The Springbank Year 6 athletics team yesterday completed an impressive hat-trick by winning the Leeds West Indoor Athletics Championships for an incredible third year in succession. Our athletes first took gold in the new form of the competition in the year following on from the London Olympics and since that time we have become the team to beat out of almost 140 schools in our local area. Thursday night's competition was one of the closest seen in recent times and our usual rivals, Lower Wortley and Southroyd, were in determined mood as they looked to take the trophy out of our hands. Fierce determination from the Springbank girls saw them, remarkably, win every single one of their races on the day - that included the race of the night where a dropped baton looked to have knocked us out of the hurdles relay only for the girls to fight their way back from fifth place to win outright! The boys were equally determined against some very talented athletes from other schools and won the majority of their races on the night. However, Lower Wortley produced some amazing performances in the field events, including two of the longest triple jumps ever recorded in primary school history, so we knew the final result would be tight. In the end Springbank took the title by just ten points and they will now go through to the finals against the best schools in the city to be held in January. Well done athletes - as always you have done us proud! 

The Year 6 football team returned to Priesthorpe on Tuesday 20th October for the second of four rounds in the family of schools mini football league.

In the first of three matches, Springbank once again faced closest rivals Farsley Farfield. The game started very evenly with both sides looking likely to make a breakthrough. Luck was not on Springbank's side though, and Farfield took the lead with a powerful shot from outside of the goalkeepers D. The boys battled to the end but just couldn't break through the defence and were defeated 1-0. The team showed superb resilience and didn't let their heads drop, encouraging each other fantastically and going into the second of the nights games with confidence and determination to play the best they could.

Once again the game, which was against Calverley CofE, looked like it was balanced on a knife edge with both teams playing some fantastic passing football. Springbank were the first to pressure the goal and after a super ball from Temwisha, Jacob scored a superbly placed goal from a tight angle. This lifted the Springbank spirit and minutes later a super counter attack led to Luke playing Jacob in on goal for him to score his second of the game. The game ended 2-0 to Springbank, the team's first win of the academic year!

In the final game of the evening, we played Pudsey Bolton Royd. Springbank started the game as they finished the last and played their hearts out from the first whistle to the last. The breakthrough came after some lovely play from Theo to set up a fantastic finish from Temwisha. Shortly after, Luke followed the ball to the keeper and claimed a deflected goal to make it 2-0 to Springbank. The evening ended with Jacob's third goal following some fantastic footwork.

Once again the boys should be very proud of themselves and how they conducted themselves throughout. They showed superb sportsmanship and never stopped trying all evening. They were a credit to themselves and the school. We now enter a winter break, with the third and fourth rounds to be played after the Christmas holidays. A big thank you must also go to parents and carers for being fantastic supporters of the tournament and braving the chilly conditions to support the school team!

Year 6 were lucky enough to be offered the opportunity to take part in the Brownlee Triathlon at John Charles Centre for Sport. A group of 30 representatives travelled to the event which involved the three disciplines of swimming, cycling and running. After arriving at the centre we were met by a team of triathlon specialists who talked us through the competition before handing out kits and swimming hats. We then all gathered in the incredible swimming facilities to take part in our opening event where we were met by Olympic Gold Medal winner and European and Commonwealth Triathlon Champion Alistair Brownlee - wow! Alistair met the children as they entered the pool and chatted with them before they set off on their swim. After exiting the water the children then had a matter of 60 seconds to put on their shoes before they jumped onto a bike and started their circuits of the 400m track. Following the completion of the riding stage they then did a running lap before crossing the line to be met by Olympic Bronze medal winner and former World Triathlon Champion Jonny Brownlee who was signing medals. It was an incredible event, a fantastic experience and a great taster for just what a triathlon is like and our children had a wonderful time...inspiring future athletes!