Greatstone Primary School

Kent Champions!

Report by Kizi Newman and Chloe Long.

About 5 weeks ago we had an England Schools F.A. 7-a-side football tournament at our school on Saturday 18th October 2008. With great pride we got to the final and won 5-0. So that meant we went to the Kent Finals in Dover on the 22nd November 2008.
When the day arrived we were really excited.The first match we played was against St Mary's (Orpington) and we lost 1-0. Our second match we played was against Upton (Thanet) and with great pleasure we won 3-0. The next match was against Lansdowne (Sittingbourne) and with excitement we won 1-0. So this meant we went through to the Semi Finals. We played against a School called Roseacre (Maidstone) and, with a great shot from Emma Gunton, we won 1-0. So this meant we went through to the final against Burnt Oak (Bexley). Unfortunately it was 0-0 at full time so we played extra time - but still no goals. With a nervous team it went to penalties. The first shot was taken by Emma Gunton, who scored. Their shot was missed. Our next shot was taken by our fantastic goalkeeper Keisha Strain - who hit the top corner. The following penalties were either saved or missed, which meant that Greatstone won 2-1.
With great performances throughout the two tournaments we now go on to partake in the SOUTH EAST ENGLAND Finals on March 28th 2009 at Greenwich London. If we are successful we can proceed to the National Finals which are being held at Wembley in May. This is a feat which our boys team did 4 years ago -only to be beaten in the actual final -so becoming E.S.FA. runners up.
We're looking forward to the next round and hope that we will be successful in reaching Wembley...

Greatstone's tag rugby team enjoyed a successful season, finishing seventh out of eighteen schools from the local area in the tag rugby league. This is a well deserved result for the team members who, until last year, had never experienced tag rugby and are still novices compared to many of the other teams involved. Every other Wednesday throughout May and June, the pupils travelled to Folkestone Rugby Club where they had to play three or four matches. They maintained consistently high standards and demonstrated enthusiasm, commitment and a real determination to succeed. They can be extremely proud of their achievements.

The girls' football team was invited to partake in a tournament on the astro turf at Cheriton Road, Folkestone and was successful in reaching the final. The team played against Stella Maris, beating them after extra time. The team consisted of girls from year groups four to six. The chief goal scorers were Lottie Worrell and Emma Gunton, who between them scored a total of eight goals. This result confirmed the growth of girls' football at Greatstone School, which was only started three years ago.

Greatstone win the Herald Cup for the Third time.

On Monday July 21st 2008 Greatstone School played in the final of the local Herald Cup Final. This year the venue was The Harvey Grammar School Folkestone as the Invicta Ground was in a state of repair. We faced Hawkinge, having worked our way via winning the group stage, and defeating St.Eanswythe's in the quarter final, then Sandgate on penalties in the semi-final.
We arrived at the ground in a good physical and mental state after a few weeks of training, with coaches Lee and Paul Palmer.
The game started in front of a large crowd of 200 people and we went into a 2-0 lead with goals from the excellent Joshua Palmer and good work from Kyle Hodson. Just before half time Hawkinge pulled one back and we went into the break with a 2-1 lead. The first 15 minutes of the second half were heavy going and eventually Hawkinge pulled back the equaliser. The game levelled out but we knew that the next goal was going to be very important. Five minutes before the end, after a corner from Jordan Boorer, Frazer Reynolds slid the ball home to win the cup for us for the third time in four years.
Impressive, but worrying for other schools for next year, because we have 10 of the squad of 15 still with us at school. Greatstone F.C. is a real strength at the moment and the belief of not being defeated without a fight is so apparent.

E.S.F.A. 7 A Side Tournament 2008

For the second successive year, we were able to host the tournament on Saturday 18th October. After much organisation and preparation the tournament took place with 20 large schools sending squads of 10 boys, 12 schools sending squads of 10 girls and two small schools sending teams for their competition.
We were blessed with glorious weather and with a team of many Greatstone staff giving up their Saturday preparing bbq meals and refreshments. Our school entered two boys' teams and one girls' team.
The second boys' team were only put together three days before the event due to another school dropping out, but did extremely well winning one game, drawing one and losing two games. The first boys' team were very successful, winning their four group games and moving on to the semi final against Park Farm School from Folkestone. Unfortunately we were defeated 2-1 but played some excellent football-going out to the eventual winners. Our girls' team had a slow start, drawing their first game 1-1 but winning their next game 5-0 to move on to the semis. We played St. Eanswythe's girls, winning 3-0 with the excellent Emma Gunton proving to be a really powerful striker. We progressed to the final full of confidence - winning 3-0 against a useful team from Christchurch school. Our girls now move on to the KENT finals - representing Shepway - which are due to be held at Dover on Saturday 22nd November 2008, with the eventual winners playing in London, Greenwich, then if successful moving on to Wembley itself - a feat our boys achieved back in 2005.
This is the second time a team of girls has reached this stage - a real credit to the teaching and coaching skills of the staff at the school.