Sports News

1st December 2011

Year 10 and 11 netball team

This year has been a tremendously exciting year for the netball teams at Denbigh. All teams have demonstrated some superb levels of netball, excellent sportsmanship and overwhelming amounts of determination.

Week in week out the year 10/11 girls netball team have been fighting hard at their Wednesday night league games to ensure they achieve a place in the finals night. The year 10/11 team ended up winning their pool in the town league and were thrilled to gain a place in the finals as “winners”.

The team knew that the finals night was going to be a tough evening of high quality netball but they were determined to give it all they have got. Faiza Raqeeb in year 10 who plays wing defence in the team has written the match report for this event:

Training, training and more training for one of the prestigious, biggest events the year 10/11 netball team has faced...the FINAL. The final in which Denbigh had to play two more schools in order to triumph.

On the afternoon of December the 1st, the Denbigh year 10/11 netball team were whisked off to Stopsley high school, determined to win. Our first match against Barnfield South, with Marvi, Siobhan, Faiza and Sabrina Belony making powerful passes and shots, Denbigh were leading in the first half. As the clock was ticking Barnfield came fighting back, but with a strong defence and support from Chevaze, Peace, Zoe and Sabrina Hussain Denbigh were leading to VICTORY as the opposition failed to keep up.

The team went from strength to strength as minutes turned into seconds and Denbigh won their semi final game 10 - 4. After a long break, Denbigh were through to the final match this time against Icknield. The first half of the match consisted of long powerful passes given by Siobhan and Marvi to Sabrina who was shooting. We got off to a good start however with stronger defence; Icknield went at it, fighting and fighting to keep the ball at their side. With Zoe and Chevaze hitting the ball out of the ‘D’, Denbigh finally came back.

Time flew as half-time approached us, with Marvi our Captain, Miss Tipper and Miss Neely our coaches  encouraging us to grab the ball whenever possible and stick to our opposition like glue. The second half was better, as the whole team took in what had been said at half-time and grew stronger in our defending and passing. With lots of encouragement from Miss Neely, Miss Tipper and the rest of the team, the final score came down to 8-12 as Icknield went home in triumph and Denbigh came a proud and worthy second place.

Although, we did come second the key thing we embarked upon was determination, from the start to the end. Denbigh kept that determination within them and used it throughout the games. We would like to thank Miss Neely and Miss Tipper for encouraging us to keep going, keeping us motivated within the games and finally for setting up fixtures and tournaments.

Well done to the year 10/11 netball team for coming this far.

Faiza Raqeeb 102NW

Even though the team did not quite claim the gold medal, they were dignified and proud finish in 2nd place overall.  The girls came so close to achieving their gold medal and they have already started talking about the town tournament that takes place in March where they get another opportunity to claim the title of town champions.

It has been an exceptionally successful season for the year 10/11 netball team, every player involved should be proud of their achievements thus far and continue to strive to keep improving.

A huge well done and we look forward to the spring town tournament!

Miss Neely – Teaching and Learning Leader for PE

14th November 2011

Denbigh wins the Year 8 Luton Town Badminton Tournament

Twin sisters Georgia and Lauren Webster and Michaela Locker and Aneesah Hussain represented Denbigh high school at the Year 8 Luton Town Badminton Tournament at the Luton Regional Sports Center on Monday 14^th November and emerged victorious after a tough battle against other schools in the Town.

A large number of students from Icknield, Stopsley, Lealands, Lea Manor and Challney Girls high schools competed in the competition and the standards at this event were extremely high with students from all schools putting on an excellent performance.

Report from the event:

Our year 8 pupils played against Icknield first winning all five of their games comfortably.

In round two of our pool we played against Lealands and the girls battled hard to overcome the tough competition winning four of their five games and only narrowly losing out in the doubles 21- 19.

We then waited patiently to see who we would play in the final before getting through to play Stopsley

It was a tough competition but the girls have been training hard and gave some fantastic performances throughout the afternoon’s competition.

