the pitch, making many fantastic saves. The B team also won their group stage games but lost to Woodlands in the semi final. Again they scored lots of goals and really well done to Ashton & Theo who were great in goal. A special thank you to Mrs Brierley who very kindly managed the B team whilst I looked after the A team.
Well done guys you were all amazing.

Well done to all the girls that took part in the inter schools gymnastics competition this morning at the Angel Centre in Tonbridge. We had 4 teams, 2 of which did the advanced level routine and 2 teams that did the intermediate level routine. All the girls had to do a floor routine, bench routine and a vault. The final results were incredibly close and we finished in runner up position. Congratulations to Poppy who scored the highest marks for St Matthew’s gaining 28.5 out of 30 for her 3 disciplines. A great effort girls well done you did us proud.

St Matthew’s were also taking part in the Year 5/6 Hockey Tournament today. The whole team played brilliantly finishing in 4th place overall out of 18 teams. There were some spectacular goals from Freddie and Julian and amazing attacking play from Georgie and Amelia. Well done guys that’s the highest finish we’ve ever had in the hockey tournament.

Huge congratulations to the Year 3/4 hockey team that finished in 4th place out of 16 schools at today’s inter school tournament. This is the highest finishing position St Matthew’s have ever achieved in this event and I was so incredibly proud of them. The amount of effort given by each child was exceptional and they literally played their socks off. We finished first in our group stage games, winning three games and drawing three. They then progressed to the semi finals, where although the standard of play was much higher, they still fought hard to gain their finishing position. Considering we found it a little difficult to find time to practise, the whole team was amazing and their hard work and determination was really impressive. A fantastic result guys, well done.

on Thursday 2nd March St Matthew’s took part in the inter schools swimming gala. I was really proud of the whole team who despite being incredibly nervous achieved many great results. A special mention needs to go to Flynn who was our only year 5 boy and he swam three individual races as well as a relay. Everyone showed great courage against some very talented swimmers from other schools and they definitely did St Matthew’s proud.

Huge congratulations to the boy’s football team that beat St Augustine’s 3-2 on Wednesday 8th February. It was the best performance we’ve seen all season with superb goals from Louis and Freddie. The boys really played as a team with some outstanding performances from Caleb in defence and Henry who was in goal for the first time.

Huge congratulations to the netball team that beat St James’ B team 13-1. this is yet another superb performance from the girls who have been brilliant all season.

On Wednesday 11th January 2023 ten children attended the Infant Literacy festival at the Angel Centre in Tonbridge. we had a fantastic time taking part in different skilled activities. The children did skipping, balancing, catching, bowling and target throwing.

On Wednesday 7th December 16 year 3/4 children took part in the inter schools indoor athletics competition. There were 320 children taking part from 20 schools and our results were as follows.
Hector = 1st in the chest push
Lilly-Mai = fastest 1 lap race
George = 1st Target throw
Henry = 1st Shot putt
Joel = 1st Long Jump & fastest 1 lap race
Anna = 1st target throw
Year 4 boys = fastest relay time
Year 3 girls = fastest relay time
Year 3/4 mixed relay team = fastest time.
Hector was also awarded the most improved person for his chest push and Anna was awarded the most improved target throw. These results are amazing and I’m so incredibly proud of the whole team that gave up many lunchtimes to practice.

On Thursday 24th November St Matthew’s took part in the inter schools’ basketball tournament at Skinners Grammar School. Our team all played really well winning all of their group stage games, meaning they finished top of their group. We then progressed to the semifinals where there was some very strong opposition and after several highly competitive games, we finished in 4th place out of 16 schools. Well done to the whole team, it was a great performance.

On Tuesday 22nd November our netball team played against Southborough school in the netball league. All the girls played really well meaning the final score was 6-0 to St Matthew’s. Rianna was exceptional, scoring several; goals and she was awarded player of the match.

On Wednesday 16th November the St Matthew’s girls’ basketball team took part in the inter school’s tournament at Hayesbrook School. All the girls were amazing winning all five of their group games convincingly and then progressing to the semifinal where they won 13-6. The final was a really evenly fought game and the amount of effort the girls gave was brilliant but unfortunately, they lost in the last few seconds 9-8. Well done to the whole team you definitely made us very proud.

