Sports Day is Here!

Amazing team spirit from year 8s 

Sports day has come and gone. It was held on Thursday as expected, and even though the sun didn't peek out from behind the clouds until the end of the day, it was mild and pleasant. I personally enjoyed it immensely and from the feedback I've received from various students around our school, I think they enjoyed it too. It was an amazing day, despite the slight chill and the moaning ache in my feet at the end of it all.

As I had previously feared, there was indeed an attendance drop, about a third of all students decided to skip sports day in favour of sitting at home, something which, although forbidden, occurs every year. I certainly hope it wasn't the negative impression our marketing campaign left on them, since we really did try very hard. Although that left some year groups under-stocked and unable to have four full-fledged teams, I had made it my personal goal of the day to make sure that I did the best job I possibly could, so that the students who had come made their school-skipping friends very jealous on Friday morning :)

Pauline testing out the ladder 

Yet it all began with the setting up. I arrived earlier and distributed the signs to the teams that were already there, although I left the rest to Irina, the other girl in charge of sign making, as she was doing photography and was not pressed for time to set up. We then set the course up with  Pauline and Momoko, getting materials from Mr.Harper and getting passing classmates to test-drive it for a final time. The bigger issue we faced was probably the ladder, as during the final test, a branch snapped and nearly sent Pauline plummeting to the ground. After much laughter, we decided that this was in fact no laughing matter, and instead completely reworked the positioning of the ladder, and got a couple of heavy year 13 boys to test it out multiple times.

As the hundreds of horrific possible scenarios that might have been played out in my head, most of them ending in tragedy, I realised with full force just how important safety was today, and that thought kept looping in my head as I explained the rules to all the year groups, stressing each and every time the extreme importance of safety. Furthermore, we made a tough decision, that we wouldn't allow the small and clumsy year sevens and eights to climb the ladder. Even though it was the centre-piece, the pride and joy of our course, we decided that their safety was our number one priority, especially in light of what had just happened. Although they complained at first, they quickly embraced the new challenge in its place, the simple jump to reach one of the lower branches on which the prize was hung.

Thankfully, we had no accidents, but I still can't get it out of my head just how close we might have been to one, had we not taken the time to ensure the necessary precautions.

Keeping warm in chilly weather

Another problem we faced was that when the year thirteens, who were our first and smallest group, were through with the course, we still had a good ten minutes to go. Quickly thinking on our feet, we decided that we definitely needed an extension for the other year groups. An idea we had originally discarded, to drive a pole into the ground at the start and get the kids to spin around it with their forehead pressed to the top end, we now embraced when it was brought up by Mr.Lynch, our business teacher (who actually completed the obstacle course himself). Moreover, Mr. Harper had the idea of making a sort of collecting exercise which is difficult to explain but very fun to do, and from the very beginning we had agreed that they would do it all in pairs, with the partner doing it in reverse once the first was finished. The improvements definitely made a difference, and although we had plenty of time to let everybody have a try, we never had more than a couple of minutes to spare at the end with the year 11s, 7s and 8s.

Mr.Carruthers's brave attempt :)

Although Mr.Harper had explained the rules and taken the times for the first two year groups, he let us take over completely after that. For the year sevens, I coordinated, since I knew some of them and it was therefore easier to establish the sense of mutual respect that is so vital in such activities. Momoko wrote down all the times and  announced the winners. Pauline coordinated the year 8s, took pictures and fixed any mid-run course issues, while I timed and encouraged.

Momoko keeps score

I feel that we took into account everybody's strengths and weaknesses when assigning roles, and this made us work so much better as a team. I also tried to challenge myself by coordinating a year group, when usually I have a rather pronounced nervousness about any sort of public speaking. My legs turn to jelly and my stomach starts doing its usual acrobatics, yet I felt so completely comfortable with the whole process after a while, despite initial nervousness. I certainly could have stretched myself further, as I have bigger difficulties in addressing older year groups. We let Mr. Harper handle the older classes, and I was happy about that, since I barely knew any of them and it would have been so difficult for me to instruct them. I simply don't know where the line between knowing your limitations and challenging yourself should be drawn. If somebody can do it better than me, why endanger the success of the event because I want to practice? Maybe I should just approach  it head-on next time, with a positive, can-do attitude. With the younger kids, I feel like my long experience tutoring my nine year old brother helped me endlessly, especially since some of the younger kids knew me through my brother, and more importantly they just resembled him in their behaviour and attitude - so sunny, upbeat and enthusiastic.

Some students actually jumped over 

Hula hoops obstacle

Weaving through poles to the finish line

And there is what made this sports day so wonderful for me, the endless enthusiasm, energy and willingness to have fun and compete I saw in all year groups, but the year sevens and eights in particular. They just couldn't seem to get enough of it, they wanted to go more and more times and their energy seemed boundless. I even got a boy asking me if we could leave the obstacle course over lunch so they could do it for fun, which quite frankly warmed my heart, even though I couldn't fulfill his request. Even two teachers completed the course in a pair, and although their time was... slightly higher than that of the average student, they still got participation chocolates just like the student winners :)

Prize-giving ceremony

After the relay, there was an impromptu prize-giving ceremony, which we had actually planned to do on Friday and hence had us a bit unprepared (something which we must definately work on for the summer one). Nevertheless, it was the first of its kind for sports days, and there were many smiling faces going home with prizes.

Edit: Pauline has uploaded a crossing of the course on her YouTube channel. You can see it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTFRfg7kvVI&feature=autoshare