A huge well done to the nine St Bart’s students who took part in the Berkshire Schools Cross Country Championships last weekend at Newbury Showground.
A massive thank you to Mrs Clare who gave up her Saturday to staff this event.
After their strong showing against Redlands in the previous round, the Year 10 rugby team made the journey to St John’s School, Leatherhead for the last 16 of the National Vase. The boys were undaunted by the impressive venue and large crowd to play their part in a very competitive and close game. St John’s put Bart’s under pressure early, moving their ball using their strong back five to attack the wider channels. While conceding field position, the boys tightened up defensively in the red zone with some excellent cover tackles and turnovers at the breakdown, which we held the edge in all game. This defensive hard work paid off after 20 minutes, when St John’s made a rare handling error, allowing winger, Ed Hancock, to scoop up the ball and race away from 60m to put Bart’s in front. St John’s came straight back on the attack, however, through a dangerous kick return from the back three, and eventually the pressure told, with the captain and number 8 battering over from close range to make it 5-5. The boys grew into the game ball in hand, and after some sustained possession from St Bart’s, just before half time, St John’s then scored again with a well-constructed maul from 20m out to take a deserved lead at the half 10-5.
The boys responded brilliantly after half time and the second half was a back and forth affair. On the back of a dominant scrum, Bart’s went on the attack with strong carrying from James, Josh, Antonio and Raul and the St John’s defence started to show some glimpses of slowing down. Antonio Valdivia took advantage to use his pace and power to beat three defenders from 50m out and Deacon Cullen slotted the conversion from wide out to put Bart’s into a 12-10 lead going into the last 15 minutes. From here, St John’s piled the pressure on, but Bart’s continued to hold on, particular thanks to Henry Wilson’s superb work at the breakdown throughout the game. Sadly, the pressure told and St John’s scored two tries in the last 12 minutes to put the game away, with a final score of 20-12. The boys can be very proud of this cup run and the fact that they pushed a very strong St John’s team to the limit, and we look forward to seeing this team’s continued progression into senior school rugby in the future.
James Dearing
Deacon Cullen
Josh Burgess
Finn Watrus
Harry Fenner
Jacob Tang
Joe Richards
Bartosz Opitek
Freddie Robertshaw
Raul Filimon
Henry Wilson
James Wheeler
Antonio Valdivia
Sidney Bloodworth
Will Mason
Lucas Bailey
Ed Hancock
Iggy Duly
Freddie Fuller
Congratulations to Jack (12D2) who competed in the Berkshire Cross Country Championships and has qualified to represent Berkshire at the National Competition for Cross Country in March.
Congratulations to Lucy (13P3), Olive (11C1) and Chris (13C1) who all qualified for the South East Winter Regionals Short Course Swimming Championships in Winchester recently. Lucy competed in the 50m backstroke and Olive in the 100m and 200m breaststroke with Olive achieving personal best times. They had only just returned from an intensive residential swim camp in Devon with their club, Newbury District, so this was a huge achievement. Well done to you both.
Chris who swims for Abingdon Vale Swimming Club qualified for eight events, 50m and 100m Freestyle, Back stroke and Breast stroke plus 50m Butterfly and the 100m Individual Medley. Following successful swims in the heats Chris qualified for the finals in both the 100m Back stroke and Individual Medley events, achieving PB’s across his other swims. Chris has his sights set on qualifying for English and British National Competitions next summer. Sounds very promising Chris. Well done and keep us posted!
8 St Bart’s students attended the Dodgeball Festival at Kennet School on Wednesday. The Festival was played in good spirts and St Bart’s played matches against Trinity A, Trinity B and Kennet School. Despite having two year 8 students playing, St Bart’s still managed to win 5 out of 6 matches, as we played each school twice. This meant that we were the winning school overall! Well done to all involved.
On Wednesday 4 December’ our U13 Girls’ Football team made history by playing in the 5th round of the English Schools Cup.
We played against a very strong team from Kennet School. The game was really exciting, played to a really good level and could have gone either way, with all players giving it there all.
Kennet had most of the possession in the first half but we managed to get a goal and take a 1-0 lead. In the second half, Kennet came back and scored quickly to make it 1-1 but then both teams went on to score a goal each to make the final score 2-2. The game went to penalties and both teams scored some great penalties and it went past the first 3 that had to take penalties but we did unfortunately loose and get knocked out of the cup. All girls gave it their all and should be really proud of themselves. Lots more football to look forward to. Well done to Lucia Biais Zambelli who was awarded player of the match by the opposition.