In our singles match for our first and second seed (Michaela and Georgia) we came out on top, winning 21 - 18 and 21 - 17 respectively. Although we were narrowly defeated in one of our doubles games by a strong Stopsley duo we still managed to win 3 out of 4 games and Denbigh had done enough to be successful and secure the title of Year 8 Badminton Town Champions for the second successive year.

The girls have been training hard and attending badminton club each week with their teacher Mrs Mc Neill and they have been working on improving their levels of fitness as well as communication and movement strategies to enable them to perform to the best of their ability.

The girls are now preparing for the county tournament next month in Cambridge.

P.E Teacher Mrs McNeil said: “I am delighted for the four girls. They have prepared well for this competition and have trained hard during our badminton extra-curricular club. All four of the girls were excellent ambassadors for the school and are fine young sports women, demonstrating excellent standards of sportsmanship and values throughout the event. I know they have come away from the competition confident in their ability to progress and succeed in the next round in Cambridgeshire and I have no doubt that they will put on a fantastic performance. Well done girls.”

 “This was my first badminton tournament so I was very nervous at first but as the tournament went on my confidence grew and I am extremely pleased that we won.”

Aneesah Hussain 72

 “Last year in badminton I was disappointed that our team came 4^th so I was determined to win this year and I am really pleased that we did. I would also like to thank Mrs McNeil for taking me.”

 Lauren Webster 81

“I feel like I have really progressed my skills in badminton and I am so proud to be in the team.”

Michaela Locker 81

“It was a great experience to play against the other schools and I cannot wait for the next round.”

Georgia Webster 83

19th October 2011

Year 7 netball team report

On Wednesday 19th October the Denbigh high school year seven netball team went to Stopsley high school and we had a very successful game.

Everyone worked hard as a team and we managed to win the game with a final score of 4-0. The whole team played very well and we were extremely pleased with ourselves. I was particularly proud to have scored all four goals with the help of my team mates who gave me some great opportunities to score.

Well done to all of you.

Sara Karim—75 (Captain of the year 7 netball team)

10^th July 2011

An elite treat for Essa and Nishit

Essa Mohammed in form 92 and Nishit Biswas in form 107 are two of Denbigh’s best cricket players. Both students represent the county at cricket and work extremely hard training up to four times a week along with cricket games at weekends and during the week. Both boys make a huge contribution to the school cricket teams and are extremely valuable members of their teams.

On Sunday 10^th July Nishit and Essa were invited to attend an elite fast bowling clinic lead by the very well known Wasim Akram. The fast bowling clinic is famous for its fantastic opportunity for bowlers to learn the art of fast bowling from arguably one of the best left arm fast bowlers of all time.

Wasim Akram is a former Pakistani left arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman in cricket, who represented the Pakistan national cricket team in test cricket and One Day International matches.

Akram is regarded as one of the best fast bowlers in the history of cricket. He holds the world record for most wickets in List A cricket with 881 and is second only to Sri Lankan off-spin bowler, Muttiah Muralitharan in terms of One Day International wickets with 502. He is considered to be one of the founders and perhaps the finest exponent of reverse swing bowling. The revolutionary nature of reverse swing initially resulted in accusations of ball tampering by cricket critics, although the skill of the reverse swing delivery has now been accepted as a legitimate ability in cricket.

On 30 September 2009, Akram was one of five new members inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

Essa and Nishit were astonished to hear Wasim was running this bowling session and they were overwhelmed to be the nominated students to attend the session.

Wasim Akram personally made feedback on Essa and Nishit’s performance….

“I was highly impressed by Essa’s bowling. I was impressed by his pace especially the natural swing he had. I talked to Essa directly, advising him to bowl more and more and eat the right food in order to develop the bowling muscles.”

“I was highly impressed by Nishit’s batting and I have advised him to speak to his coaches and insist they make him bat at the higher order, it was great to see the standard Nishit was batting at.”

“One major thing I admired from both players was how well mannered, disciplined, willing to listen and hard working they both were.”

