On Monday 25th March 2024 the MSSP Y5/6 Tag Rugby Development Competition took place at Old Ruts RFC. 6 schools attended with several of them bringing two teams to create a round robin competition where each of the 10 teams would play each other across the 5 pitches to decide the overall winners.

With this being a development competition, it was great to see that several schools had brought children who hadn’t played much tag rugby before. Despite their limited experience, the passion, determination, and skill on display from all teams was superb. Especially after the first couple of matches when the children had got used to the rules of the game.

Not only were there lots of well worked team tries being scored across all of the pitches, there were also a number of outstanding individual efforts, with these children showing some brilliant footwork and speed to get round the defending team. Furthermore, it was fantastic to see all the children with massive smiles on their faces for the duration of the tournament despite the bitterly cold conditions.

We were again delighted to welcome 1XV players and “Buck” the mascot from the London Broncos who are our local professional rugby league team who play in the premier Super League competition. The children were given the chance over the lunch break to get their photos taken and get some autographs with the players and Buck, as well as be treated to a coaching masterclass by the players.

The overall winners of the competition were St Matthew’s Primary. St Matthew’s were worth winners due them winning every single one of their 9 matches. Amazing effort guys! Bishop Gilpin A came in a brilliant 2nd place, with Bishop Gilpin B with an equally impressive 3rd place. The awards did not stop there for Bishop Gilpin, as they also received the most votes from the rest of the competing schools and the sports leaders for the Refspect award due to their level of sportsmanship and respect to opponents and officials. Well done BG!

A big thank you must go to Old Ruts RFC for the use of their brilliant facilities, and to the secondary sports leaders from Rutlish school who refereed the matches brilliantly. Likewise, a big thank you for the support of the London Broncos. We hope lots of you will go down to Plough Lane Stadium this Sunday to watch their 1XV home Super League match against Huddersfield Giants. Up the Broncos!!!

The Merton Schools Dance Festival 2024 takes place across two afternoons this year on Tuesday 19th and Thursday 21st March at the brilliant facilities of Perseid Upper School. 

The event across the week will be wonderfully attended by 9 primary schools, 2 secondary schools and a dance academy group across both events and Merton SSP would like to say a big thank you to all participants and choreographers for putting together a superb festival for 2024.

KDA Wimbledon opened the festival on the first afternoon with a beautiful piece presented with 4 dancers from the local club academy.

Kate’s Dance Academy (KDA) is a dance school in Wimbledon catering for all abilities. At KDA classes in ballet, tap, modern and contemporary dance run from Wednesday to Saturday.  Students follow the NATD (National Association of Teachers of Dancing) syllabus.  The children take graded and medal exams and have the opportunity to perform.

They were followed by a debut performance at the MSDF from Raynes Park High School with an inspirational piece to Black and Gold.

Merton Park Primary brought a poignant piece on War to Way Down We Go which was very moving and credit to them for representing Merton at the Great Big Dance Off this year at Hayes Theatre too finishing top 10.

Hatfield were next with a determined show to Run boy Run with The Sherwood bringing their hip hop RnB mix complete with an array of sublime acrobatics.

Poplar followed with a Sam Mendes track and a creative arrangement in the space.

St Mary’s rounded off the night with an up beat edition of Pompeii, a fitting way to finish the afternoon and again full credit to the troop for ‘repping’ Merton at the GBDO 2024.

Thanks to Perseid Upper School for hosting, all staff for facilitating and all participants and audience members for making it one to remember!

We look forward to Thursday and to more dancing in 2024/25.

 

Please email us with your thoughts and feedback to help us develop our festivals and events for the future.

info@mertonssp.org.uk

 

Many thanks

Nick and the Merton SSP team

 

 

We started the week with the newest addition to our sports calendar – The NFL Flag Football Borough Championships. 12 schools made their way to Tooting and Mitcham FC for the event, eager to play competitive matches for the first time.

We were very fortunate to have 3 players from London Warriors Women’s American Football squad at the event. They were there to help coach the schools and referee the matches. They also brought with bags of enthusiasm with them, which contributed to a great day.

Some excellent evasive running and passing was on display by all teams, who played 5 fixtures over the course of the day. Group A, saw Malmesbury progress as the group winners. Group B was won by Poplar, with Bishop Gilpin going through as the best runners up. Group C was topped by St. Mary’s.