On Wednesday 12th October we took part in the first cross country race of the season at Mascalls Academy in Paddock Wood. Eleven schools took part with over 200 children running. St Matthew’s achieved some amazing results, the most outstanding coming from the two newest members of our school, Anna and Julian, who finished in 5th and 4th respectively in their races. The sibling rivalry was great to watch!! All the children ran so well and they should be very proud of themselves.

We had great fun on Wednesday 5th October at the Girls only tag rugby festival at Tonbridge Juddians. Despite the rain all the girls had the best time practising tagging and playing wrestling games.

What a fantastic afternoon we had on Friday 1st July at the Colour dash run at Dunorlan Park. It was the best way to finish off a very busy week. All the children had the best fun and even though Louis was unable to run, having injured himself the previous day, he still had the pleasure of throwing paint at his team mates. a very good wash was needed by all.

 INTER SCHOOLS SWIMMING GALA

The most incredible thing happened on the evening of the 23rd June when St Matthew’s won the inter schools B league swimming gala. We were ecstatic when they announced that we had won because we have finished last for so many years. I can’t begin to express how proud I am of each and every one of the them as they were all so brave and exceeded my expectations of them. We achieved four 1st place finishes, five 2nd place finishes and two 3rd place. A special mention for Grace and Flynn who are year 4 but swam against swimmers two years older than them. This was a brilliant end to one of the most successful years St Matthew’s has ever had.

We had great fun at the Year 2 & 3 dodgeball developmental competition on Wednesday 22nd June. This was an event for year 2 children to get used to playing competitive sport alongside older children. The 2 teams did us proud as usual with the A team winning 6 out of 8 games and finishing in 2nd place and the B team winning 5 out of 8 games and finishing in 4th place. it was incredibly hot and there was very little rest between games, so well done to all the children.

We are very proud of Florence who has been awarded the Sports Personality of the year award. She has been in nearly every school team since Year 1 and she has won and lost with a gracious sporting attitude. She has great ability at every sport she tries and we hope she keeps developing her sporting skills at secondary school.

Well done to the Year 6 cricket team that played really well on Wednesday 25th May against some very talented teams. They won 3 games and lost 1 in the group series and then narrowly lost to St Mark’s in the quarter finals. all our team did so well with some superb batting and fielding.

Congratulations to the Year 4 Tri-Golf team that won the inter schools competition on 17th May. They all did so well considering how hot it was and they achieved fantastic scores on each station. Also a massive thank you to the year 5/6 sports leaders that scored on each station and every teacher from the visiting schools said how polite and encouraging they were. We couldn’t have done it without them, they were a credit to the school.

On 11th May St Matthew’s took part in the year 3/4 dynamo Cricket Tournament where they finished in 2nd place. I was super proud of the whole team who won all their group stage games convincingly with some brilliant bowling from grace, Flynn & Theo. Megan was a superb batter scoring the most runs out of the team & Caleb, Zak, Eva & Louis fielded really well. this was a great achievement well done.

On the 4th May St Matthew’s entered 4 teams in the Key steps Gymnastics competition. There were 32 teams taking part and we achieved some fantastic results:

Team 2 (Connor, daisy, Grace & Leah) finished in 2nd place.

Team 1 (Olivia, Kiarna, Violet & Joel) & Team 3 (Lottie, Rianna, Poppy & Flynn) finished in equal 3rd place.

Team 4 (JJ, Jasmine, Lilly & Eva) finished in 4th place.

These were amazing results and I’m so proud of all the children.

On 5th May St Matthew’s took two teams to the inter school handball tournament. Congratulations to the ‘A’ team that finished in 2nd place out of 12 schools. They won all their group stage games and narrowly lost to St James’ in the final. Well done also to the ‘B’ team that finished in 3rd place in their group stage. They improved more & more as the games went on with some great goalkeeping from grace.

On 27th April St Matthew’s won the inter schools rapid fire cricket tournament. The whole team were spectacular and they won all their group stage games convincingly. they progressed to the final where they beat Slade School 61 points to 41. The team now goes forward to the Kent Finals.

