We caught up with Chess whizz Emily Vaughan from Sherston school and asked her a few questions on how she got to be selected to play Chess for England.

Q: When did you first take an interest in Chess?
A: I began playing chess when I was in Year 2 at Sherston (aged 6) when I joined the Chess Club.

Q: What first attracting you to the game?
A: I wanted to try a new hobby.

Q: How old are you now?
A: I’m 10 now but I’m playing for the England Girls U 11′s.

Q: How much time to you spend practising in an average week?
A: I practise about 2 hours a week on average. I play at fun days, against other people on the Internet, against Chess Master on the computer, at School Chess Club, with friends and family and I have coaching in Swindon.

Q: What tournaments have you won?
A: Tournaments I’ve won so far are the West of England Championship, Wessex under 7.8 and 9 Suprema and I play for the County u 11′s.

Q: How did you get put forward to try for England Girls?
A: The way I was picked for England was through the manager of the England team writing to the manager of the County team and he recommended me to be put forwards for selection.

Q: What will happen next with you representing England Girls?
A: I have just played for England South/ South West Girls against the North/North East Girls and our team won by one point! I won one game and lost one.

Q: How would you sum up how you feel about representing England Girls?
A:Playing for England makes me feel really proud and happy.

Next Sherston School open day is Tuesday June 26 th 2012.

Congratulations to the newly formed Sherston School Equestrian Team who
have just qualified for the National Schools Equestrian Association (NSEA)
National Championships in October!

The team of Alex Harvey riding Baygo, Amy Peevers riding Obie and Charlotte Bailey riding Pudsey competed at the end of March in an NSEA show jumping team competition at Summerhouse Equestrian Centre near Gloucester, in the 70cm category. They were against fierce competition, including last year’s National Champions in this class, Pinewood School, on a tough track that was
up to height. Although this was only their second competition, all three did double clear rounds, the only team in the competition to achieve this, and were therefore clear winners of the class. The fourth team member, Katie Pyle, did not ride on this occasion but played a critical role in keeping tabs on other teams scores and enabling Sherston to use the correct tactics for their rounds.

Amy, Alex and Charlotte also entered the 65cm warm up class which was for individuals rather than teams, and took three of the top four places! Charlotte did a blisteringly quick jump off round to take the win, with Amy coming third and Alex fourth.

The team who are overjoyed at winning, now go on to join another 23 teams from around the county to compete at the National Championships which are held at Addington Manor in Buckinghamshire in October. Malmesbury School will be there too as they qualified a team in the 90cm class.

“It is very exciting for the children to be going to compete in a National Final in such a prestigious venue. Actually it’s quite exciting for the parents too! We can’t wait!” Said Mrs Elise Harvey, summing up the feelings of all involved with the winning team.

Next Sherston School open day is Tuesday June 26th 2012.