Two thrilling semi finals separated our top 4 before the final round of fixtures. Malmesbury lost out on the Bronze medals in overtime to St. Mary’s. The final between Poplar and Bishop Gilpin was decided by what was surely the play of the day – Bishop Gilpin returning an interception for a touchdown in overtime to win!

It was great to see so many children trying and enjoying a relatively new sport, so well done to all that attended from St. Thomas of Canterbury, Cranmer, The Priory, St. John Fisher, All Saints, Sacred Heart and Stanford.

A special mention for Cricket Green who were crowned our REFSPECT winners for the day.

Great fun was had by all at today’s Dodgeball Festival. Yr 9 and 10 Sports Leaders from Ricards Lodge officiated the event and helped to coach the teams as they played matches on the astroturf pitches.

95 children represented their local schools from year 3/4 and 5/6 to take part in this exciting festival.

A total of 11 teams from Holy Trinity, Wimbledon Park, Merton Abbey, All Saints, Bishop Gilpin, The Priory and Park started the day with warm up games of Gauntlet Ball followed by some very tactical and skilful games of Dodgeball.

Throughout the event, leaders handed out stickers to the children based on their display of the school games values including determination, team work, honesty and passion. Each school voted throughout the event and Holy Trinity were selected as the REFSPECT winners overall.

Well done to all and thank you to Ricards Lodge for hosting the event.

 

Over 100 children participated in today’s Year 3/4 Mitcham Town Multiskills Festival today. The event consisted of 5 activity stations, led by year 5 sports leaders from Cranmer. They displayed amazing confidence while explaining the games to their peers. Several members of  staff commented on how organised they were and how hard they worked to encourage those that were taking part.

The games that tested the children’s speed, agility, ball control and accuracy were Speed Bounce, Beat The Clock, Boccia, Kurling and a golf putting game called Dominoes.

Congratulations to the children from Cricket Green, Haslemere, Poplar, St. Mark’s Liberty, Bond and Cranmer for the skill and determination shown today.

Every school received at least one REFSPECT vote, but our winners were Liberty Primary!

On Friday 8th March 2024, the MSSP 5/6 Tag Rugby Borough Championships took place at Old Ruts RFC. 18 primary schools from the Merton Borough took part in the event, meaning we had over 180 children in attendance. In the morning session, schools were split into three groups of six across 6 pitches, with all schools having the opportunity to compete for the top spot in their pool and thus the chance of qualifying for the final bronze, silver and gold medal positions in the afternoons knock out matches.

The dry and sunny conditions for the duration of the tournament ensured that spectators were treated to some sublime attacking rugby, with a boat load of tries being scored across the 6 pitches. The standard of rugby produced in the mornings pool matches by all schools was absolutely fantastic, and it was clear that every team in attendance had trained hard back at school in preparation for the tournament to perfect their attacking play as well as their organisation in defence. The mornings standout performers were Bishop Gilpin, Poplar and St Teresa’s Primary schools who all managed to secure the top three qualifying positions and would therefore battle it out against each other for the chance to become the tournament champions. All remaining schools would play a further three competitive matches in the afternoon against the three teams that finished in the same position as them in the corresponding groups.

During the lunch break and for the afternoon session, we were delighted to be joined by members of the London Broncos team who are the professional rugby league side based at the Plough Lane Stadium in Wimbledon. The London Broncos play in the national Super League competition for rugby league, and the children were not only given the opportunity to get some 1-1 coaching, photos and autographs from 1XV players Jack Hughes, Jenson Monk and Harry Stevens. But were also able to rub shoulders with “Buck” the Broncos mascot. Buck proved to be a real hit with the children and to no surprise got absolutely mobbed for photos and autographs.

The afternoons matches were equally of a really high quality, especially as teams had now had a number of matches under their belt to fine tune their attacking support play and defensive systems. What was most pleasing was that every child had a massive smile on their face for the duration of the tournament, and the level of sportsmanship and respect that each school showed their competitors win, lose or draw was really impressive. This was optimised by the boys and girls from Holy Trinity Primary who received the most votes from the rest of the competing schools to be deservedly crowned Refspect winners for this tournament. Congratulations guys!