On 28th March St Matthew’s took part in the inter schools hockey tournament. The whole team worked so hard giving 100% in every game. They narrowly lost a couple of games but really grew into it winning their last two. The goals were scored by JJ, Enoch & Leah and there was some great defending from Kiyan.

on 21st March St Matthew’s took part in the year 3/4 hockey tournament. They had several closely fought games where they were unlucky to just lose out at the final whistle. They all put in a lot of effort and they improved the more games they played, winning the final game 4-1.

On Wednesday 9th February St Matthew’s won the inter schools basketball tournament. This was without doubt the best team we have ever had and they won all 5 of their group stage games with Harley & JJ scoring huge amounts of baskets. They beat St John’s school in the final quite convincingly and they were so dominant throughout it was wonderful to watch.

On Wednesday 2nd February the Year 3/4 athletics team were crowned champions at the Tonbridge & Tunbridge Wells inter schools sports hall athletics competition at the Angel Centre. All the children had practiced really hard for several weeks and it definitely paid off. There were some superb performances especially from the 3 boys (Ashton, Joel & Theo) in the long jump, who all jumped much further than they had in practice. Caleb & Megan were superb in the 5 strides & Vertical jump, achieving 9 meters & 40cm respectively & Eva jumped a brilliant 1 meter 84cm in the girls long jump. I couldn’t have asked anymore from the whole team as they were all amazing, beating 14 other schools to be crowned champions for the 3rd year running.

On Thursday 13th January the Year 2 children were crowned the Infant Agility Champions for the 7th year running which is an incredible achievement. The whole team was fantastic and all the lunchtime practises definitely paid off. They were very worthy winners beating 12 other schools.

Congratulations to the Year 5 children who have been selected to be St Matthew’s sports leaders. They spent a morning training for the role with Adam from the Tonbridge & West Kent Sports Partnership. They will have many responsibilities such as devising games for the younger children in the school, helping out at sports day and inter school competitions.

On Wednesday 8th December the 5/6 athletics team were crowned champions at the inter schools competition. This is the fourth year running that St Matthew’s have won this event, which is a huge achievement. The whole team was absolutely brilliant, especially the girls who won all 12 individual girls events, which is amazing.

On Wednesday 1st December eleven children took part in the inter schools cross country race at Mascalls School. All of the children ran really well in the cold and pouring rain, especially Florence who finished in 4th place in the 5/6 girls race & Caleb who finished 8th in the 3/4 boys race. The results were as follows:

Grace 13th

Eva 14th

Naomi 15th

Caleb 8th

Joel 9th

Kaiden 14th

Florence 4th

Alice 11th

Emily 14th

Jessica 17th

Joseph 20th

Huge congratulations to the girls basketball team that won the inter schools tournament on Wednesday 10th November at Hayesbrook School. They were absolutely spectacular winning all five of their games 22-10, 32-1, 17-7, 24-5,& 20-2. All their hard training definitely paid off as they were without doubt a force to be reckoned with.

We had a fantastic afternoon at the Inter schools tag rugby festival on Wednesday 13th October. It was so good to be out competing again after so long and the temn was fantastic. They won their first games against The Wells School 11-4, their second game against Claremont was an 8-8 draw, they won their third game against Bidborough 11-9 and they won their fourth game against Lamberhurst 4-3. They were the overall winners of their group which was a great achievement.

This year’s sportshall athletics competition was slightly different as it was done virtually. Each school had to get all of the children in Years 5 & 6 to do the 5 different events and then enter the scores into a spreadsheet that calculated the top 5 boys & girls in each year group from all the schools in Tunbridge Wells. For the 4th year running St Matthew’s were crowned champions beating 12 other schools.

On Wednesday 11th March St Matthew’s took part in the Year 3/4 Quicksticks Hockey tournament at Tunbridge Girls Grammar School. It was a fantastic afternoon of sport and the team finished in 3rd place which is the best position St Matthew’s have ever finished in at this age group. They narrowly missed out in the semi finals by 1 goal but went on to win the 3rd & 4th place game 2-1 against Claremont. All the team gave 100% and we were super proud of them all.

