Following feedback from the children on our Scoot Fit experience day in June 2019 we decided to use some of our Sport Premium Grant to buy scooters for the children to use at lunchtimes.  On Wednesday 6th November 2020, Scoot Fit returned to our school to train the children and staff how to use our new equipment, and helped us to plan a circuit for scooting on the playground. It was a fantastic day, as you can see from the comments below…

Pupil Voice:

“We were going really, really fast – we wore helmets and knee pads to keep us safe!” (Taha – Kingfisher)

“It was really cool because there was a see-saw ramp.” (Zeca – Robin)

“I thought it was really good because we got to exercise our legs more.” (Darcie – Fox)

“It’s really fun!” (Adam – Kingfisher)

“I like scooting, it made me feel energetic!” (Cerys – Fox)

“I liked it because it was fun – I liked the music.” (George – Robin)

“I learnt that you go faster on the downward slope of the playground and you can free-wheel; I had to push with my feet on the up!” (Vidhya – Robin)

“I liked it because we could scoot a lot.” (Francesca – Kingfisher)

“I liked scooting because I could feel the wind in my hair!” (Dylan – Fox)

It took some of us a little while to master how to fasten our helmets and knee pads, but we got there in the end!

You can purchase scooters or arrange a Scoot Fit birthday party by going to the Scoot Fit Website

We celebrated National Fitness Day on 25th September with a range of activities organised by Angie including relays, ladder runs and passing rugby balls. All the children worked in their houses and demonstrated great team work, agility and co-ordination.

National Fitness Day is a chance to highlight the role physical activity plays across the UK, helping us raise awareness of its importance in helping us lead healthier and active lifestyles. We turned our event into a sporting competition, well done to Rabbit, Robin and Fox who won their Year Group competitions. The overall House winner, who was awarded our new House Cup was … CHESS, with a total of 449 points.

Pupil voice

“My favourite activity was passing the rugby balls because we used our rugby skills.” (Zaki)

“My favourite activity was the bean bag shuttle runs because I wanted to win!” (Cerys)

“I learnt that we have to do exercise every day to stay healthy and fit.” (Ivan)

  

Our new running track was officially opened on Friday 6th September by local running legend, Jack Brooks. Jack has recently completed his 500th marathon, having travelled all over the world to compete in different marathons. He had many interesting photos and stories to share with the children about his adventures, and spoke to them about the different places that he has run and the animals that he has met whilst racing, such as grizzly bears, pythons and polar bears.

  

After assembly, the whole school went outside to watch the track be officially ‘opened’. All of the children then took turns to run around the track…

  

We also had the Triathlon Trust in school today for a Duathlon event for KS1. Each class took part in a session in which they cycled on a static bike, followed by running round the track, 2 minutes rest…repeated over and over again for half an hour! The challenge for this event was to work like our learning character Bee, to see how many ‘marathons’ each class could collectively complete in their session.

  

Pupil Voice

Q. Did you enjoy Duathlon Day?

“I liked it because I got to run.” (Jacob)

“I liked the bike, I’d never been on a bike before.” (Hayden)

“I enjoyed riding the bikes and running around the track.” (Francesca)

Q. What skills / ideas will you take away from this event?

“When you run your heart starts to beat really, really fast.” (Taha)

“I’m going to Cassiobury Park to do more cycling.” (Mya)

“I’m Going on my bike this weekend.” (Heron child)

“It was my first time on a 2 wheeled bike.” (Hedgehog child)

Q. Do you think it is important to exercise?

 “Yes because it makes you strong.” (Arthur)

“Yes because it makes you fit and healthy.” (Aleeza)

“Yes because it’s good for your body.” (Claudia)

“It makes me happy.” (Heron child)

On Wednesday 1st May 2019 we had a very special visitor to our school… Adrian Mariappa, from Watford FC, took time out of his busy FA Cup Final training schedule to officially open our Outdoor Gym. The Outdoor Gym has been funded through the Sports Premium Grant as part of offering a broader experience and range of activities for pupils to engage in, encouraging the children to lead active healthy lifestyles. We hope that Mariappa’s visit will inspire our young children to engage in regular physical activity and will have raised the profile of PE and sport across the school.