Well done to both boys on their performance at the fast bowling clinic.

8^th July 2011

Ergyst brings home gold from the town athletics championships

It was the most eagerly anticipated day of the year in the Luton schools athletics calendar. 

FrIday 8th July 2011 saw Stockwood park host the Town Athletics Championships.  Denbigh’s finest made their way over to the venue on what was a very overcast morning.  Upon arrival, rain threatened to sabotage the entire event, but patience was a virtue and proceedings commenced.

The Denbigh students warmed up together as a team, led by Team Captain Anika Ahmed and were filled with determination right from the word go! First up was the long distance events, and a brave effort from Sohail Sawar saw Denbigh collect their first points.  Anika soon followed with a gallant run in the Intermediate Girls’ 1500 meters, and inspired the younger students to try their best.

The field events soon began, and so too did Denbigh’s collection of medals with Georgia Webster gaining  a bronze in the Lower Junior Girls’ shot putt.  Another Lower Junior Girls superstar was Sara Szek, who claimed silver in the high jump.

However the highlight of the day was Ergyst’s powerful sprint performance in the Lower Junior Boys 100 meters.  He drove hard out of the blocks, and forced his way to the front of the pack.  The others were hot on his heels, but proved no match for the supersonic speed of Ergyst.  It was gold for Denbigh in the most exciting final of the day!

16^th June 2011

Tennis excellence

On Thursday 16^th June four year seven and eight girls went to the annual town tennis tournament at the Vauxhall Tennis Club.

Denbigh had to play every school throughout the day and each match involved a doubles game, and two singles. The first match was against Barnfield South, the girls won this game convincing despite wet conditions, and they showed great courage and determination with each and every point they played. The girls grew with confidence with each and every game and were undefeated by the end of the group stages, qualifying top of the group.

The girls then went on to play Putteridge at this stage with all games now being played to the best of three. The doubles were up first, the partnership went two games down to begin, but remained focused and calm, and did not get disheartened instead they showed real determination, and ended up coming back and winning the game 3-2. Both single players won their games convincingly. We were now through to the final, and faced our toughest opponents; Stopsley who had given us our toughest game of the tournament so far. The Denbigh girls seemed to give even more in this game, they played and meant every shot, and pulled together to win the final. They were very well deserved town tournament winners.

The girls all had very different playing styles whether it was the laid back brilliance of Michaela Locker—71 where she played each shot beautifully and managed to make her opponent run all around the court, or the strength and power demonstrated with every shot by Sibongile Gara—88, or the great partnership of Maishah Khan—85 and Lauren Webster—71 where they managed to support each other and play to each of their strengths. These four girls played with such determination, courage and excellence, but above all they played with outstanding sportsmanship both on and off the court. Well done girls.

14th June 2011

Year seven rounders

On Tuesday 14th June nine enthusiastic year seven students took to the field to represent Denbigh high school in the Luton town rounders tournament. The girls were extremely nervous as this was their first ever rounders tournament at Denbigh.  The girls first match was against Barnfield West academy who were a strong and determined team. The girls took a while to settle into the game but once they found their footing they started to relax and looked like a very established team.

Denbigh were then up against Ashcroft and took to the pitch more confidently led by their captain Safa Abbas—76.  The girls played exceptionally well with their fielding skills being remarkably improved from the previous game against Barnfield West academy. The girls prevented Ashcroft from scoring many rounders and knew that if they batted well they would take the victory. Michaela Locker—71 was the first batter in and after hitting the ball a considerable distance scored our first rounder. The girls then followed Michaela’s excellent lead and finished with a score of seven and a half rounders taking the victory. The girls then persevered in high spirits throughout the tournament to beat Barnfield South academy and drawing with Putteridge high school.

This meant the girls finished second in the tournament just behind Barnfield West Academy. The girls have now made it through to the Luton Schools Finals night on the 6th July.

Well done to each of you that took part.  You were a credit to the school and fought well for this excellent achievement.