A special mention must also go to St Teresa’s Primary who at the end of the afternoons knockout matches finished an impressive 3rd place overall. Poplar Primary finished a fabulous 2nd place, and Bishop Gilpin Primary who took this tournament by storm, finishing in 1st place to win the accolade of MSSP Y5/6 Tag Rugby Borough CHAMPIONS for 2024. Well done to all of you!

MSSP would like to say a huge thank you to Old Ruts RFC for the use of their outstanding facilities and pitches, as well as a big thank you to the Year 10 Sports Leaders from Rutlish School who officiated the matches superbly.

A final thanks to the members of the London Broncos for coming down to support today’s event, and we hope lots of you will continue to go down and support them in their up-and-coming home fixtures in Wimbledon over the next few months. UP THE BRONCOS!!!!

Our Year 5/6 Best Team Development Football Competition took place on Monday. 25 teams from 20 schools made their way to Tooting and Mitcham to play 7 fixtures over the course of the day.

There was a tremendous amount of skill shown across all 3 groups. The children definitely packed their shooting boots as over 100 goals were scored at the event! All the matches were refereed by our leaders from Raynes Park High School, who showed great leadership and confidence. A big thank you must go them for being so efficient and amazing role models

Group A consisted of Malmesbury, Holy Trinity, The Priory, The Sherwood, Lonesome, Pelham, Morden, Sacred Heart and St. Teresa’s.

Refspect winners: Holy Trinity

Group B with .St. Matthew’s, Hollymount, Poplar Cottages, Dundonald, Bishop Gilpin Saints, Bishop Gilpin Eagles, Hillcross and AFC Poplar, was the group with the highest number of goals scored.

Refspect winners: Dundonald

Group C was a tightly contested group between Liberty, All Saints, All Saints B, Cranmer, All Saints B, Haslemere, Bishop Gilpin Blades, Bishop Gilpin Hammers and Bond.

Refspect winners: Liberty

This year’s Netball Borough Championships took REFSPECT by storm. With 15 teams competing over the course of the day, the players got to develop so many key netball skills including body management and control, defending, positioning and passing to name but a few. There were lots of close and exciting matches with players giving their all to help their team achieve its best. But the one thing that stood out the most for the MSSP team was the fair play, respect and kindness shown by all of the players towards their team mates, opposition and to the fantastic leaders from Ricards Lodge. Even when matches were close and emotions ran high, the children managed themselves impeccably.

12 Sports Leaders from Ricards had been trained as umpires for the event and also had the chance to develop and practise their officiating skills at the recent Custer Netball Festival. They took onboard feedback well and continued to develop and impress at the Champs today. Maintaining focus throughout and being fair, confident and assertive in their decisions and communication.

The morning session involved 4 groups of four teams (and one of 3) playing round robins. This was followed by the final stages in the afternoon where players were seeded and then played on for their final standings 1- 15.

In a close final which had to go into 1 minute of golden goal, extra time, Poplar were narrowly beaten by Bishop Gilpin 2 goals to 3.  Both teams worked so hard and it was a great match to watch.

By the end of the tournament all the schools had voted and the REFSPECT award was given to Joseph Hood Primary School. They thoroughly deserved the prestigious accolade after a day full of great team work, respect, determination and self belief.

A huge well done to all our teams and especially to our Sports Leaders – we couldn’t have run such a fun and positive competition without them.  Many thanks to Ricards Lodge for hosting and supporting another MSSP Primary School event.

Good luck to Bishop Gilpin who will represent Merton at the LYG School Games Finals!!

Twelve teams took part in the Central Wimbledon Cluster Netball Festival at Ricards Lodge courts on Friday 2nd Feb 2024.

The event was run by the year 10 leaders who coached and inspired their year 5/6 teams, whilst also umpiring all of the matches.

The event was split into two leagues where teams played in a round robin format across four courts. The children made lots of progress, developing their netball skills, team work and match play throughout the tournament. They had a great morning of netball. There were no overall winners at the festival but the matches were closely contested and players gave it their all!

Schools demonstrated great team work, fair play, determination and respect throughout the event and the REFSPECT awards were won by Links Jaguars and The Priory teams.