Mariappa was impressed with the facilities for the children stating: “I wish I had this at school when I was younger.” The gym consists of five different exercise machines: a double air walker, an air skier, a hip twister, a rider and an elliptical cross trainer. The children have recorded their base level fitness on the different pieces of equipment, which they hope to improve upon throughout the term as their fitness levels increase. KS1 children are able to use the Outdoor Gym on a daily basis as part of their playtimes and lunchtimes.

 

 

Pupil Voice

“I like the outdoor gym because you get to do more exercise; my favourite thing is the air-walker” (Rohin)

“I really like it because it keeps you fit and before we didn’t have anything to get fit and now we have the gym!” (Florence)

“It is actually quite fun to go on, and we are keeping fit!” (Lucy)

“It makes you fit and healthy and you get energised. Once you go on the outdoor gym it makes you concentrate more in any subject you do after playtime or lunch time.” (Saavan)

“It’s important to go on the outdoor gym, then you will get strong.” (Nabeeha)

Class fitness trackers

  

The children have been tracking their fitness levels over the half term. They counted how many exercises they could do on each piece of equipment, and then compared this with how many they could do after they had been using the equipment regularly for 6 weeks.

CINS Vs York House Tag Rugby Festival March 2020

On Wednesday 4th March 2020, another 24 children from Year 2 took part in a Tag Rugby Festival at York House School. Together with York House pupils, the children did lots of different tag rugby exercises and activities. They had a fantastic morning, running with the ball, dodging, attacking and putting their skills into practise with small tag rugby games.  Thank you to York House for hosting, and to Angie, Rick and the parent helpers who were great!

Pupil Voice:

“I enjoyed going to York House because the activities were fun and the children there were nice!”

“York House was fun because we played tag-rugby and my favourite activity was stealing the ball from the other teams.”

“I enjoyed running around!” 

“I enjoyed the game with the girl [teacher from YH] because we were passing the ball to our team.”

 

The children from Cassiobury Infants receive weekly tag-rugby lessons with their class teacher and a coach which is funded by Primary Sport Premium Grant. We would like to thank Coach Angie, and Coach Rick for organising this event, along with the staff from York House who hosted this event, and all of the parents that helped too…the children had a fantastic morning!

Cassiobury Infants House Tag Rugby Festival March 2019

This week we held our first ever House Tag Rugby Festival between: Colne, Gade, Union and Chess. Our Coaches Angie and Rick organised a festival of multi-skills activities, in addition to actual Tag Rugby Games. The children in each class then competed to earn points for their House. The winning team was… Chess!

You can see more about our Tag Rugby Festival by following us on Twitter

CINS Vs York House Tag Rugby Festival March 2019

On Thursday 21st March, 24 Year 2 pupils from Cassiobury Infant & Nursery School, were selected to play in a Tag Rugby Festival against children from York House Prep School. In the weeks leading up to the festival our Coach Angie gave extra Tag Rugby coaching sessions to the children who had been chosen to compete. The festival morning took place at York House school, where the children participated in six multi-skills activities, including a Tag Rugby match with mixed York House and Cassiobury Infant students. 

The children had a fantastic morning, here is some of their feedback…

“We played against York House, we had to get past the other team without them tagging us. We did loads of activities, it was so, so fun!” (Isabel)

“It helped us with our skills, like Angie taught us how to hold the ball with two hands in a ‘W’ shape.” (Lily)

“Tag Rugby is fun, we need all of the knowledge and skills that Angie teaches us to win!” (Rayaan)

Weekly Tag Rugby Lessons

Throughout the Autumn and Spring Term, the children had weekly Tag Rugby lessons from our qualified coach, Angie. Class teachers joined in with the children during the coaching sessions in order to develop their skills, knowledge and confidence…at the start of the season, 78% of our teachers had never played or taught Tag Rugby before, so for many of them it was a steep learning curve!

Pupil voice

“I enjoyed trying to get the tag off people” (Brooke)

“I enjoyed the tagging and dodging game because I dodged past the person and scored a point!” (James)

Teacher voice

“I learnt a lot – Angie broke down the rules and modeled passes.” (Year 2 Teacher)

“These were good interactive sessions for the children; I enjoyed seeing the enjoyment on their faces.” (Year 2 Teacher)

“I have enjoyed the skills tasks. It now doesn’t seem so daunting to set up for P.E.” (Year 1 Teacher)

Look at us in action!