23^rd May 2011

Peace represents the county in the national basketball tournament

Peace Akib from year nine was called up to represent the county in the annual national basketball tournament. Although a year younger than the rest of the county squad Peace played a huge role in the tournament. Peace has been one of Denbigh’s strongest players in the school basketball team, not only physically on the court but mentally off the court she provides a high level of leadership and motivation to her fellow team mates. 

The county coach said, “Peace was a fantastic player to have on the team for tournament; she was strong, confident and showed pure determination in what was a very tough tournament.”

As Peace was a year younger in the category the county squad have secured her a place in the squad for next year where she will be a year older and no doubt even better than she already is. Well done Peace, an excellent achievement!

“I was overwhelmed to be asked to represent the county at the national basketball competition. There were so many brilliant players there and I was playing in the Bedfordshire team which also had some great players. It was a really good experience playing at this level and has made me want to do even more next year to ensure I have a place in the county squad.” Peace Akib – Form 92

20^th May 2011

Denbigh win football league and secure promotion!

The year ten football team are celebrating after being crowned league winners and in the process claiming promotion to the top league for Luton schools. The team who have been coached by Mr Wright since year eight have shown impressive form in previous seasons but this is their most successful season to date. They have taken a step up in the way they play the game and after playing as unit for so long a real team spirit has been created. However the season wasn’t easy and the team had to play at their best in every game they played. In all the games the team showed great skill and played exciting football, never afraid to take chances and go for goal.

In seasons past the team sometimes lacked strength at the back and were often caught on the break. This season the team’s captain Abu Bakr Ali really took control of the defence and alongside Zain Yaqoob they made the centre of defence very hard to crack this year. Scoring goals has never been a problem for this team, and top scorers Samad Ali and Sadekqur Rahman were on form again each scoring many goals over the season. Nazrull Ali and Tasbeel Mustaq were also an impressive attacking threat this year using their pace to attack teams on the break.

All this talent led to the year ten football team going the whole season unbeaten with their most impressive result being a 5-1 victory against Putteridge high school. Now the season is over the team has time to celebrate and look forward to next year playing in the top division against the best schools in the local area.

25th March 2011

YEAR EIGHT FOOTBALL SUCCESS

Denbigh v's Ashcroft

The final result ended with a 3 -1 win to Denbigh. Man of the match went to the whole team because it was an outstanding performance.

Denbigh v's Challney

This was an intense game with some great performances on both sides but the Denbigh team managed to cope with the pressure and won the game with a free kick taken by Rokib Miah who accurately placed the ball in the top right hand corner of the goal to make a final score of 3 - 2.

Denbigh v's Putteridge

This was an important game and the year eight boys knew that if they could get a victory then they would be guaranteed to have a place in the year eight Luton schools semi-finals. The anticipation of the game was evident to see and all the year eight boys were determined and looking for victory.

The game started off very tense and both teams were fighting for possession of the ball. The game was even for both teams as half time approached. The second half started and Putteridge managed to score a long range goal. Denbigh kept their heads up and battled hard to get back into the game. As the second half developed Denbigh had a number of good opportunities to equalise but the Putteridge goal keeper played well. As the full time whistle approached Tariqul Chowdhury received a threaded pass between defenders which he ran on to with a 1 on 1 with the goal keeper. He held his nerve and beat the keeper to equalise.

At full time the game ended in a draw and the Denbigh boys will now have to wait and see if they have done enough to play in the Luton school semi-finals.

10th February 2011

Denbigh team become 'Town Basketball Champions'

On Thursday 10th February 20119 year 7 girls competed to become town champions in basketball and although they faced tough competition the team managed to walk away victorious.

Well done to Eman Al Odet, Nimrah Kiani, Maryam Hussain, Aisha Hussain, Saffa Abbas, Lauren Webster, Georgia Webster, Marjan Begum and Sara Szec.

You were a true credit to the school and very gracious winners.

