Top 10% Nationally - Bishop Thomas Grant School

She was satisfied that they were, and wasproved right three months later: “The place waswonderful, and we stayed at the Hotel Greiserhof,which is family-run, with a very caring andfriendly staff.They told us that the BTG group was the best theyhad ever experienced, because our behaviourwas excellent. We were asked to come back inthe future.We had top skiing conditions and we were veryclose to the ski runs, because it is more than twothousand metres above sea level. Most of thestudents were on red and blue runs, but some wenton black runs, which are for experienced skiers.Fiercely competitiveThe 2012 Lambeth LondonYouth Games Trampoliningsquad was made up ofstudents from BishopThomas Grant Schooland was managed byMiss Wells the Head ofGeography, who is atrampolining coach.Andrew Glazebrook in Year 12acted as the assistant coach andhelped the team manager inpreparing the team, which wasselected through trials open to allLambeth students.The instructors were very popular, and we wenton all sorts of expeditions, for example nighttimecross country skiing and snow-shoeing. Wevisited Innsbruck and had games and quizzes inthe evenings.Everything was geared to our needs.”Four students madecomments:“I have skied before in Poland, Slovakia, Austriaand Italy, since I was five years old, so I was in theadvanced group. I did fall over a couple of timesthough, and I got ‘frostnip’ in my knuckles. It wasgreat to make new friends.” (Ewa Kunysz, Year 9)Intensive training was needed forthe two prescribed routines, withfierce competition from nationaland international gymnasts whoattend the top trampolining clubsfrom across the London boroughs.Given the level of competition,team members were very pleasedto achieve eighteenth place outof the thirty-three boroughs, andthey are already aiming higher fornext year.Trampoliners Christina Lemince, PaulinaLisiecka, Sam Grover, Andrew Glazebrook,Nicole Gondek.Kühtai waswonderfulLast October, Ms Keane from the PE departmentvisited Kühtai, Austria’s highest ski resort,which is not far from Innsbruck.“I was just starting skiing, but I moved up andbecame the ‘most improved skier’. I lovedthe food at the hotel, especially the desserts.”(Michael Page, Year 9)“I was put into the beginners’ group and liked it.The hotel was warm and comfortable, and theymade us feel welcome. I enjoyed the disco wehad in the evening.” (Shannon Boyle, Year 8)“Thanks to Patrick, our instructor, I improvedquickly, but at first I tended to bump into people.On our way to the resort by coach, we saw anavalanche in the distance, but nowhere near us.”(Jordan Green, Year 10)SPORTS REPORTFootballIt was the ‘nearly season’ forfootball. We made fantasticprogress in the English Schoolscompetition where the Year 10team reached the last thirty-two,the first time we have achievedthis. We also made four cup finalsin the South London League andthe South London Cup, but luckwas not with us as we did notcome away with one trophy, eventhough the Year 11 team dominatedtheir final. However, in their debutseason the girls Key Stage 3 teamwon the South London League. Thegirls improved in every game andhopefully they can continue doingso next season, in the brand newkit we will be getting as part of theJack Petchey award for leadershipwithin the department.Congratulations and good luck toViv Soloman, who will be leavingus after his GCSEs to play forBirmingham City FC on a two yearscholarship.CricketAt the time of writing we have madeanother excellent start to the seasonwith the Under 15s winning all butone of our matches. Our only defeatcame at the hands of DulwichCollege. Our batting has muchimproved this year with Arun ButlerKowlessar and Luca Dos Santosboth making centuries. Should wecontinue with this excellent formwe are set to make the finals dayin at least two competitions wherewe will have to raise our game evenfurther to match the private schools.RugbyWe enjoyed another successfulseason in 2011/12 with both the Year7 and 8 teams performing strongly.Year 8 improved from last year andfinished top of the Surrey Leagueafter winning all of their games toadd to a friendly victory againstWhitgift and becoming the firstever BTG team to enter the RosslynPark National Schools SevensTournament. Adeyemi Animashaunand Bryce Botsoi led the try scoringstakes as usual but special mentionmust go to Carlos Rodriguez whosetackling often saved the day andalso to Ronan Joyce who captainedthe side admirably.Year 7, led by James Sheppard,proved to be an extremely keenyear group. Coached by the RFU’sGirls KS3 Footballers in alphabetical order: Chiara Alfonso, Sophia Antoniades, Saron Berhe, Shannon Boyle, Viktoria Bukaczewska,Amanda Burrows, Cristina Carnevale, Vanessa Julio, Ana Mendes De Sousa, Megan Murphy, Chloe O’Doherty, Carina Rodregues,Monique Ryan-Long, Shannon Silva, Rachael Sobowale, Laura Texeira, Katherine Warchol.Paul Wilson, who has committedhimself to BTG rugby for anotheryear, the team managed a thirdplace finish in the league. MarioMeza, Nicholas Sankey and DaneDuffus all led from the front andtheir physicality earned them a trialwith the Harlequins RFC Academy.Harlequin Academy players Nick Sankey andMario MezaWith a new games afternoon nextyear, the commitment of variouscoaches and fixtures arranged withincreasingly more experiencedopposition, BTG rugby has theopportunity to become somethingreally special.Mr BlackburnAthleticsBTG have made a solid start to theathletics season with a numberof accolades won at local, regionaland national Level. The term startedoff well at the Lambeth G & T SuperEight mini Olympics at EGA. Anumber of our talented athletes gotthe chance to compete and displaytheir talents in front of none otherthan double gold winning OlympianDenise Lewis. A brilliant afternoonwas had by all students, with anumber of medals won.At the 9/10 Lambeth Championshipswe had a staggering twenty podiumfinishes with ten of them resultingin gold medals!Due to the senior team’s success thefollowing students were selectedto represent Lambeth at theLondon Games: Michella Obijaku,Giacomo Spagnoli, Jordan Green,Andre Bingham, Alex Denby, JamesOdeleye, Puis Gikunoo, De NeiroQueva. Well done to them all!A special mention must be reservedfor two of our potential superstars:Michella Obijaku and GiacomoSpagnoli have won a numberof regional and national titles inthe last two months. Michella iscurrently ranked second in the UKfor Under 15s Shot Put, recentlysetting a personal best of 12.47m.She also came second at theNational Aviva Championships inthe multi-event discipline. At theViv Solomon,who has beensigned forBirminghamCity FCItalian Youth Olympics Giacomohas won gold in the javelin, settinga new personal best of 35.09, andsilver in both discus and shot.Mr ShedwickKamil Dreczkowski, Karate British ChampionGold and Adult London ChampionThe PE Departmentwould like to thankand congratulate allthe students who haverepresented the school thisseason. It is our pleasureto take you to fixtures andallow you to develop andshowcase the talents givento you by God. We wouldalso like to thank all thestaff that have supportedthe department again thisyear, and the parents whohave come and supportedour teams so regularly. Wehope to announce news ofa new ceremony where youcan come and celebratethe sporting achievementof our students.10 11