Calmore Junior School

The eagerly awaited Calmore World Cup kicked off today with Group A launching the competition.

24 girls from across all years had previously organised themselves into teams, drawn their country and lined up at lunchtime ready to compete for the much coveted Calmore Cup! Roared on by encouraging cries of support - from friends and brothers and sisters - England, Croatia, Austria and Brazil played each other in a series of six matches to see who would progress to the Cup semifinals and who would battle it out in the Plate.

Miss Garrathy and the very kind Mr Bowers, who came back especially to help referee, oversaw each match. Each team got better and more confident as they moved through their games. Austria 🇦🇹 ran out group winners with some mighty impressive team goals in their three victories while Brazil 🇧🇷 snatched runners up spot with a win, draw and defeat - both now move to the Cup semifinals. England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 and Croatia 🇭🇷 progress into the Plate semifinals with all matches being played on Thursday 16th July.

What a great start to competition.

Fixtures:
Thursday 25th June 🇦🇺 🇸🇳 🇲🇦 🇮🇷
Wednesday 8th July 🇵🇾 🇳🇴 🇿🇦 🇸🇦
Thursday 9th July 🇨🇻 🇫🇷 🇨🇼 🇺🇸

A busy couple of weeks in gardening club so tonight it’s 2-for-1!

Planting, sign making and lots of harvesting. We really enjoy this time of year seeing the results of all our hard work!

Looking ahead to September, we’d love to invite willing volunteers - parents or grandparents - who may be able to give some of their time to help tend to our wonderful garden. Why not come and explore it first hand next Wednesday after sports day. Come and chat with us if you think it might be something you’d like to help out with.

It’s been a busy week in the world of sport here at school.

As well as our Calmore World Cup kicking off, 40 children from across the school took part in two athletics competitions. On Tuesday, 24 Year 3 and Year 4 pupils set off to Testwood with Miss Ingram and Mrs Bowers to take part in Quadkids. As the name suggests, each child participated in four events - vortex, long jump, 50m sprint and 400m. The children were fantastic with each of them giving their all in every event. As well as competing brilliantly, they supported each other so well, especially when it got tough for some. Well done Year 3 and Year 4 - you were superb!

Yesterday, two teams of Year 5 and Year 6 pupils competed in the Athletics Championships on the track at Southampton Sports Centre. The venue is a special one and meant the children got to tread in the footsteps of former GB Olympic medallists such as Iwan Thomas, Kriss Akabusi and Roger Black who all trained there. Our own athletes continued that impressive run, setting individual, year group and whole school records along the way. Josh and Sapphire both broke the school 600m record; Amy broke the school 80m and Y5 triple jump records; Zach broke the Y6 triple jump record. Both Logan and Thomas also came close to breaking their own vortex and long jump records respectively...though, along with Zach and Josh, they were part of the boys’ 4x100m team who broke that school record later! Bella not only broke the Y5 150m record but smashed the school vortex record coming third overall and in doing so claimed bronze. Wow!

Once again, each pupil gave it everything and should be so proud of their efforts. Whilst being a team event, it is very much an individual sport where you have to push yourself to the limit in order to achieve your very best. We are always in awe and admiration of each and every one of you. Well done on another great day!

Big day today in the world of football…with the Calmore World Cup 2026 draw taking place in assembly.

Children have been tasked with sorting their own teams from across the school in readiness for a boys and girls tournament. With teams sorted, it was time to choose countries in assembly. First out of the hat was England closely followed by Austria, Brazil and Croatia! The excitement was building as team captains stepped forward to draw their teams…France, USA, Cape Verde and debutants Curaçao followed. The girls took up the baton once more as Paraguay, Norway, South Africa and Saudi Arabia completed the 8 team girls section. Last up were the final four boys teams. Would Spain feature? Would Argentina make an appearance?

No they wouldn’t!

The final four places went to Australia, Senegal, Iran and Morocco. The teams and groups have been decided. Let the games begin…

Matches will be played at lunchtime over the coming weeks with the top two from each group progressing to the semi finals. The finals will take place on the afternoon of Friday 17th July with the whole school in attendance.

Who will be crowned champion?

A busy gardening club this week, the harvesting has started! We picked strawberries, onions and lettuce.
We were amazed at how much everything had grown and lucky to have Mrs Quinn join us too!

Year 5 welcomed Aaron Phipps MBE on Friday.

Aaron, an ex pupil and Paralympian wheel chair rugby team member talked to year 5 about losing his limbs to meningitis aged 16. This could have made Aaron give up on life but actually did the opposite. Aaron shared his incredible story detailing overcoming huge challenges such as completing the London Marathon, climbing Kilamanjaro, and competing in 2 Paralympics.

Aaron is truly inspirational and taught the children to never give up and to always work hard. Thank you, Aaron.

And that’s a wrap! Tile Barn 2026 - you were amazing.

Thank you to all the pupils for making it so memorable - you really are such a special group of children. Thank you to the staff at who were their usual excellent selves. The pods made for an even more enjoyable stay. Finally, thank you to the teachers and learning support staff who worked long days and stayed alert all night to make everyone’s time the best it could be.

Enjoy a good sleep tonight and see you on Monday…it’s Showtime!!!!

Day 2. Bleary eyed, the children were woken soon after 7 and then devoured a hearty breakfast, fuelled up for the day ahead.

Throughout the morning, the children continued to amaze and reach new heights by overcoming fears or pushing themselves that extra step further. They really have been amazing. There are too many individual achievements to list and they can do that themselves when they turn tomorrow but we can say with honesty and pride at how brilliant they have all been. We’ve witnessed acts of great courage, great thought, great friendship and great heart.

Not even the torrential downpour this afternoon could dampen spirits as whether by luck or design we dodged the raindrops and carried on regardless. On our return to the pods, steam could be seen rising from each one as the warm sun waved goodbye to the drenched tiles. (Not smoke as a few suddenly cried out!!!) A rainbow high above the trees made for the perfect picture!

Dinner time was another highlight - pulled pork or chicken wraps served with rice and tortillas. Ice creams for dessert then free time and a chance to mix in with each other once more. An earlier pod inspection at 8:30pm meant those tired eyes got to shut a little sooner tonight.

One more sleep…

Well that was an eventful but ultimately brilliant first day here at Tile Barn.

As we arrived and unpacked, the rain did fall and the wind did blow…so much so that the wonderful staff made the decision to transfer us from canvas to wood as we were treated to an upgrade in accommodation! Instead of tents, the pupils are now all tucked up in 5 star luxury - the warm, sturdy and soundproof poppy pods! Wow! What a great!

We got lucky too with the afternoon weather as the rain faded - climbing, archery, low and high ropes, crate stack and shelter building were all enjoyed as first activities.

Then came the food: cake at afternoon break followed by burgers, salad and wedges before hot chocolate fudge pudding! Freetime was also enjoyed as the rain decided to keep its distance and the children played long into the evening before 9pm ‘pod’ inspections finished the day. All is quiet and most are fast asleep already.

This glamping lark isn’t too bad actually!

It’s been a couple of days of fantastic cricket for Calmore. Yesterday, the Y5/6 girls took to the field at Calmore Cricket Club and competed against schools from the New Forest in a series of games. Both teams did brilliantly well with the Year 5 team coming away with a bronze medal having achieved third overall. Today, the boys got their chance and again did so well. Both teams enjoyed victories and close matches with the Year 6s winning a silver medal. Across both days, the pupils picked their teams, organised themselves on the field and supported each other throughout. So impressed by the quality of cricket but also the leadership and collaboration on show.