16th November 2010

Hockey Jubilation

On Tuesday 16^th November the Denbigh years seven and eight hockey team travelled over to Icknield to take on some tough opponents. The match was going to prove to be an even tougher test as some of our key players were missing as they were celebrating Eid. We did not want to let that affect us and were determined to perform well.

At the start of the match Icknield looked good but we knew we could beat them, although they started very well by scoring an early goal against us putting us on the back foot. With Paige in goal looking solid and our others players Michaela, Sumaiya and Sarah working hard and showing great skill we clawed our way back into the match and overturned the lead in dramatic style.

With Miss Stewart giving us tactical advice and motivation from the side we were never going to lose. We eventually ran out 3-1 winners to leave Icknield to deal with the bitter taste of defeat while we enjoyed our hard earned success. It was a truly fantastic team performance.

Lauren Webster 71 and Georgia Webster 73

15th November 2010

Badminton bonanza

Our year seven and eight girls recently travelled to the Luton Schools Badminton Tournament held in the Regional Sports Centre. Both teams played a number of games on the day, with individual students achieving success in both the singles and the doubles. The greatest achievement of the day was our year eight team, who won the overall badminton tournament for their year group and will now represent Luton in the County Badminton tournament later in the term.

The following account of the tournament has been written by Michaela Locker (71):

On Monday 15^th November the year seven and eight Luton Schools Badminton tournament was held and we were all a bit nervous with excitement upon arrival. There were lots of schools there and the competition was sure to be fierce. On the day I had to play against the year eights because some of their team were missing, and I wanted to do them, and the rest of the team, proud. We got off to a great start with Sibongile winning her match and she was smashing the shuttlecock everywhere. Even though she is new to badminton Sulekha also played really well. Lauren also did very well and was making her opponent run all over the place. All in all we had great fun and were proud to represent the school. What made the day even more special is that the year eights made it through to the County Finals. The team would also like to thank Mrs McNeill for giving us great coaching advice and inspiration. Go Denbigh!

Well done to all the pupils involved and good luck in the county finals.

7th October 2010

Table tennis triumph

On Thursday 7^th October Hamzah Shamrez (74), Tariq Ahmed (7b), Abu-Hasnath (76) and Abu Hamzah Miah (73) had the privilege to play in the town table tennis competition at Lealands High School. There were other schools from all across Luton represented and we Denbigh pupils were excited to show what we could do. We were off to a flying start by winning the first game 3-2, which was down to teamwork and our never say die Denbigh spirit. Each of us was bringing something different and exciting to the table with me hitting the ball really flat, Abu Hasnath spinning the ball all around the table, Abu Hamza spraying the ball everywhere and Tariq smashing the ball so hard it left his opponents open mouthed in amazement. These skills no doubt helped lead us to victory and we won all our other matches too. The team fulfilled Denbigh's motto of High achievement for all is our shared responsibility and we were crowned champions. The team were also very grateful to Mr Stewart and Mr Sutton for all their hard work and support and now look forward to representing Denbigh again in the county championship.

Hamza Shamrez - 74

30th July 2010

Year 7 cricket champions

The year seven boys cricket team faced Challney High School for Boys in the town cricket final at the Stopsley Regional Centre. The two teams had already met earlier on in the term and Denbigh had been convincing winners.

Before the game the year seven team were very focused and eager to win the title of year seven town champions. The two schools met in the afternoon and the toss was made, Arfeen Khan in form 78 won the toss and elected to bowl at Challney first. The game was played over 16 overs and this meant that Denbigh need their best six bowls to not give away any runs.

Throughout the 16 overs Challney scored a steady run rate of 6 an over and some outstanding bowling by Hasin Ali 78 and fielding by Daanisk kyani 73 and Iblal Ali 77 kept the game very tight. After 16 overs, Challney had scored 89 runs from 96 balls and Denbigh needed 90 runs to win.

