On Tues 24th Jan, GB Pentathlete and London 2012 hopefully Sam Weale came to visit Y9 students. The visit was made possible as part of the work of the Wells Sports Foundation who support up and coming athletes and engage them with young people by getting them into schools. Sam is a British Gold medalist and won a Silver medal at the European Championships. At the Beijing Olympics Sam finished 10th and is looking to qualify and improve this finish position to win a medal in London.

Sam started the afternoon with an insightful and inspiring assembly with the whole of Y9. The requirements of the Pentathlon (running, shooting, swimming, horse riding and fencing) were explained to students with four of them dressing up in Sam's Olympic clothing. Ivanna wore the fencing clothing, Kieran the horse riding attire, Luke the running and shooting clothing and Maya the swimming outfit that has now been banned for competitions due to competitors swimming too quickly!

Following the assembly, 25 students were fortunate enough to spend a session discussing Olympic values and training for London then engaged in a practical session. Students had the opportunity to experience the shooting phase using the laser gun and electronic target. They then went out to the astro where Sam lead some warm up activities, running techniques, before the students competed in teams to simulate the running and shooting phase of competition. They impressed Sam with their work rate and completed the competition twice showing loads of enthusiasm and enjoyment.

Miss Hodge

On Thursday 26^th John Cabot hosted the South Gloucestershire Basketball Tournament, the winners of the tournament then go forward to represent South Gloucestershire at the County Championships. This year 6 schools took part and played in two pools, the teams were John Cabot, the Grange, Hanham High in one pool & Filton Abbywood, Downend and Winterbourne International Academy I the other pool. It was a very competitive competition with a very standard of Basketball played.

The squad started well by winning their opening pool match against Hanham, it was a strong performance in defense with some excellent passing and shooting in attack. This was followed by and tough physical game against Winterbourne which ended in a draw. Cabot finished top of their pool so faced Downend in the semi final, again the squad showed some strong defense and outstanding passing and shooting which saw them through to the final. The final was a rematch against Winterbourne the team held their nerve and produced an excellent performance to win and qualify for the county championships.

Also there needs to be a special mention for Kara Pring and Josie Ford for their brilliant work time keeping, scoring and recording the results for the whole tournament. Well done to all the girls and a massive thank you to all the pupils and staff who watched and supported the squad: Whitney Thompson, Akilah Wellington, Lottie Thompson, Ruby Lopez, Victoria Brimming, Maddie Ford, Candice Hayden, Jodie Parry, Jasmine Rogers, Katie Brooks

Results - Pool matches:
JCA 16 – 0 Hanham
JCA 4 – 4 Winterbourne
Semi final: JCA 10 – 0 Downend
Final: JCA 6 – 2 Winterbourne

Mark White

The year 10 football team started with a success this year with a 4-3 win over BBA. Missing a couple of players and without having had the chance to practice after school, it always had the potential of being a difficult game. Despite a goal after only 1:06 minutes, the early pressure was with BBA and JCA had to get its defensive skills working early. Two weak goals through lack of concentration led to a 2-1 deficit at half time, this could have been more if not for the solid back four of Zac, Joe Rooney, Luke Hancock and Lonnie Coles, not to mention some fantastic flying saves from Taran! JCA never really got into their stride and played how they can and should.

The half time talk was easy. More width, more passing, keep it simple and determination. The team which came out in the second half was like Cabot of old. The simple stuff being done well, Cabot dominated possession and created numerous goal scoring opportunities. However, with no Jamie Gregory (absent) and Jake Leat picking up an injury during the game, things were made a little more difficult. However some fine passing created some good well worked goals. Kieran Summers had a notable game coming on up front and doing a fine job. Conner Kerr ran down everything in the second half and the midfield was secured up by the rock that is George Watts.

The key to recent year’s success is keeping play simple. It worked before and it worked again in the second half, player of the match was Lonnie Coles. The next game is against Kings oak.

Mr. Thomas

Weds 25th Jan saw the first of the U16 League netball matches, the squads had become somewhat depleted but some rallying around at lunchtime and students stepping in meant that two full teams travelled to Hanham. Both teams found it hard to settle and convert early chances as the team had to get used to positions however both teams were the stronger sides coming out winners. Y10 won 10 - 3, Player of the Match Beth Terry, Y11 won 16-10, Player of the Match Helen Howshall.

Miss Hodge

After doubts of the game being on Downend managed to scrap together a team of 7 meaning we played 7 a-side. JCA where in control from the whistle having many chances which Cissy managed to hit one into the back of the net. We made a number of changes in the 2nd half to ensure everyone had some game time which saw JCA become unsettled a took a while to come back into the game. Neverless Cissy continued to work hard on the wing and scored her 2nd of the game. However Downend battled hard and managed to break through twice meaning the final score was 2-2.