CINS Vs York House Tag Rugby Festival March 2018

CINS Inter-School Rugby Competition March 2018

At the end of March we held a Tag Rugby Festival competition between all the classes to celebrate the end of the Tag Rugby season, and to showcase all of the skills that he children have learnt since September. Each class took part in a variety of games linked to Tag Rugby skills and collected points for their team colour. At the end of the week, the points were added up and a winning team announced…the winners were Green Team!

Pupil voice

“I was the best at scoring tries with two hands!” (Mishika)

“I enjoyed participating in the festival because I liked the moves and my skills are improving, particularly throwing the ball accurately.” (Emily)

“I liked my team winning!” (Oliver)

House Tennis Festival July 2019

Cassiobury Infants held it’s first House Tennis festival last week, organised and run by Coach Angie Gunn. Children participated in a variety of activities designed to put into practice the skills that they have been learning throughout the term in their weekly tennis lessons. Points were collected by each class, and at the end of the two-day festival a grand total announced…

And the winners were…

Pupil voice

“I liked all the sports, Angie is a good teacher, she teaches us new things at tennis like how to drop the ball and hit it. (George)

“I enjoyed doing the tennis when we were bouncing the ball and then hitting it to the other person.” (Nancy)

“I had so much fun because you got points for trying to put the ball over the net.” (Roselt)

“I thought it was really fun because it was all sports and I really like sport!” (Florence)

“There were lots of activities to do.” (Faith)

CINS Vs York House Tennis Festival July 2019

As the culmination of their tennis lessons with Angie Gunn, Year 2 had an exciting tennis tournament with children from York House School at Cassiobury Lawn Tennis Club. The children took part in a carousel of tennis activities from ‘Rob the Bank’ to ‘Feed the Cones’ and ‘Hamburger Race’.

The weather was glorious just as it should be for the start of Wimbledon fortnight and who knows if a future champion was playing at the club today!

Pupil voice

“We were so excited to play against York House and be part of the team!” (Talya)

“We had an amazing time because we mixed with children from York House and did so many different activities.” (Lex)

“I enjoyed the tennis tournament because there were lots of fun activities to do.” (Brooke)

Herts Mini Red Competition June 2019

On Monday 17th June 2019 some of our children were selected by Angie Gunn (our Tennis coach) to play in the Herts Schools Tennis Mini Red Doubles Tournament. There were 8 teams altogether; three from Cassiobury Junior School, two from Nascot Wood Infants, one from Abbots Langley Primary School…and our two teams from Cassiobury Infants.

All KS1 children at CINS receive weekly tennis lessons from Angie (in the Summer term) funded from our Sports Premium Grant. The children chosen to play in this tournament have demonstrated particular skill and flair during their class lessons and were therefore selected to represent the school in the local competition. According to Angie the boys all played well and were a credit to the school. Two of our players did particularly well finishing 4th out of 8 teams; as this is a year 3 & below tournament it was an impressive outcome! Many thanks to Angie for organising the event.

CINS Vs York House Tennis Festival July 2018

On Monday 2nd July 2018 Year 2 children from Cassiobury Infant School took part in competitive Tennis Festival against pupils from York House Prep School. The competition was organised by our tennis coach Angie, and took place at the Cassiobury Tennis Club. The children competed in a variety of activities involving different tennis skills, which scored points for their team, including:

a tennis rally
balancing the ball on a racket
hitting a target with a tennis ball

All of the children had a great morning…

“It was fun doing all of the activities!”

“I was a bit nervous because I wanted to win.”

“It was exciting and enjoyable because we got to meet children from another school.”

100% of children said that their tennis lessons with Angie had helped them to prepare for the festival against York House:

“Angie taught us all the different techniques to get your shots!”

“I had better accuracy with a tennis ball.”

“I know the rules and how to hit the ball.”

Herts School’s Mini-Red County Tennis Competition

On Monday 18th June 2018, eight Year 2 children from Cassiobury Infant and Nursery School were selected to play in a county tennis competition, run by our coach Angie Gunn. Two pairs from CINS came third in their group and had a play-off, resulting in 4th and 5th position out of 9 pairs. Angie, our coach said “All the children played very well and were a credit to the school with their fair play and excellent behaviour.”