At the turn-around the boys spirit, enthusiasm and desire to win was evident and very positive. The first batting partnership of Daanish Kyani 73 and Zakwan Mohammed 74 started the team off well but unfortunately Zakwan was bowled out. From then onwards the game was extremely tight but Daanish Kyani remained cool and focused under pressure even though the Challney bowling attack was taking regular Denbigh wickets. Denbigh steadily kept the run rate moving due to the outstanding batting performance of Daanish Kyani and team mates. In the final over Denbigh needed 5 runs to win from 6 balls. The game was in the balance and the Challney bowling attack was extremely tight. On the third ball of the over Denbigh scored a single run. On the second from last ball Daanish made contact with the ball from centre of his bat and it went for a massive four, Denbigh were crowned champions.

Player of the final went to Daanish Kyani for scoring 32 runs Well Done. The team spirit and attitude of both teams on the day was very good and the pupils worked well when led by Arfeen Khan. Well done boys for your first Town final victory Lets hope this is the first of many for the future.

6th July 2010

Tom Davis visits Denbigh

As part of the many different leadership programs we offer to our pupils, the year ten sports academy were given the opportunity to take part in a national program aimed at developing pupils' awareness of the importance of sport and the impact that it has on young children's lives.

On Tuesday 6th July the year ten boys received a visit from a representative from Sky Sports. His name is Tom Davis and he is an international athlete for the Great Britain Judo squad.

Throughout the day the pupil's participated in a number of different workshops which helped to enhance their skills as leaders and also develop their communication, self-belief and teamwork. Tom Davis also delivered a practical introduction session into Judo which the students fully enjoyed.

To conclude the day the sports academy group had to deliver a football coaching session alongside a football tournament to the children from our local primary schools.

The following year ten pupils worked together successfully to lead a 45 minute football coaching session and then a one-hour football tournament. All of the primary school pupils enjoyed the afternoon and experienced a great feeling of success.

Fasil Tariq 101

Ibrahim Rafqiue 103

Raqib Kiani 101

Awais Maqsood 103

Mujahid Iskhail 102

Wesley Nyioni 104

Akil Ghafoor 103

Masoom Ali 107

Rifat Uddin 103

Well done to the above year ten boys for stepping up and delivering professional coaching sessions to the primary school pupils. All the boys found the session challenging but passed with flying colours.

Before Tom left he congratulated the pupils and commented on how proud he was regarding their individual and group achievements.

1st July 2010

Year 9 cricket team finish on a high

On Thursday 1st July the year nine cricket team played in their final game of the season, which was the Luton Schools Town Tournament. The boys have already done well to get to the final, having won three of their four league games and faced Challney Boys who had previously beaten Denbigh. However, after a closely fought game with some excellent cricket being played on both sides Denbigh emerged victorious.

A massive well done to all of the boys who took part in the game and also to those who helped get them to the final. A special well done to Nishit who showed his commitment to the school by playing for us on the day he could have played a County game and by putting in a man of the match performance and taking those vital wickets.

24th May 2010

Year 7 cricket team shows real promise

So far this season the Year 7 cricket team have beaten both Challney Boys and Stopsley High School.

The match against Challney was an intense affair and all players pulled together as a team to encourage and inspire each other. Denbigh batted first and unfortunately didn't bat well only scoring 48 runs from 12 overs.

Challney then went into bat, Arfeen and Hasnatt kept their run rate down reducing their score to only 11 runs after 6 overs. At this point Denbigh started to become confident as a team and the wickets started to fall.

After 12 overs Challney had only scored 33 runs thanks to the superb bowling of Arfeen, Hasnatt, Zakwan and Haroon. All of these efforts were backed up by a superb performance by Imran Hashmi who had never before played as a wicket keeper but managed to keep hold of every ball that was bowled at him. The feeling of winning at the end of the game was embraced by all players in the team and they were really joyful on the way home.

The next game was against Stopsley High school. Stopsley batted first and struggled to make runs. After 12 overs they had only scored 33 runs thanks to a fantastic bowling performance from Arfeen Khan and impressive fielding from the whole team.