Congratulations to both the Year 10 A and B team football players who took part in their finals night on Thursday 5 December. Despite the wind and the rain, the girls did not allow this to dampen their spirits!
The A team were playing against Kennet School A team for 2nd place play off and their game was certainly very evenly matched. Kennet dominated the first half but the St Bart’s girls came back determined in the 2nd half, which was tightly contested. A late goal from Kennet meant they were the winners, with a 3-2 victory.
The B team were playing Kennet B team for 4th place play off. Despite not having a full side, the girls were superb and took to the pitch determined to play their best – even at half time, both teams worked tirelessly in the second half to take the lead but a final score of 2-2 was a fair result for both teams. Well done to you all.
We are delighted for Annabel (13D2) and India (13E3) who have both secured places in the National England Lacrosse Academy, giving them access to residential training throughout the year and the opportunity to progress to the senior England national team. The girls play for Phoenix Lacrosse Club (www.phoenixlax.co.uk) who train at St Bart’s.
India said, “Having the opportunity to play with talented girls across England is both challenging but deeply rewarding. I feel since being in the academy my skills and understanding of lacrosse have developed significantly. The level of performance and quality of coaches is exceptional, and with the experience I’m gaining from it, I am excited to see where it can take me, especially when I go to University and play lacrosse at an even higher and competitive level.” Well done to you both.
We are delighted to have been named among the Top 25 state schools nationally for cricket in The Cricketer magazine’s illustrious Schools Guide for 2025. This year is the first time in the decade-long history of the publication that our sector has had its own category – and there we are, rubbing shoulders with numerous grammars and sixth form colleges that are essentially specialist cricket academies!
According to The Cricketer, the entrants “were judged against an extensive set of criteria, which included a compelling commitment to cricket in the curriculum, facilities, fixture programmes and coaching”. A beaming but uncaptioned Leo (now Y11) is our pictured individual. Perhaps most gratifying of all was to see Reading School declare their “Finest moment on the field” to be winning the inaugural Toby Radford Trophy, the competition we invented last year for state-school 1st XIs. Copies of the guide can be bought here, although it also comes packaged with the Christmas edition of the magazine, which is a little cheaper and features a festive celebration – “Joe Ho Ho!” – of England’s leading Test run scorer. Available from all good newsagents, as they say.
Year 7 RugbyCongratulations to the Year 7 rugby players who represented the school at the County Rugby Festival at Reading Blue Coat School on Friday 15 November.
St Bart’s won their morning pool, beating Bohunt School 3-0, Reading Boys School C, 11-0, and drawing with Haileybury School, 4-4.
The boys qualified for the top group for the afternoon. They drew, 4-4, with Howard of Effingham School, beat Reading Blue Coat School A, 7-0, beat John Hampden Grammar School, 5-2, and only lost one match to Aylesbury Grammar School. Players of the tournament were Harry Marsh, Thom Holland and Cody Farris.
The Year 8 Rugby team played their final round of West Berkshire fixtures last night at Newbury Rugby club. St Bart’s played against two very strong sides in Park House School and Kennet School. Unfortunately, St Bart’s lost both fixtures, but made an improvement from their last round of matches as they scored a try in both games. Great effort and team spirit from all, as they continued to give 100% until the end of both matches, despite the score line not being in their favour. Tries were scored by Adam and Joe. Players of the match were awarded to Adam for his brilliant tackling and Joe for his excellent ball carrying. Also a special mention to the five students who made their debut representing St Bart’s for the first time in a school fixture!
The Year 10 Rugby team played Stonehenge School from Salisbury in the National Bowl Competition.
Stonehenge had some excellent athletes and a strong, direct running, offloading game. St Bart’s showed real commitment and had to tackle for large periods of the match but managed to hold Stonehenge to only two tries.
With ball in hand St Bart’s worked well as a team, and their training and play structure showed as the forwards and backs interlinked well, playing good phases of rugby and scoring a total of seven tries, several out wide.
The final score proved Megalithic to be stronger than Monolithic. St Bart’s, 41 v Stonehenge, 10. Tries were scored by Antonio Valdivia (4), James Dearing (2), and Freddie Fuller (1). Deacon Cullum kicked three conversions. Player of the match was Antonio Valdivia and special mentions go to Alex Sliwinski and Raul Alin Filimon for their excellent tackling.
