We are pleased to announce that Longfleet have once again been recognised for our outstanding provision of sport across the primary range. As well as hosting many events in the Autumn and Spring terms (including Dorset's first ever Inclusion Panathlon), we have put out teams in a wide variety of sports. Highlights of our competitive sport this year have been:

-First place (boys) at the Y6 Poole Schools Swimming Gala

-Semi-Finals of the Year 6 Football (Lions)

-Having teams in Netball across the primary range.

-Second places in both groups (Lionesses)

Thank you to the children for their perpetual enthusiasm for events and for the parents for their unequivocal support. Obviously the pandemic has stopped any friendly or competitive sport in the Summer Term. However we hope and pray for something approaching normality from September.

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School now has a Facebook page on which we will be uploaded daily videos.  Click Here to join!

On the 10th March, Longfleet took nine children to Rossmore Leisure Centre to participate in the Poole Schools Swimming Gala. Taking a strong, enthusiastic team, Longfleet started well and continued their positive results throughout the competition, against thirteen other local schools. Children receiving a top 3 finish are included in the results:

1st Place: Phillip Bernal Mezzetti - 25m Freestyle

                                                    - 25m Breaststroke

                Boys Mixed Stroke Relay (4 x 25m)

2nd Place: Annie Earner               - 25m Backstroke

                 Gethin Wilson              - 25m Backstroke

                 Boys Freestyle Relay (4 x 25m)

The Boys finished in FIRST place overall, with Phillip, Reuben, Gethin and Daniel having a chance to participate in the Dorset Schools Swimming Finals in Dorchester.

Well done to all the swimmers, who showed amazing resilience throughout the Gala and to the parents, who supported the children with great enthusiasm!

This month saw our Young Filmmakers project get underway. Our fantastic team of pupils spent two afternoons in school working with filmmaker Jordi Roberts. They learned how to plan out a documentary film, how to use the cameras to capture the best possible footage and - judging by the interview Miss Wright had with Lucas - some great interview techniques! They concluded their work at the Music Showcase at Poole High School. They managed to get right into the thick of the action with their cameras whilst somehow remaining discreet and unobtrusive – a great testament to their newly developed skills. Jordi has now taken away all the footage of interviews, rehearsals and performances to be edited into a short film about music at Longfleet. We will share it on the school website as soon as it is available to us. Thank you to WAVE Arts Education Agency, Jordi Roberts, our young filmmakers and all the Longfleet musicians for making this possible.

Last Thursday saw over 120 Longfleet pupils gather in the Poole High School theatre for an evening concert showcasing their instrumental skills.

The evening kicked off with a performance by the Longfleet Orchestra who were joined by the Poole High School Orchestra and a number of teaching staff to form a group of approximately 75 brass, woodwind, string, piano and percussion players. They started with a fun medley of pieces and ended with a stirring performance of Mussorgsky’s Night On The Bare Mountain. That was followed by some lovely performances from our pianists, violinists, cellists, flautists, clarinettists and brass ensemble. In the second half of the concert we were treated to some excellent drumming, perfectly rehearsed keyboard performances, two exciting pieces by our 34 guitarists and a fitting finale from Rock Band who performed “Believer.”

The standard of music was high and the children were professional, focussed and confident throughout. Poole High were fantastic hosts, supporting us with lighting, sound and logistics and it was a pleasure working with their music team. Thank you to all the performers, helpers, instrumental tutors and audience members who made this such a special evening.

The pictures below will give you a flavour of the evening. To see all of the photographs, please look on the music page of our school website

https://www.longfleet.poole.sch.uk/music-showcase-2020-photographs/

Earlier this week we had a visit from some wonderful English folk musicians. Soundstorm offered us this lovely opportunity to hear some music from members of the National Youth Folk Ensemble. A group of 5 musicians performed some traditional English folk tunes for some of our pupils. They played the flute, fiddle (violin), viola, piano accordion and button accordion as you can see in the pictures. The ensemble included Sam Sweeney who is the Director of the National Youth Folk Ensemble and a member of the acclaimed bands, Bellowhead and Leveret. He is also a previous BBC Folk Musician of the Year winner. On viola was Miranda Rutter (Methera) and on button accordion, Archie Churchill-Moss (Moore Moss Rutter, Sam Kelly and the Lost Boys). To play in the National Youth Folk Ensemble you have to be aged between 14 – 18 but you can do one of their taster days when you are 12 years old. Have a look at their website to find out more about them.

https://www.efdss.org/learning/young-people/national-youth-folk-ensemble

Years Reception to Year Six participated in the Sport Relief Challenge Run to answer the question, “How far can Longfleet run?”. The answer, it turns out, is a long way! Year 6 started the day with gusto, ending their stint with over 700 laps of our 500m track. This resilience continued throughout the day, with some children running for nearly two hours to improve our final total. With all year groups completed, the final total was:

2660 kilometres (From Poole to within touching distance of Moscow!)

As well as this, the kind donations of family and friends ensured Longfleet raised a grand total of:

£2200

Finally well done to Jamie in the Kites, who came closest with his guess of 2534km so won himself a £40 Decathlon voucher!

Year 5 and 6 netballers have had a very busy week!

On Monday, we participated in the Year 6 Poole Schools Netball tournament. Despite the rain, we played really well and managed to qualify for the semi-finals, which we will be playing on Thursday (weather dependent!).  

On Wednesday, a team of Year 5 and 6s went to Yarrells to play 2 friendly matches. Alfie and Jacob were nominated as players of the match after some excellent interceptions! We had a great time and even got some strawberry milk and a donut afterwards. 

After school on Wednesday, we played a league match against Ocean. Unfortunately, we lost 2-6. However, we played well as a team and will look forward to implementing what we learnt in preparation for our semi-final.