Denbigh then went into bat and both Arfeen khan and Danish Kyani both put quick runs on the score which included a powerful shot by Danish which gave Denbigh 4 runs. After just 6 overs the game was won and Denbigh were convincing winners.

The next two games are against Icknield and Putteridge. If the year 7 team continue to show excellent team work and togetherness during these games and win, then they will be rewarded with the title of Luton School Champions.

Well done Boys!

3rd May 2010

Year 7 and 8 Girls Football County Finals - Leighton United FC

On Friday 30th April our year 7 and 8 girl's football team were invited to the County 5-a-Side Finals at Leighton United Football Club. This in itself was a massive achievement for our young footballers and it gave them an excellent opportunity to develop as a team playing against schools of an even higher standard than we usually face within the Luton tournaments.

Our first game saw us face up against Lincroft from Bedford, our girls were very nervous as Ms O'Sullivan explained this was a step up from their usual opponents. However they started fantastically and took an early lead with Mishah scoring an excellent opener. We eventually ran out 3-0 winners and the team were ecstatic and could not believe how well they had played. The remaining two group/pool games were played against Holmemead Middle School from Biggleswade and Kings Houghton Middle School from Houghton Regis. These matches ended in 0-0 draws.

With those results Denbigh finished top of their pool and progressed on to the County Final against returning champions Henlow Middle School. The team could not quite believe they had made it to the final and were over the moon. The final was an excellent game but Henlow were a great team and lived up to their billing of 2009 champions beating us 3-0. Each player received a certificate of attendance and a runners-up medal for their efforts.

We would like to say a massive well done to all our girls for a fantastic effort and achievement in becoming runners-up in the County Finals.

26th March 2010

Year 7 and 8 girls football squad puts on an excellent performance

Throughout March the year seven and eight girls football squad have been travelling to playfootball.net based at Stopsley High school on Tuesday afternoons with Miss O'Sullivan and Miss Smith to compete in an all Luton schools tournament. Throughout the four week tournament we played eight matches, winning three along the way. During the first week, we won two of our three matches, beating Icknield 6 - 0 and then Ashcroft 5 -3.

We also managed to beat Cardinal Newman 4 - 3 during week two and some of the football the team produced in these games was fantastic to watch, with our girls creating some of the best chances and goals out of all the schools taking part.

Well done to all the girls who took part.

26th February 2010

Denbigh becomes an FA Club Links school

The FA and County Football Associations are keen to establish meaningful relationships with the schools that have a commitment to developing sustainable links with FA Charter Standard clubs and are able to offer to even more students the opportunity to participate in football within, as well as outside, the school day.

Because of the range of football related opportunities that we provide to our students and the wider community Denbigh has been selected to achieve this status and has received a letter from the FA congratulating us on becoming an FA Club Links School.

Research conducted in 2007 has shown that over 1.1 million young people aged 5-15 have a desire to join a team with a further 2.5 million young people saying that they would like to be coached to improve their skills. As an FA Club Links School Denbigh will be helping more young people to achieve these aspirations.

19th February 2010

Year 9 football team gets off to a great start

The year nine football team at Denbigh is already off to an impressive winning start this season. The team that performed so well last year seems to be going from strength to strength. Their first game against Putteridge High School was an interesting test for the team. The schools have not played each other before so neither team knew what expect.

Denbigh started well and soon put their stamp on the game with some strong physical play and tight close passing. Their hard work was rewarded and the team went into half-time 2-0 up thanks to two clean finishes from striker Sadekqur Rahman. Denbigh continued to dominate the possession and created several great opportunities and were only stopped from scoring by the post on two occasions. Although Denbigh were clearly in charge for most of the game, Putteridge fought back well and scored after showing good spirit to make the game close in the final stages. Denbigh however weren't to be denied the win. Sadekqur burst through once more to seal his hat-trick and the victory for Denbigh High School 3-2.

12th January 2010

18th December 2009

YEAR 8 NETBALL TEAM SUCCESS

Congratulations to the year eight netball team who came second in the town tournament this year.