Thank you to the mums who came to watch their children and stayed to support the event by scoring – you did an excellent job!

Pupil voice

“I found it fun because we were playing real matches against other people.”

“I enjoyed it because at the end me and my friend had to play a game of ‘sudden death’…we lost one and won one!”

“I was nervous because I didn’t know who was going to win at the end.”

“I enjoyed it because I like playing tennis and we met new children.”

“We got to use our skills against other people. In the end we got a certificate.”

Weekly Tennis Lessons Summer Term

Every week, children in KS1 have a tennis lesson with coach Angie and their class teacher. Angie teaches them the different techniques and skills needed to play tennis. Our teachers join in with the lesson so that they can learn how to deliver effective tennis lessons themselves.

Pupil voice

“I didn’t know how to play tennis, but Angie showed me different skills and now I’m getting the hang of it.” (Year 2)

Teacher voice

“Angie has shown me techniques such as ‘knees-to-trees’ which can be used in lessons to practise getting
the ball over the net.” (Year 1 Teacher)

CINS Vs Nascot Wood Tennis Comp July 2017

On Monday 10th July 2017 KS1 children from Cassiobury Infant School took part in an all day mini-tennis competition with pupils from Nascot Wood Infant School. The competition was organised by our tennis coach Angie, and took place at the Cassiobury Tennis Club. The children competed in a six different activities involving different tennis skills.

We were extremely pleased to win both the Year 1 and Year 2 competition, proving our tennis lessons have definitely had a positive impact on our learning in P.E!

Keeping active at lunchtimes

We have spent some of our Sport Premium Grant on purchasing equipment to play with at lunchtimes. The children have a variety of different activities to choose from including: football, bats and balls, hoops and skipping ropes. In a recent pupil voice questionnaire 81% of pupils who were asked said that they played games at lunch time that were ‘active’ and made them ‘out of breath’!

 

Pupil Voice – Summer Term 2019

We asked the children what they thought about their lunchtime break…

“I like football, we have to be in teams!”

“My favourite activity is tennis, I enjoy it!”

“I like to beat my friends at hoola-hooping!”

“I like javelin because we compete with friends.”

“There are lots of activities on the grass!”

“I like to play with my friends and invent games!”

“I enjoy lunchtime because you can play with your friends and have fresh air.”

“My favourite activity is skipping ropes because you can count the jumps!”

“There are lots of games you can play with the hoola-hoops, like spinning the hoop and jumping over them!”

“My favourite activity is playing football because we get a lot of exercise!”

Spring Term 2020 – With our new equipment, we are busier than ever at lunchtimes…

  

  

Results from our pupil survey:

Impact on learning

Q. In what ways, if any, does exercise help you with your learning?

 “It makes us feel like we can do more learning!”

“It helps me to think sharply!”

“I am quieter after exercise and concentrate more.”

“I get all my energy out and come back to class to be calm.”

“It gives my brain a break.”

“Makes you to be stronger.”

“It teaches how to get fit.”

“It helps me be ready to learn.”

“It helps me concentrate more.”

“Because like exercise, when you do learning you don’t give up.”

“If I’ve been exercising I like my learning.”

“When I run it helps me get stronger.”

“It helps us to get better, it makes us more resilient!”

“It gives us more energy.”

“It gets us ready to learn and listen.”

Mental health and well-being

Q. How do you feel (emotionally rather than physically) after taking part in fitness activities at lunchtime/break-time?

Q. What do pupils think about the equipment that we have at lunchtimes & break…scooters / gym / track / play equipment?

Track

“I like the track because I can get better at my running” (Megan)
“I like the track because I can get fit on it” (Arthur)
“It’s so fun to go on the running track”

Scooters

“I enjoy going on the scooters because I try and do more laps each time” (Mason)
“I like the scooters, it makes me feel healthy and I like doing it at school as well as home” (Hafsah)
“I love the scooters” (Joseph)
“I like the scooters because it exercises your legs” (Sanaya)
“I like the scooters because they are really fast and I like racing on the track” (Annie)
“I like the scooters because you can scoot around” (Freya)
“I like the scooters because it makes us have more exercise” (Leona)

Gym

“I enjoy the gym because it is fun!” (George)
“I like gym because I want to exercise with my friends” (Kamden)

