Gifted and Talented... at St John's
Spot Light on....Georgie Watson
This term we are showcasing the amazing Georgie from Year 6. Georgie is a very talented horse rider. Her sport is quite a unique one as she takes part in Equestrian.
Georgie has won rosettes during competitions with fence heights ranging from 40 cm – 70 cm. She loves to ride her pony “Lahka” who is very strong and very fast. Georgie is also a proud sponsor for the Equestrian brand – The Equestrian Box, where she appears on their website and receives regular gifts from them.
All these achievements are results of the major hard work that she puts into looking after her horse. Georgie is up at 6 am everyday before school and at weekends to care for her pony and to allow both of them to perform at a very high standard. This level of outstanding commitment is allowing Georgie to achieve her God given potential and also compete at the very best level that she can.
This year, Georgie qualified for The Sunshine Tours. This is a competition featuring Dressage, Show Jumping and Eventers Challenge for juniors and seniors. However, Georgie isn’t stopping there! Next year, she hopes to qualify for the finals of the Trailblazers which is a very high level of Showjumping held over 5 days.
Well done, Georgie! We are all so proud of you.
Spot Light on....Ethan Pountain
This term we celebrate Ethan, our third child in our Gifted and Talented Showcase. Ethan is a talented swimmer in Year 5.
Ethan started his swimming journey in local classes from the age of 4, undertaking both swimming and lifesaving certificates. Ethan’s teacher spotted his natural gift for swimming and recommended progressing to a swim club. Ethan later joined Walsall Swimming Club and his dedication and talent has shone through. From the age of 9, Ethan started to compete at various galas, winning individual medals in freestyle and backstroke, contributing to his team’s promotion to the Nuneaton & District Junior Swimming League as well as achieving qualifying times for county swimming.
Last month, Ethan also represented St John’s at the Y5/6 swimming gala. Competing against 20 other schools. This resulted in Ethan winning every one of his races and contributing to a 3rd overall place finish for our boys’ team and an overall 7th place finish for the school in Walsall.
Ethan’s aspiration to represent his country reflects his passion and commitment to perfecting his sport. A huge well done Ethan!
We are all super proud of you!
Spot Light on....Drew Pattinson
This term we celebrate our second child in our Gifted and Talented Showcase – Drew from Year 6.
Drew started grassroots football at Under 7s, playing for Pelsall Villa and enjoying interacting with friends. During this time, he was scouted for trials with Aston Villa, WBA, Wolves, Walsall, Coventry, Birmingham City, Nottingham Forest and Manchester City. Drew then had to make a decision to either carry on playing grassroots football or testing himself at the next level and going into academy football. After getting a few contract offers from different clubs, he decided on joining Aston Villa (the club he supports). Drew has been at Aston Villa since he was six and is now into his sixth year there.
By training four times a week, playing games all over the country against top academies, and challenging himself against elite players nationwide, he aims to continue developing and improving as a player while still enjoying himself. Alongside this, Drew has also traveled to Poland taking part in football tournaments and winning tournaments versus teams such as Juventus and PSV.
We are all very proud of Drew and his journey so far and we are really looking forward to seeing where his footballing talents take him.
Well done, Drew!
Spot Light on....Ronni Bournes
This is the start of the St John’s Gifted and Talented Showcase. This is where we aim to showcase specific pupils over the year, sharing their outstanding achievements.
Our first showcase, is Ronni Bournes of Year 6 for her achievements in Dance.
Ronni is a Regional and National champion at 4 separate competitions in 2023 for Acro, Jazz, Lyrical, Contemporary, Open Character and Tap categories across a range of solo, duets and troupe dances. She has also performed at Chance to Dance Alton Towers in 2023 and in 2022 at Disneyland Paris both on stage as well as part of the character parade. Also in 2022, Ronni danced as a World Cup Finalist in Acro and Contemporary events. She is also now part of the St. John’s Super Dance Group, currently rehearsing a piece to perform at The Great Big Dance Event. Ronni has also been given the opportunity in February of 2024 to perform in the West End at the Shaftesbury theatre.
We hope you enjoy our showcase of the unbelievably, talented Ronni and take time to watch her dance videos and take a look at her photos and medals.
We are all so so proud of you Ronni! You’re Amazing!