All girls worked hard and it was good to see that we can field a full team. Training for all girls continues to be on a Tuesday after school.

Miss Hinton

On Thursday 19^th John Cabot hosted the South Gloucestershire Basketball Tournament, the winners of the tournament then go forward to represent South Gloucestershire at the County Championships. This year 5 schools took part and played in a round robin league, the teams were John Cabot, the Grange, Hanham High, Filton Abbywood and Downend. It was a very competitive competition with a very high standard of Basketball played.

John Cabots opening game was against the Grange, the Girls lost this game   0-6. This was mostly due to the team making a very slow start to the game, and they did not pass the ball to their normal high standard. However the girls quickly put this behind them and in their next three games against Downend, Filton Abbbywood and Hanham the team began to pass and shoot the ball to their own high standards. As a result the team finished second, just behind the Grange who won the Tournament.  

Results Below:

JCA 0 – 6 The Grange

JCA 10 – 4 Downend

JCA 10 – 4 Filton Abbywood

JCA 14 – 2 Hanham

The whole squad worked really hard and supported each other through the whole tournament in both attack and defence. Making their shoots and pressuring the opposition to steal possession. There were a number of standout performances from the squad of 10 players. In defence Josephine Ford was excellent blocking shots and dominating the rebounds off the back board. In attack Kara Pring showed some outstanding dribbling skills and scored lots of layups. Holly Keen and Lydia Saunders who are not the most experienced players in the squad but they both tried really hard and scored some good baskets during the games. Finally Lily Stew who was the only year 7 in the squad, she was one of the smallest players involved in the tournament however her effort and commitment was brilliant chasing players down in defence and dribbling into space with the ball. Also well done to Whitney Thompson and Akilah Wellington in year 11 you did a great job of recording all the results and time keeping during the tournament.

Mr. White

John Cabot were well up for this game right from the start showing some bright passages of play on the left hand side creating chance after chance, but the ball just wouldn’t go in the net. After some great link ups on the left hand side involving Grant Millard, Samir Khoudi and Matt Hill allowed Cabot another chance on goal, luckily for Kings Oak it went wide. After a long ball from the Kings Oak keeper resulted in causing Cabot’s defense some trouble. With a little slip up at the back and a mix up between keeper and defense allowed the Kings Oak striker a chance on an open goal which he took calmly. 1-0 Kings Oak. This then sprung Cabot in to life, and made them more clinical in front of goal causing some good saves from the Kings Oak keeper. Then from 40 yards out Matt Hill smashed a shot into the back of the net. Cabot now became camped in the oppositions half with more chances coming from some great crosses from Matt Collins and Samir Khoudi. John Cabot then had a corner which was brilliantly headed in from 7 yards from Kyle Hawker! At half Time the score was 2-1 to Cabot.

Cabot started the second half much the same as the first with some great little triangles all over the pitch, with some wild shots from the mid-field three Matt Hill, Adam Dyer and Matt Smith. Some tactical subs at half time proved clinical with some good movements on the wings from Harry Parker, Josh Miller and Craig Kemp up front. The Home team won another corner, one of many, where Dyer popped out of nowhere and scored another header for Cabot. With some solid defensive work at the back from Harry Greenland, Sam Baber and Grant Millard Kings Oak had no way past. Adam Thurston came back on upfront and created some good link up play with Craig and the mid-field three creating more chances. In the closing minutes Matt Hill again produced another great strike from the wide left which found the bottom right hand corner of the net, for another great goal. In the closing minutes Andy Smith in goal was given a controversial hand ball but again it did not phase the Cabot defense and was dealt with well.

Full time Cabot 4-1 Kings Oak.  A big thank you to the referee, Ross Robbins, for a great controlled game.

Match report written by Matthew Smith

Tuesday 17^th January the U16 girls played a friendly against Downend School. The weather was freezing which saw both teams make a slow start to the game. However Downend had a great deal of possession which saw them score an early goal. Both teams battled hard, with Ocean Bracey making a number of good saves. At the end of the first half it was 1-0 to Downend.

During the second half both teams had a handful of chances but it was Downend that managed to score 3 goals making the final score (Downend 4-0 JCA). Lucy Thatcher and Ruby Smith were the players of the match, because they worked really hard during the game running nonstop up and down the wings, well done girls.

The girls U16 have their next match away to Patchway on the 2nd February and training for all girls in on a Tuesday after school.

Team: Ocean Bracey, Lucy Thatcher, Jodie Hall, Gracie Bryant, Kayleigh Graham, Beth Terry, Jaz Rogers, Ruby Smith, Amy Woods, Helen Howshall, Jess Warner, Grace Kenway

Miss Hinton