Equipment

“I think it is fabulous because it gives us lots to do!” (Ava)
“I like the bats and balls because I get to practise and get better at it” (Ivan)
“The equipment because I like going on it with my friends” (Khloe)
“It’s good because I like playing with the hula hoops and I really liked it”
“I like them because they are fun and I went through the hoops” (Hannah)
“I like the hula hoops” (Isa)
“I like it because I can play with lots of things” (James)
“I like them because they are fun” (Hadi)

General

“I think it’s great, it keeps me fit!” (Arianna)
“I get to have fun at the same time as exercise!” (Parth)
“I like it because it makes me excited” (Sulayman)
“It makes me have lots of fun” (Adam)
“It is fun to have” (Erin)

Football Festival at York House November 2019

On Wednesday 6th November 2019, 24 children from Year 2 took part in a Football Festival at York House School. Together with York House pupils, the children did lots of different football exercises and drills. They had a fantastic morning, improving their football skills and making new friends, whilst also developing their experiences of taking part in competitive games and activities.

“I really enjoyed going to York House and meeting the other children – it was good because we could do sport together.” (Ivan)

“We learnt new skills that we hadn’t done before.” (Florence)

“It was so much fun – we had to kick the ball and try and beat the other school.” (Lewis)

Duathlon Day September 2018

On Friday 7th September 2018 we launched our Autumn Term topic ‘I’m Alive’ by holding a duathlon (bike-run) event for all KS1 children! The Triathlon Trust, who work to promote and inspire children to lead active healthy lifestyles, visited our school for the whole day.

Each class participated in a duathlon, during which they cycled on static bikes followed by running around a circuit…they repeated this continuously for 30 minutes! Follow-up teaching this term will focus on the benefits of exercise, how it makes the body feel, and encouraging a passion for sport and future physical activity.

Mike, our coach for the day, Tweeted about our Duathlon Challenge… and Tim Peake replied! He was very impressed with our efforts!

Have a look at what we got up to…

Pupil Voice

Everybody that took part in the Duathlon challenge had an AMAZING day – nine children went on a bike for the first time! The children were asked what skills or ideas they would take away from participating in this event, here are some of their comments…

“I’d like to do more running.”

“I’d like to practise riding my bike more.”

“Exercise makes our brains more efficient, its good not always being in the classroom.”

“I’d like to get better at riding my bike without stabilisers.”

“It reminded me that I have to exercise every day.”

“We want to go cycling more.”

Parent Feedback

We had lots of positive feedback from parents about the Duathlon Day, but this email from a parent really meant a lot…

“I just wanted to pass my thanks on for organising this event. My daughter really enjoyed it and has told me she feels really proud of herself. This means a lot to her as she always seems to think she’s not very good at sports (despite me telling her otherwise) and is reluctant to give sporting activities a go – worried about being the slowest etc. Hopefully it’ll encourage her to give more things a go in the future!”

Well done to all of the children who received an award for their amazing effort!

 

Athlete Mentor Programme

On Monday 3rd July 2017, the pupils of Cassiobury Infant & Nursery School were extremely excited to meet Olympic Finalist, former British Record Holder and Commonwealth Gold Medalist…Montell Douglas!

Montell visited our school as part of an athlete mentor programme (funded by Sports Premium money), in which the Youth Sport Trust deploys some of Britain’s most successful world class athletes into schools to inspire young people and improve thousands of lives all across the UK. The team is made of past and present athletes across a wide variety of sports who have all competed at an elite level, with many having experience of Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games along with World and European Championships.

Although they have all tasted success, they have also all come up against challenges in their lives and have inspiring stories about how sport has helped them in their career. The team also has extensive experience of engaging with young people in the capacity of mentors and role models to create aspiration and provide support for young people to achieve their personal best in sport or life.

Montell Douglas talked to pupils in a whole school assembly about her achievements, her skills of perseverance and how she overcame injury to make it into the Team GB squad for the Beijing Olympics.

Parent voice

“It was fun and great to spend time with my son in his school. We will definitely play some of the games at home.”

“I really enjoyed the activities and spending time with my child.”

“A really enjoyable session, thanks for the opportunity.”

Pupil voice

The children were asked: what one word describes how you felt spending time with the athlete? Here are some of their answers…

“inspiring” “excited” “active” “fun” “energetic” “interesting” “happy” “good” “joyful”