Costa Manolchev CO01

JUNE – GARDENS

Pots and seasonal beds, including the shield, are dug over with fresh compost and bone meal added. The seasonal bedding and plants are hardened off and ready for planting. At this point pots and seasonal bedding are planted; once in the ground, one of the gardeners will check on them three times a week for watering and weeding and a feed every Monday.

The wildflower areas are starting to flower, with some areas looking better than others, and the new seed mix we have used that has fewer native species in it seems to be a hit (the mix is called colour splash, and includes species like Californian poppy; though not native they are good pollinator plants). Wildflower areas near the edges of the school that border closely with surrounding countryside are seeded using a British native mix; if there are any escapee plants, we hope that they are our native species. The grass continues to be cut and formal hedges are given a trim.

The Celebration Garden has started flowering now. The obelisks made by Ben, our carpenter, are added and the climbing roses are tied in. The garden is weeded and roses are dead-headed. The garden is watered regularly as it’s the first year. The whole team are really happy with the Rose Garden so far and look forward to adding and expanding in the future as part of a wider plan to improve the gardens on the front terraces. The team start getting the site ready for end-ofyear events (Speech Day etc.), and any seasonal bedding is starting to look better and fill out. Weeding continues and, once all the plants are out and planted, the greenhouses are tidied and compost is made ready for spring bedding and any seeds and perennials we may sow.

MAY – SPORTS PITCHES

The cricket pitches are continually prepared and repaired, and fertiliser is applied when there is rain to water in it. The over-seeding on the pitches has taken well; First team pitch is now being cut at 60mm and a course of fertiliser is applied, as well as slitting the pitch, enabling the new grass plants to establish their roots and the fertiliser to work in the soil.

Towards Sports Day, the fleet line marker comes in to demo their GPS line marker, and the athletics track is marked within an hour and to exact measurements. Shame it wasn’t used for Sports Day.

Throughout summer the pitches will be cut as regularly as needed and, when the weather allows, more fertiliser will be applied as well as spiking.

Well, just like that, another school year has flown by, and now is the time to look back at the wonderful happenings in PE and sport and reflect on some of the wonderful highlights of the year.

DAN SANDERSON

DIRECTOR OF SPORT djs@truroschool.com

Sports Roundup

This year has seen the gradual return to the full Truro School programme, and sport was no different. It has been a joy to see our pupils experience the opportunities that Truro School sport provides, and they have relished being able to represent the school and participate in a wide range of activities.

We began September with Covid still at the forefront of people’s minds and, whilst most restrictions were eased, life still wasn’t back to normal. There were fewer tournaments for the traditional sports of netball, hockey, rugby and football, but we were still able to enter national competitions. We lost a few overseas trips but we were able to have overnight tours and fixtures in netball, football, fencing and squash. The fixture lists remained well stocked and this year, across 21 different sports, we competed in over 750 fixtures. Not too shabby. More about sport later.

Curriculum-wise, this was the first year that we were able to run through the new senior school PE and Games curriculum, without interruption or adaptation. Our incredible facilities continue to allow us amazing flexibility and the ability to offer a wide range of sports. In Games, all our pupils have access to the entire range of sports that we offer during Games lessons. Each sport has half a term of lessons and both boys and girls experience netball, rugby, hockey, football and striking and fielding (cricket, rounders, softball etc). It has been very pleasing to see the pupils rise to the challenge of being out of their comfort zones, and some of the progress made has been breathtaking.

Throughout our lessons, clubs and practises, we are always promoting the values that we want our pupils to exhibit, both in and out of school. Skill acquisition in the sport they are learning is important but so is empathy, resilience, teamwork, creativity and enjoyment. There are, of course, other values, but that is a different conversation for another time!

We want to help produce good people through sport. After all, we are a school, and our main priority is to provide a fantastic, well-rounded education.

So, highlights? I know that is why you are here and I am pleased to say that we have plenty to share with you. Our pupils are so very talented and great fun, and have achieved amazing things, whilst also increasing their participation across clubs and fixtures. We will start with some of the selected team highlights from over the last year: The u12 girls’ hockey team were county champions, with some outstanding displays (and so many players across the two teams!)

Our u13s teams came close across a number of sports, but it is safe to say that this age group has improved the most over the last year and I am really excited to see them in action next year.

Our u14 netball team were crowned county champions, which sent them to the regional finals in Bournemouth. The u14 boys won the county cricket and were runners up in the rugby competition. It is a talented year group, with a lot of strength at depth across the board. The girls, combined with some 2nd years, also won the Cornwall School Games athletics competition. The u15s had a great year, with county wins for boys’ indoor cricket and the girls’ hockey team. The girls’ netball team also represented the school in the World School Games, which took place in Loughborough.

The u16s won the boys’ hockey county cup and also did well in the boys’ rugby 10’s tournament, winning the bowl at Queens Taunton. It hasn’t been easy for this year’s group as they prepared for their GCSEs after two years of disruption but they competed well across a plethora of sports and tournaments.

The senior sides continued to do well across the board. There was a historic double for the football team, who did the ‘double’, winning both the county cup and county league title. In rugby, they progressed to the last 16 of 256 teams, beating Plymouth, Mount Kelly, Wellington, Richard Huish before losing to an excellent Bristol Grammar School.

Our badminton team swept the board at the county championships, winning across every age category.

The last word for team announcements goes to the all-conquering KS5 squash team. They became national champions this year and made up for the heartbreak of losing the final in 2019. The team comprised Louis (L6th), Jack (L6th), Ben (U6th), Joe (5th year), Callum (5th year) and Ed (5th year). The effort, commitment and skill that went into this victory cannot be overestimated and a special mention should also go to the head coach, Tim Smith.