On Tuesday 10th March St Matthew’s took part in the rapid fire cricket tournament at Hayesbrook School. The team consisted of Theo, Caleb, Alfie, Louis, Zak,, Flynn, Leah & Naomi. All the children were absolutely brilliant and they ran and ran and just didn’t give up. It was a closely fought competition and St Matthew’s, Claremont & St James won all their games bar one meaning they all tied for first place.

Congratulations to Kookaburra class and 6W who won this terms whole school physical challenge. Every child in the class did a speed bounce for 20 seconds and then all their scores were added together to get a total score. Both classes achieved really high scores and won the trophies which they will keep in their classroom for the whole term.

On Wednesday 26th February St Matthew’s took part in the inter schools swimming gala. We had a great time and all the children were brilliant and overcame their nerves. I was so proud of them all especially Joseph who offered to fill in for someone in the year 6 boys breaststroke race even though he is Year 5. He was absolutely amazing and won the race in style. Jake and Abbie were also brilliant finishing in second place in their races. Well done to the whole team you made me very proud.

On Thursday 6th February St Matthew’s took part in the Inter Schools Year 3/4 sportshall athletics Festival in Tonbridge. For the first time ever there was a tie for first place between St Matthew’s and Claremont. We both scored a total of 472 points but because we won 10 out of the 24 events and Claremont won 7, St Matthew’s were crowned champions. This was a fantastic achievement as we have now qualified for Kent school games Finals for every year group.

On Wednesday 5th February the St Matthew’s sportshall athletics team took part in the Kent School Games Finals in Gillingham. The whole team were brilliant and we were crowned champions over 15 other schools from all over Kent. We scored 668 points which was 80 pointes more than 2nd place and there were some amazing performances from Humairaa in the Long jump (2m.02) & Triple Jump (6m.25) where she scored the highest out of all the athletes. Jake also jumped a personal best in the triple jump scoring 6 meters 10 cm. This is the second year running that St Matthew’s has won the Kent Finals which is an amazing achievement.

On Monday 3rd February the boys football team played against St Augustine’s. The weather was horrendous but the standard of play was really impressive. There were two great goals from Frazer and one from Charlie.This was a superb result as it has now put St Matthew’s up to 3rd in the league.

On Wednesday 29th January St Matthew’s attended an Active 30 Festival in Pembury Village Hall. Great fun was had by all and the children tried karate, boxing, boccia, yoga and team games. There was lots of smiles and laughter and they all really enjoyed trying new activities.

On Monday 27th January St Matthew’s played against St John’s School and they beat them 3-2 in torrential rain. There was an incredible goal from Lilly who was playing in her first ever game and 2 goals from Annalys, one in the very last minute of the game. St John’s are one of the best teams in the league so to beat them is an amazing achievement.

On Sunday 26th January Humairaa, Jake, Charlie and Nikki took part in the Kent Under 11 Decathlon Championships in Ashford. What an incredible morning St Matthew’s had with Humairaa being crowned the girl’s champion. Jake won a bronze medal in the boys competition and Charlie was 6th & Nikki was 8th. We are so proud of them all and to have four children in the top ten out of 150 competitors is remarkable.

On Thursday 23rd January ten year 2 children took part in the Infant Agility Festival in Tonbridge. All the children were amazing and the team were crowned champions for the 5th year running. They are now off to the Kent School Games Finals in June,

On Wednesday 15th January the boy’s football team played against St Peter’s School. St Matthew’s won 1-0 and there was a spectacular goal from Frazer. This was the team’s best performance of the season.

On Tuesday 14th January ten children took part in a developmental badminton festival at Hayesbrook School. we had a lovely afternoon and there was lots of fun and games helping the children improve their racket skills.

On Wednesday 11th December St Matthew’s took part in the first ever inter schools table tennis festival at Hayesbrook School. The children had very little experience and practise but they really shone and surprised us by winning nearly all their games. The A team which consisted of Charlie, Jake, Joshua and Aidan were fantastic winning all their games convincingly and being declared champions. The B team which consisted of Aysha, Annalys, Olivia and Anais also played really well and they finished in 4th place. Well done to them all they did us proud.

