35 of our children from Years 4-6 took part in 'The Big Sing' last week at Leeds Town Hall. We joined hundreds of other children from Leeds schools to sing songs from 'On Yer Bike', a selection of songs about the Tour de France written by Alan Simmons. He was there himself to conduct a workshop and performance of the songs. Our children were impeccably behaved throughout the afternoon and sang their hearts out! They sang the French parts and the tricky harmonies brilliantly and have come away inspired to take part in other singing events, the next big one being The Young Voices concert at Sheffield Arena in January. A teacher from another school commented on the enthusiasm and confidence with which the children sang. We were very proud of them all!  Thank you to Mrs Ashley-Cooper and Mrs Goddard who spent their own time practicing the songs with the children in preparation for the event and to all the parents who no doubt helped the children at home too. 

All the hard work has paid off for the 10 children from Years 5 and 6 who took part in The Finale Concert this week at Leeds Town Hall. After a long rehearsal on Tuesday night, the children took to their seats on Wednesday night to fill the Town Hall with a truly amazing sound as they sang the songs from 'On Yer Bike'. They were joined by other young musicians, including a wind band, steel drums band and a strings orchestra. For the final song, 'Le Maillot Jaune', all of the musicians came together to produce a spine-tingling piece of music. The children looked smart, behaved beautifully and sang with pride. They were a real credit to our school and should be very proud of their achievements.

Sports Day was once again a fantastic example of sporting values and achievement with the children demonstrating their well-known determination and encouragement. Heavy rain half an hour before kick-off threatened to scupper plans but some hastily re-organised events meant we were able to get underway with minimal delay. There was much cheering throughout from the winners to the runners up and it was all done in good humour and friendly rivalry. Again our young athletes showed just what they are made of and the future of our already successful indoor and outdoor athletics teams looks very rosy indeed (much to Mr Chapman's delight!) Congratulations of course go to our eventual victors, Panthers, for their ultimate triumph but the competition owed everything to the valiant performances of those children in Tigers, Jaguars and Lions - well done everyone!

Well done too to the boys pairing of Joseph Edmonds and George Hargrave who won the Barry James Trophy and Hannah Stubbs who claimed the Callum Johnston trophy; both of which are awarded for sporting excellence over four years at Springbank.

On Thursday 12th June some of our Year 5 children had the opportunity to visit the John Charles centre of Sport for the Queen’s Baton Relay event. There were lots of other primary schools at the event as well as lots of media; we were very lucky to have our picture taken with the baton. Alongside having lots of pictures taken we were able to take part in three different activities being led by some international representatives. These were tennis, badminton and squash. The children had a fantastic time; we were very lucky to be invited to such a prestigious event.

The Springbank Rugby team have had a busy couple of weeks with the season beginning to draw to an end. Our mixed team of Year 5 and 6 boys and girls travelled to the John Charles Centre for Sport to take part in the Leeds finals of 'tag' rugby. As winners of the West Leeds tournament they were taking part against all the other winners from around the region. A solid defence saw them win enough group games to get through to the semi-finals but they were ultimately beaten at that stage to finish fourth overall. It was still a hugely impressive finish, however, for a school that has only really been playing rugby for the last two or three years and all the players involved could hold their heads high. As a result of their fourth-place finish they now have the honour of representing Leeds in a final competition at Leeds Metropolitan University on July 8th.  

Leading on from the success of the 'tag' team we also took part in our first ever full contact rugby tournament, The Culley Sevens, at Stanningley Rugby Club. The transition from tag to contact is huge and it was certainly a massive learning curve for our players. Facing teams from Hunslet who play contact week-in-week-out was a daunting prospect but our team held their heads high. They were beaten in their first two games, but only by one or two tries, and crucially they were scoring and tackling their hearts out. One try masterminded by Jack Hennigan and Charlie Bennett even drew a round of applause from the watching schools with one coach commenting that it was the 'try of the day.' Our third game in the knock-out stages ended with our first win where Luke Woodend provided a domineering display of power and fierce tackling. We were finally undone in the next game against a very well organised side to finish our competition but we are very proud to have recorded Springbank's first ever contact team in recent memory. Well done lads!