The Year 8 netball team

3rd December 2009

SPORTS FESTIVALS ARE A BIG HIT

Primary School Sports Festival

On the 1st and 3rd of December 2009 Denbigh High School held a Primary School Sports Festival. The festival was for pupils from year three to year six with year three and four taking part on the 1st December and years five and six on the 3rd of December. All the pupils participating were from our primary cluster schools; Denbigh Junior School, Dallow Primary School and Beech Hill Primary School.

Denbigh High School year ten and eleven BTEC students lead the primary school pupils as part of their coursework. Pupils led a variety of activities such as dance, basketball, hockey and football. All the leaders were an absolute credit to the school and received outstanding reports back from all schools involved.

The two festivals were a huge success and the primary school students are looking forward to the next sports festival in 2010. A massive well done to all pupils involved.

Year 7 Sports Inclusion Festival

On Wednesday 9th December 2009 Denbigh hosted a year seven Sports Inclusion Festival. Over eighty pupils from Denbigh, Icknield and Cardinal Newman participated in a variety of different activities. The activities included volleyball, swimming, dance, ultimate frisbee, speed stacks and trampolining. Year nine and ten pupils from Denbigh High School lead the activities and should be congratulated on their tremendous effort. The leaders were meticulous in their planning and organisation and a credit to both their PE teachers and the school. All the year seven pupils who participated in the festival were individually chosen and represented the school exceptionally well. The event was a great success with all involved enjoying it immensely.

9th October 2009

Denbigh runners up in town rugby tournament

On Tuesday the 6th of October the year 9 rugby team went to the town tournament which was held at Luton Rugby Club.

Denbigh's first match was a tough one, playing against Icknield and winning 10-7.

Their next match proved to be a bit easier, as Denbigh beat Challney High School for Boys with a score of 35-0 with some very good displays from Bradley Sinclair and Nazrull Choudhury. Bradley scored a number of tries throughout the tournament and his kicking was superb. Nazrull was a constant threat with his clever runs and determination all around the pitch.

Denbigh's third match was against Lea Manor, which they again won, with a comfortable 30-0 score line. Immad Khan really set the tone in this game by making some very big tackles which were not for the faint hearted. Bobby Khan, another one of our big tacklers also played well in this game, whilst getting on the scoresheet.

Denbigh's penultimate game was against Barnfield West and was a game that started very slowly, proving to score. Eventually Denbigh's prowess shone through with tries from Samad Ali and Sadekqur Rahman setting the tone with their blistering pace. The game was eventually won 24-5, and meant that Denbigh had one more game to decide the tournament.

The final saw Denbigh face Stopsley, who are renowned for having strong rugby teams and players that play for local clubs. Despite Denbigh's speed and strength, and some fantastic last ditch tackles from Sadekqur Rahman and Bobby Khan we were unable to match Stopsleys organisation and understanding of the game, eventually losing 19-7.

Denbigh finished as runners up in the town which is a fantastic achievement for a team of boys still quite new to rugby. Below is a picture of the fantastic year 9 team and a few words about what each of the boys bring to the team:

Back row (left to right):

Fehzan Ashraf 93 - Fast and nimble, always committed
Immad Khan 94 - Big tackler who sets the tone for the rest of the team
Amraj Choudhury 95 - Very quick, blink and you might miss him
Sadekqur Rahman 95 - Fast, powerful and sometimes unstoppable, Sadek could have a future in rugby
Abu Bakr Ali 95 - Fast and agile making him difficult to play against.
Nazrull Ali 95 - An all-rounder. Always 100% commitment.

Bottom row (left to right):

Bobby Khan 93 - Big tackler who is also good at running with the ball
Mohin Akhtar 91 - 'The Denbigh Bulldozer'. Mohin powers his way through the opposition.
Bradley Sinclair 91 - Fast, strong, intelligent and a kicker. Team captain and a good leader.
Samad Ali 92 - Quick and light on his feet. Big points scorer.
Sohail Sarwar 94 - Another all rounder who makes a big contribution.