On 3rd December St Matthew’s became Year 5/6 Sports hall Athletics Champions for the 2nd year running. the team consisted of 30 children and they were all amazing. There were some outstanding performances from Humairaa who jumped 6m 37cm in the girls triple jump, the longest distance ever recorded. Harvey also threw an amazing 8m 75cm in the boys chest push and Aidan threw an incredible 19m 95cm in the boys javelin. The team now progress to the Kent school Games Finals in February were we will be defending champions!!

On Wednesday 27th November St Matthew’s took part in the Girls All star basket festival at Hayesbrook School. All the girls played brilliantly, winning 5 out of their 6 games. The team had to be girls from years 3-6 and Sally & Cally from Year 4 held their own against giant year 6 girls, even scoring baskets. I was really proud of them all, they were amazing.

Huge congratulations to Jake who won a gold and bronze medal at the British Open Taekwondo Championships. He won 2 bouts and lost one in the under 11 category which involved jumping over a bar to kick a pad. What a brilliant achievement, well done Jake.

We had a fantastic time at the Active 30 festival on 20th November at Mascalls School. The children took part in different sports and activities with the aim of getting them to fall in love with sport and maybe join clubs outside of school. The whole afternoon was non-competitive and was just a bit of fun for the children. The festival concentrated on alternative activities to inspire and engage children to reach their Active 30 minutes (in school and after) so they achieve the 60 minutes recommended by the Government. The children did yoga, Archery, team building games, badminton and cricket. They were awarded stickers for self belief & there was lots of laughter and fun.

On Tuesday 19th November St Matthew’s played football against Bishop’s Down School, drawing 1-1. This was by far their best game of the season so far and every player gave 100% effort. Harrison managed to score our goal and there was a spectacular performance from Aidan who offered to play in goal to replace our normal keeper who was ill. He made some incredible saves and was without doubt the player of the match. Well done boys.

On Wednesday 13th November eleven children took part in the cross country races at Mascalls School. All the children ran superbly well but there was one outstanding performance from Charlie in the Year 5/6 boys race. He managed to finish in 3rd place winning St Matthew’s first ever boys medal in cross country which is a truly great achievement. There was also other brilliant performances from Florence in the Year 3/4 girls race where she finished in 7th place and Annalys & Amelia who finished in 12th & 18th place. I was so proud of all the children and the results were as follows:

Florence 7th

On Tuesday 29th October the girls had their first match of the season against Paddock Wood Primary. The team consisted of Anais, Jess, Amelia, Abbie, Martha, Florence, Keeley & Annalys. It was a really exciting game and St Matthew’s had several shots at goal. Having gone 1-0 down in the second half the girls battled back and Keeley scored a brilliant goal, making the final score 1-1. The whole team have improved so much since last year and I was really proud of how well they all played.

On Friday 4th October two Year 3/4 teams took part in the Rugby World Cup Celebration Festival at Tonbridge Juddians Rugby Club. St Matthew’s represented Ireland and Canada and had so much fun taking part in rugby based games and then matches against other schools. All the children played really well but the star of the show was Cally who scored so many superb trys.

St Matthew’s had a great start to this year’s cross country season on Tuesday 1st October with some superb performances at the Somerhill School race. This is the most difficult course of all the races throughout the winter, but it didn’t seem to prevent any of our runners from achieving really impressive performances. Jonathan and Charlie ran really strongly in the year 5/6 races finishing in 15th & 16th places out of 155 runners and there were some great debut performances from Olly and Annalys. Well done to all the runners you did us proud.

We are delighted to announce that we have been awarded the School Games Platinum Award for 2018/19 & 2019/20. The School Games Mark is a Government led award scheme launched in 2012, facilitated by the Youth Sport Trust to reward schools for their commitment to the development of competition across their school and into the community, and we are delighted to have been recognised for our success.This is a huge achievement and thanks to all the people who have made this possible, especially the wonderful children that give 100% effort every time they wear a St Matthew’s sports shirt, you are all awesome.

St Matthew’s had a fantastic night at the TWKSSP sports awards on Thursday 18th July. We won PE Co-ordinator of the year, Lena was awarded runner up sports woman of the year, we got runner up school of the year and our 5/6 athletics team were runner up sports team of the year. We were so proud of our achievements and our amazing children that have made it possible.

