Year 1 and 2 took part in their annual Sports Day today. After much rain this week, we were grateful that the afternoon was full of glorious sunshine! The children have been practising hard at their various events over the last few weeks, so they were excited to have the opportunity to participate in front of onlooking families and friends.
Throughout the afternoon, the children gained points for their Houses (Llwyd—Blue, Hafren—Green, Wysg—Red, Ebbw—Yellow). Points were given based on performance, effort and behaviour, with the winning House receiving a trophy.
The children looked fantastic in their house colours as they emerged from their classrooms and onto the field. By the time the children arrived, it was great to see such a large crowd having already gathered; the children really enjoyed all the support that was given!
The events began with all children participating in a ‘sprint’ race. Year 1 were first up, alternating between girls and boys races. They all participated fantastically and it was obvious we have both some very quick children and also some very determined ones! It was great to see all of the children competing in the right spirit. Following the Year 1 sprint, the Year 2s had their opportunity to sprint as fast as they could down their lanes towards the finish line. Again, the children were great and they all seemed to enjoy whizzing up the track in front of the onlooking crowd!
Following the sprint races, each child then had the opportunity to participate in another individual event. They all either took part in the skipping race, beanbag race, hurdles or throwing. The throwing events were a new addition to this year’s Sports Day and it was great to see the children taking part.
There were some fantastic races throughout the afternoon, with many children impressing with both their performance and perseverance, something we try hard to encourage the children to develop. It was great to see children putting in their best efforts right up until they reached the finish line. Mrs Lee and Miss Dowsell were allocating points to children as they crossed the line and I know they found this job particularly difficult at times and could often have done with a slow motion replay or photo finish to help them determine who to give the points to!
Following the individual races, each class took part in a team relay. The classes lined up in their houses and, using a quoit as a ‘baton’, ran as quickly as they could until they had all completed their ‘leg’. The Year 1 and 2 children did a fantastic job, showing some great team work as they tried to win the race for their house.
These final races brought the events to a close but, whilst the points were being added up, Mr Rees offered parents an opportunity to compete in a race! We were hugely impressed by the number of volunteers for this year’s race; we even had to hold two ‘mums’ and two ‘dads’ races to keep up with demand! Traditionally, we have always held these races as a ‘quoit’ race (where the parent had to run with a small rubber ring balancing on their head); however, after much ‘rule bending’ in previous years, we decided to change the format to be the bean bag race! Those taking part seemed to thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to race and, following a few tumbles, slips and slides, it was clear that there is a competitive streak in many of our parents as well as our children! In all the drama, it was hard to pick out the winners, although all seemed to finish with a smile on their faces which was great to see!
Once the parents races had concluded and mums and dads had returned to the benches to nurse their physical and psychological wounds, Mr Rees was ready to announce this year’s winners. Having performed fantastically throughout, and also having won many extra points for their behaviour during the races, Wysg House ran out the eventual winners. Their red ribbons were tied to the trophy and a representative from each house was chosen to parade the trophy.
The final event was then the traditional giving of certificates to all those children who took part. Mrs Hopkins kindly agreed to help Mr Rees hand out the certificates to each child before parents had an opportunity to take a photo of their child. It was clear from the children’s faces that they had all had a fantastic day and, returning to class, they were excited to have taken part in today’s events. We would like to thank everyone who attended for making it such a successful afternoon!
