Seven Year 5 & 6 boys took part in the Leeds West U11 Football Finals. The teams were split into 2 groups and Springbank came out as group winners with a fantastic performance from every single player.  We defeated Stanningley, Greenside and Cobden which meant we went on to meet Farsley Farfield in the semi-final. This was obviously a really important game which had added pressure knowing that they are our local rivals and that it has been a very close game on previous meetings. Unfortunately they just took the match by winning 2-1, taking them into the final and us into the play-offs where we finished in 4^th position. This was out of 35 teams and therefore a fantastic achievement. 

A huge congratulations to the team:  Lucas Cundy, Jack Hennigan, Aidan Stableford, Will Clark, Billy Murchie, George Hargrave and Joseph Edmonds, who all played with a super sporting attitude, enthusiasm and as always great team spirit.  Well done boys!

The Springbank rugby team celebrated after winning the local school rugby tournament for the second year in succession. Based on the success of last year's team we have seen interest in rugby training practically double this year with the mixed Year 5 and 6 rugby club over-subscribed since September's 'boot camp' training which involved some strenuous activity in what was left of the summer sunshine (feel free to ask any member of the original rugby squad how gruelling those early sessions were!). Since then we have trained in all weathers (including one particularly uncomfortable hail storm) with our focus on a big showing at last week's tournament.

There were 18 schools in attendance and Springbank, such are our squad numbers, ended up fielding two teams on the day. The boys and girls played four group games each. Team 'A' won their four games relatively comfortably but suffered some unfortunate injuries to key players in the process. Team 'B' had won their first three but narrowly lost out 3-2 in their final group game. When the schools were gathered to announce results it was revealed that Team 'B' had edged their group on points difference and, as a result, both Springbank teams would meet head to head in the semi-finals - unprecedented! It was impossible to take your eyes off the fiercely contested semi; supporters from other schools even stopped to watch as neither team refused to take a backwards step against their training partners as they chased down a place in the final. In the end it took a late try to separate the sides 2-1 and Team 'A' would face Stanningley in the final. With skipper Charlie Bennett and winger Joseph Edmonds having recovered from injury the team was at full strength and with the vocal support of Team 'B' on the side-lines (showing true Springbank spirit by turning disappointment into support for their peers) the final began. Intense defence married with sensational speed on the break saw Springbank to a 3-1 victory - the reds and greens of 'A' and 'B' danced and hugged as one team together, and Springbank now go on to face the best of all Leeds schools in the City Finals.  Another sporting success…go Springbank!

Sports Relief 2014 involved the rather original (and slightly unusual) idea of running the Sport Relief mile...dressed for swimming. This school council project was born from the Sports Relief mandate of swim, run or cycle a mile and, as we so often do at Springbank, we decided to go one better and do two at the same time. The children ran a track around the school playground with full accessories including goggles, armbands, rubber rings and, in one case, a pair of flippers! We also invented the first ever Springbank human vending machine. This involved your very kind donations of chocolate bars being sold by the school councillors to children looking to find some energy after a long, hard swim-run. We are still counting the money raised by the school and will let you know the total in due course but we would obviously like to thank you all for your donations towards such a good charity cause. As usual, Springbank has more than played its part.  Well done to our School Council for organising the day, with help from Mr Chapman.  TOTAL AMOUNT RAISED = £665.05

What a fantastic day we have had at the Leeds Met Carnegie Sports facility. The children have taken part in a multi sports event including; Netball, Tennis, Table-tennis, American football, Squash, Basketball and Athletics. They showed real enthusiasm for every sport, which is fantastic to see, and their behaviour was exemplary. Thank you 5C for such a fantastic day! The children have taken some letters home about the clubs and camps that Leeds Met have on offer in all the sports that the children have taken part in today and many more!

On Wednesday 12^th February, 18 children from the after-school karate club took part in their first grading to achieve their first belts on the road towards their black belt!  The atmosphere in the school hall was very tense as the children demonstrated the required moves, watched on by lots of parents and other family members.  15 children successfully passed their 12^th kyu grading (yellow & white belt) and 3 passed their 9^th kyu (orange belt).

Sensei Nick carried out the assessment for the gradings and said he was impressed by the standard.  He thought that in particular Archie in Y4 and Woody in Y3 did good gradings and that Joshua in Y3 had very strong punches and focussed techniques.  The 3 children who passed to orange belt did particularly well as this is a higher belt with a harder grading criteria, so very well done to them!

A special well done goes to Harleen in Y6 who Sensei Nick thought did the best grading on the day and she walked away with the student of the week trophy for the second time since the club started!  An excellent achievement! 

A massive well done to all the children; this is a real achievement and you should be very proud of yourselves!

Year 4 had a great day becoming fully immersed in their topic. The children looked very authentic and very colourful dressed up in Indian style clothing. Throughout the day the children enjoyed three different activities in smaller groups.

The children showed off their cooking skills making a delicious lentil and sweet potato dhal. They took charge of all the measuring, peeling and chopping for the authentic Indian food. Despite some of the children being a little nervous that it would be spicy, they all gave it try and the response from them was overwhelmingly positive.

The children also had the opportunity to create beautiful, traditional rangoli patterns. The children planned their symmetrical designs and then went out into the slightly damp day to produce some beautiful artwork on the playground. The colourful, symmetrical designs really stood out and it was great to see the children working together across the whole year group.

A traditional Indian dance instructor also came to work with the children and they quickly picked up some traditional moves. We were so proud of them creating their own performances to share with the rest of the school and their families.

The children really seemed to enjoy India day, with huge smiles and a great attitude to all of the new and different activities. Thank you to all the parents and carers for organising some great dressing up and supporting the day.

2014 kicked off in victorious fashion for the Springbank athletics team who were crowned Champions at the final for Leeds West Schools indoor athletics competition at Priesthorpe. The competition pitted the top schools of previous rounds within the local cluster schools against each other in a hotly contested series of track and field events. By the half-way stage Springbank had a narrow advantage in points following an impressive running display from the girls' team and the boys then continued this theme with some impressive individual and team performances while the girls were backing them up in the track events. A nervous wait then followed as the points were tallied before it was announced that Springbank had won with a total of 141 points, edging out last year's winners Lower Wortley into second place by 11 points. The trophy was awarded by Leeds Rhinos player Jamie Jones Buchanan and we are, as always, extremely proud of our team for their efforts on the night. We now go into the city-wide finals on 30th January at Trinity University where we will face all the champions from the different areas of Leeds.