    

Some Year 4 children took part in the Partnership Games at Somerhill School on Wednesday 17th July. During the morning the children had a go at bubble football, trampolining, ultimate frisbee, karate, yoga, boxing and archery. They had so much fun especially in the bubble football, although it was rather too hot to be stuck inside a plastic bubble. After lunch they played handball, winning 4 out of their 5 games. This was a lovely fun finish to a very busy but successful year.

On Tuesday 16th July St Matthew’s had an athletics team and golf team representing Kent in a Tri-Counties event against Sussex and Surrey at Polo Farm in Canterbury. These two teams were selected as a result of winning and coming second in the Kent School Games Finals earlier in the year. It was the biggest competition any of our children have ever taken part in and the whole day was really special. The athletics team competed superbly well with many of the team achieving personal best scores, The outstanding performer was Henry, who in the triple jump achieved 6 meters 50cm, an incredible distance. There was great excitement when we were announced runners up, only missing out on first by 16 points. The golf team also competed really well too scoring 80 points more than they did in the Kent Finals. They managed to get 4th place only 20 points behind 3rd place. There were four different sports happening throughout the day and Kent scored so highly in each one that they were announced overall champions. I was so proud of all the children in both teams as it’s the first time they have ever competed at an inter county level and to achieve what they did was amazing.

On Tuesday 9th July St Matthew’s took part in the Kent School Games for Rapid Fire Cricket at Ashford Cricket Club. The team consisted of Alice,Amelia,Jasmine, Freddie, Noah, Marios, Thomas, Barnaby, Sudan & Brandon. There were 11 schools there and each school had to play each other meaning 10 games of cricket for each school. The children played brilliantly and although they were really tired they still gave 100% effort. They managed to win 5 games, draw 1 and lose 4 which gave them 6th place overall. Well done to all the children I was really proud of you and the effort you gave.

On Thursday 20th June St Matthew’s became Infant Agility Kent School Games champions for the 3rd year running. The team travelled to Medway Park in Gillingham and consisted of Alice, Ruby, Laney, Amelia, Jasmine, Marios, Freddie, Henry, Sonny & Noah and they had to do 6 different events including chest push, long jump, speed bounce, javelin, shuttle run and skittles. The whole team performed incredibly well with Freddie managing an impressive 61 speed bounce and Henry achieving 1 meter 55 cm in the long jump. Their overall score was 156 points, 30 points more than second place. All the children had spent many lunchtimes practising and it really paid off. Congratulations guys you were amazing.

On Wednesday 19th June St Matthew’s become Champions at the Year 1/2 Pentathlon for the third time. The team consisted of Megan B, Megan W, Eva, Grace, Naomi, Lois, Zak, Caleb, Theo, Reggie, Marios, Freddie, Henry, Sonny, Daniel, Alice, Ruby, Laney, Amelia S & Jasmine and it was the first time the Year 1’s had represented the school. All the children performed so well particularly Naomi, Zak, Louis, Daniel, Sonny, Alice, Henry & Freddie who all achieved level 5 in their events which is the highest possible standard. Well done to the whole team you made us very proud.

On Tuesday 18th June the St Matthew’s Year 4 & 6 gymnastics team took part in the Kent School Games Finals in Maidstone. The Year 4 team consisted of Rosie, Madison, Lena & Charlie and the Year 6 team consisted of Olivia, Demi, Daisy & Joe. All the children performed really well, scoring really high marks in the three disciplines. The Year 4’s won a silver medal scoring 76.6, only 0.1 points behind first place. the Year 6’s won a bronze medal scoring 77.6 points. This is a huge achievement as there are so many talented gymnasts in the county.

On Monday 17th June St Matthew’s took 3 teams to the inter school dodge ball tournament at Hayesbrook School. This was the first time we had taken part in this sport and all the children played so well. The A team consisted of Petch, Charlie, Erin, Ateefa, Theo & Joe and they won all 6 of their group games & then progressed to the next round where they also won 4 more games. The B team consisted of Harrison, Olivia, Harry,Annalys, Jaimin & Nikki and they won all their 6 group games progressing to the next round where they won 3 out of 4 games only losing one against our A team. The C team consisted of Aiden, Joshua, Demi, Lucy, Tinashe & Henry and they won 3 games, drew 2 and lost 1 in the group games and then won 2, lost 2 in the next round.