Schools attended:

  • Bishop Gilpin (Thunder, Lightening, Storm & Hurricanes)
  • Poplar (Fireballs & Shooting Stars)
  • Wimbledon Park
  • Links (Jaguars & Lions)
  • Abbotsbury
  • Hollymount
  • The Priory

Well done to all the children that took part and a huge thank you to the excellent Sports Leaders and the PE Dept and staff at Ricards Lodge for hosting such a fun and enjoyable event.

The Year 5/6 and 3/4 gymnastics competitions took place in Spring Term 1 on Wednesday 31st January and Friday 9th February respectively with Harris Academy Wimbledon as superb hosts.

 

This year, the format followed the new RISE criteria from British Gymnastics consisting of 3 disciplines in Vault, Core Skills and the new Working Together routine.
17 schools took part in the Yr 5/6 age group with 12 schools for Yr 3/4, all with teams of 4 pupils. 114 (66 ad 48) gymnasts participated overall and it made for two wonderful occasions especially as it was the first time Merton had hosted the RISE style events.
Pupils took part over 6 rotations with 3 being practice stations before schools displayed their routines in front of the judges – Olly and Kai from ‘Unity Allstars’ on the Vault, Oksana, Lisa and Tahirah from ‘Merton Gymnastics Club’ on Core Skills with Natalie from ‘GymKidz’ and Saskia from ‘Unity Allstars’ on Working Together. Thanks to them all for supporting the event with their gymnastics expertise and do get in touch with us if you’d like to find out more about what they can offer locally.

 

The results were as follows across the individual disciplines and overall team award for Yr 5/6:

 

CORE SKILLS

Girls

Gold – Annabel (Merton Park)

Silver – Iyla (Garfield) | Kathleen (St Mary’s)

Bronze – Trinity (Singlegate) | Livia (Wimbledon Chase) | Alice (Park Academy)

Boys

Gold – Oli (Merton Park)

Silver – Noah (Pelham)

Bronze – Josef (Garfield)

 

VAULT

Girls

Gold – Annabel (Merton Park) | Kathleen (St Mary’s) | Milana (SSPeterPaul)

Silver – Greta (St John Fisher)

Bronze – Alice (Park Academy) | Lila Mia (St John Fisher) | Isabelle (Hillcross)

Boys

Gold – Jason (Hillcross)

Silver – Jamie (St John Fisher)

Bronze – Oli (Merton Park) | William (St John Fisher)

 

WORKING TOGETHER

Pairs

Gold – Iyla and Isla (Garfield) | Eli and Annabel (Merton Park)

Silver – Tahira and Ariana (Malmesbury) | Trinity and Rebecca (Singlegate)

Bronze – Anna and Alice (Park Academy) | Emit and Morgan (Malmesbury)

 

BEST OVERALL INDIVIDUAL

Girl

Gold – Annabel (Merton Park)

Silver – Kathleen (St Marys) | Eli (Merton Park)

Bronze – Alice (Park Academy)

Boy

Gold – Josef (Garfield)

Silver – Bobby (Hatfeild)

Bronze – Isaiah (Garfield)

 

TEAM AWARD

1 Garfield 341

2 Malmesbury 319

3 Singlegate 311

4 Hatfeild 308

5 Pelham 308

6 Hillcross 307

7 St John Fisher 305

8 St Mary 292

9 Merton Park 274 (3 gymnasts)

10 SS Peter Paul 271

11 Aragon 270

12 Wimbledon Park 263

13William Morris 257

14 Joseph Hood 256

15 Poplar 249

16 Wimbledon Chase 225 (3 gymnasts)

17 Park Academy 186 (2 gymnasts)

 

The overall team results were as follows for Yr 3/4:

 

CORE SKILLS

Girls

Gold – Aaliyah (Garfield)

Silver – Casey (Malmesbury) | Valentina and Alice (Merton Park)

Bronze – Emma (Malmesebury)

Boys

Gold – Jago (Bishop Gilpin)

Silver – Zach (Malmesbury)

Bronze – Leo (Merton Park)

VAULT

Girls

Gold – Saskia (Poplar)

Silver – Alice (Merton Park) | Emma (Malmesbury)

Bronze – Casey (Malmesbury) | Daisy and Millie (Aragon)

