Cricket

The weather has not been kind to the cricket season this year, particularly during April with the contests of the wet wickets being more of a challenge than some of our opponents! Although the start of the season was hard, it was nice to see the strong characters and the resilience of the 1st XI bounce back after a few tough results. The Chigwell 1st XI did get their first victory of the season against their local rivals last week. The exams and injuries that the Sixth Formers have suffered opened the doors for the Year 10 players to make an impact in the 1st team. Along with the victory came a great innings and a maiden fifty from one of the Year 10 players, (George), in a 70 run partnership with another member (Sahib) of the U15s team.

Although both the Chigwell U15s and U14s have been reasonably successful, it was nice to see a few of their players moving up into the 1st XI; this is a true reflection of the strength and depth that we have in the teams below. The U14s had a wonderful victory in the Essex Cup, let’s hope they can repeat the efforts in the next round.

The U13s and U12s have been impressive and this has been apparent during their training sessions and the matches in the A, B and C teams. As the number of students at the school is growing, the opportunity for the players in the C team to play matches has really moved their game to another level. Both year groups are still in the Essex Cups and they have also had plenty of success in their annual fixtures against their local rivals.

There is no doubt that Chigwell have some very talented pupils in the Junior School. In terms of win ratio, the U11s and below have not lost a match this season, a wonderful achievement! Aaryan took the first hat trick of the season; he took 3 wickets for 3 runs, an unbelievable bowling performance in front of about 150 students on top field.

Last week the U11 girls played in their first ever competitive cricket match against another school. They had practised hard all week where they improved and found a love for the game. During the practice sessions last week, we were overwhelmed with their enthusiasm and eagerness to improve! Chigwell have had a long history of fantastic female cricketers, let’s see who will be our next!

The U10 cricket team are a very talented group of pupils; they have had success mainly in their competitive matches against other schools and have shown improvement during their training sessions throughout the term. Keep up the good work!

Congratulations to all swimmers from Year 5 to Year 8 who took part in the IAPS swimming competition at Ipswich School in February. We entered a squad of 20 swimmers, all of whom demonstrated excellent attitude and executed some impressive swims on the day. We are delighted to announce that four Year 7 swimmers have qualified for the National Finals, which take place on Saturday 3rd June at the London Aquatic Centre. India, who also competed last year, has again qualified for the 50m butterfly, Rosie for the 50m breastroke, Isla for the 50m freestyle and all three along with Betsy for the 4 x

On Friday 28th April, the Law Society were given the opportunity to visit the Old Bailey. After being welcomed into the Criminal Courts, students had a talk from the Recorder of London, His Honour Judge Lucraft KC, where they were given an insight into his previous experience as Chief Coroner of England and Wales as well as his role today. They then met with Red Lion Chambers member and Chigwell parent Jenni Dempster KC, who spoke about her role as a defence lawyer. After both talks, students were taken to the public gallery, where they were able to witness part of a murder trial. The students asked insightful questions and they commented on what a valuable experience this was for them.

25m Medley Relay. This currently ranks them as in the top 20 swimmers in their category within independent schools at national level. We wish them all the best for the finals and look forward to sharing their results with you after the event.

Just under 100 pupils have been taking part in our various extra-curricular swimming clubs; beginners, intermediate, advanced and recreational. A large number of Junior School pupils have also entered our Junior School Swimming Gala heats in preparation for the gala in July; an event the pupils always look forward to.