On Wednesday 12th June St Matthew’s took two teams to the Tag Rugby Festival at Tunbridge Wells Rugby Club. Yet again the weather was absolutely horrendous with lashing rain and it made it really difficult for the children to play. The A team consisted of Theo, Jake, Nikki, Humairaa, Abbie, Freddie, Jonathan & Lucy and they played really well winning 3 games and losing 2. The B team consisted of Harvey, Ganeshai, Annalys, Jessica, David, Keeley, Henry & Aysha and they won 2 games, lost 1 and drew 1. Well done to all the children who persevered through terrible conditions.

On Monday 10th June St Matthew’s took part in an athletics festival at Tonbridge School track. The weather was absolutely horrendous and all the children were saturated and cold.The Year 3/4 team consisted of Leah, Freya, Sally, Lily, Lena, Lacey, Harrison, Aiden, Oliver, Charlie, Toby & Joshua and they battled through the conditions and performed really well finishing in 4th place our of 9 schools. As the Year 6’s were away on their residential trip the Year 5’s had to step up and take their place. The team consisted of Humairaa, Aysha, Martha, Anais, Alana, Theo, Leon, Nikki, Jonathan, Harvey & Jake and they too performed really well. There was a brilliant triple jump from Humairaa who jumped 6 meters 05cm, which was very impressive considering the conditions. The team finished in 6th place out of 9 chools.

On Thursday 6th June two teams took part in the Year 2 Rapid Fire Cricket Tournament at the Nevill cricket ground. The A team that consisted of Barnaby, Daniel, Thomas, Marios, Alice, Amelia, Freddie & Noah played superbly well qualifying for the final. They only lost out by a few runs, but finishing in 2nd place was a huge achievement. The B team that consisted of Ruby, Betty, Jasmine, Hollie, Ellie, Eshan, Joseph & Riley also played really well and put so much effort into their games. They finished in 7th place after some hard fought games. Well done guys you were all fantastic.

On Tuesday 4th June two Year 5/6 teams and a Year 3/4 team took part in the inter schools handball tournament at St Gregory’s School. Despite it being a very soggy day, the Year 3/4 team which consisted of Charlie, Joshua, Toby, Aiden, Harrison, Lily, Evie and Freya played superbly well winning their games convincingly and finishing as the overall winners. The Year 5/6 teams also played well with many goals being scored by Petroc and Harry. They came up against some tough teams and the A team finished in 3rd place and the B team in 5th.

On Thursday 23rd May St Matthew’s took part in the inter schools Tri-Golf tournament at Tonbridge Golf centre. The team consisted of Charlie, Joshua, Aiden, Henry, Jaimin, Niamh, Alyssa, Maddie & Lily. There were 10 different disciplines for them to complete and right from the first one the whole team was brilliant, showing some great skill. They finished in first place with a spectacular score of 728 points, 281 more than 2nd place. They now go to the Kent Finals in June. Well done guys you were all amazing.

On Wednesday 22nd May two teams took part in the Year 5/6 inter schools Kwik cricket tournament at the Nevill cricket ground. The A team consisted of Tinashe, Joe, Petroc, Harry, Ishaan, Akil, Amelia & Erin. They played really well in the group stages winning 3 out of 4 games, then progressing to the quarter finals where they narrowly lost by 3 runs. The B team consisted of Theo, Dominic, James, Henry, Jack, Nicola, Becca & Lily and they also did well improving with every game they played, losing 3 games and winning 3. Well done to all the children, it was a lovely afternoon in the sunshine.

This award can be won by any child from Year R to Year 6 and the attributes required are enthusiasm, effort, talent, sportsmanship, respect and being a team player. This is only the second year that this award has been presented and I was really proud to award it to Erin from 6O. She has given us great pleasure over the past few years watching her improve and succeed in all the different sports she takes part in. She has represented the school on many occasions and she always makes us proud to have her as part of the team. She is a wonderful winner but also a gracious loser and she is always ready to offer advice and encouragement to others. This year she has performed superbly representing the school at virtually every sport we have taken part in. She is a valued member of St Matthew’s School and she will be greatly missed when she leaves to start secondary school in September. Congratulations Erin you are an all round superstar.