Boys

Gold – Jago (Bishop Gilpin)

Silver – Ned (Malmesbury)

Bronze – Aiden (St John Fisher)

 

WORKING TOGETHER

Pairs

Gold – Casey and Emma (Malmesbury) | Ned and Zach (Malmesbury)

Silver – Aaliyah and Nevaeh (Garfield) | Kaiden and Leo (Garfield)

Bronze – Alice and Valentina (Merton Park) | Leo and Freddie (Merton Park)

 

BEST OVERALL INDIVIDUAL

Girl

Gold – Casey and Emma (Malmesbury) 112

Silver – Aaliyah (Garfield)

Bronze – Alice (Merton Park)

Boy

Gold – Jago (Bishop Gilpin)

Silver – Zach (Malmesbury)

Bronze – Ned (Malmesbury)

 

 

TEAM AWARD

1 Malmesbury 413 points

2 Garfield 376

3 Merton Park 371

4 Bishop Gilpin 356

5 Singlegate 334

6 Poplar 329

7 Aragon 306

8 Wimbledon Chase 293

9 William Morris 281

10 Pelham 279

11 Wimbledon Park 264

12 St John Fisher 262 – 3 gymnasts

 

Overall Combined KS2 Award 2024

1 Malmesbury                732

2 Garfield                       717

3 Merton Park               645

3 Singlegate                    645

5 Pelham                         587

6 Poplar                          578

7 Aragon                         576

8 St John Fisher             567

9 William Morris          538

10 Wimbledon Park       527

11 Wimbledon Chase     518

Congratulations to all our medalists and thank you to all for taking part. Well done to Poplar Primary and St John Fisher for being crowned REFSEPCT winners for our gym champs over both events this year.

 

The MSSP team.

The MSSP Boccia Championships took place at Harris Academy Morden on 26th January 2024 with an incredible record number of teams and pupils in attendance for the event this year!

33 teams totalling 132 players took part from 22 schools over 2 sessions throughout the day. The event was wonderfully supported by 7 sports leaders from Harris Academy Year 10s as well as 22 young leaders from St Teresa’s Year 5s. This combination of leadership teams was inspiring to see with across both age groups and we’d like to thank the PE depts. from both schools for organising the support.

Our 17 teams in the morning session were made up from teams representing the following schools:

Links
Hillcross x 2
Cricket Green School
Wimbledon Park
Morden Primary School
Pelham
Sacred Heart RC
Poplar x 2
Garfield
Perseid Lower
Perseid Upper
St Teresa’s RC x 4

 

Congratulations to Perseid Upper for placing first with St Teresa’s (pink) in second and Hillcross in third.

Our 16 teams in the afternoon session were made up from teams representing the following schools:

Wimbledon Chase
Merton Park x 2
Malmesbury x 2
Hatfeild
William Morris
Merton Abbey
St Thomas of Canterbury RC
St Teresa’s RC x 4
Liberty Primary School
Joseph Hood
St Peter & St Paul

Congratulations to St Teresa’s (blue) for placing 1st with Merton Park in second and Joseph Hood in third.

Well done to all schools for showing great determination and respect through the day, especially to St Teresa’s and Poplar for being voted REFSPECT winners overall.

Thanks again to all schools for enabling your pupils to take part in our inclusive competitions as it really is great to see so many children enjoying an activity that is accessible to all.

Please get in touch for more information on Boccia or any of our events for 2024.

The MSSP team

Congratulations to all of the Year 3 and 4 pupils who took part in today’s Mitcham Town Cluster Year 3/4 Tag Rugby Festival. 10 teams from 5 schools attended the festival, which was held at Liberty Primary School. Teams participated in skill games such as Rob The Nest, Ball Touch, Endball, Breakout Tag and Rugby Rounders. All the children showed great determination practising skills such as evasion, tagging and passing.

Well done to all the pupils from Liberty, Bond, Cranmer, Haslemere and St. Mark’s. A big thank you must go to the 15 leaders from Year 5 at Liberty who were sports leaders at the event. They showed real confidence and great leadership skills running the 5 stations, ensuring all participants knew how to play the games and motivating everyone to try their best.

A special mention to Bond Primary who won the Refspect award for showing great sportsmanship and fair play at today’s event.

 

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