Junior School Sports Day 2024

Our series of Sports Days began with the Junior School as Years 3 and 4 competed in High Jump, Long Jump, Vortex Throw and Agility Run, as well as some face-paced track events to claim the House trophy.

In the early morning the Field looked a little gloomy, felt wet and only the chirping birds brought a hint of the brightness to come. Several hours later and after several thousand steps walked to make the Sports Day Arena a picture of colour and striped grass, events got underway in sunshine and smiles. The chosen field events for both Year 3 and 4 boys (High Jump, Long Jump, Vortex Throw and Agility Run) were exciting and, as spectators thronged around the edges, performers showed off their skills, enthusiasm and good sportsmanship. The high jump is always a tense competition; the narrow misses and safe clearances met with equal oohs and aarghs! Long jumping takes speed on the runway and some luck on the board; I was pleased to see so many fantastic efforts with boys challenged to beat their previous best. Throwing is something the boys have worked on in PE lessons and, of course, in cricket sessions; no surprise there that the distances thrown were impressive and the cross-year, cross-bench camaraderie evident to all. The agility run takes speed and skill of a different kind; those watching witnessed several cleverly rehearsed techniques all designed to shave off valuable tenths of seconds. It was here that Finnian Boyle set the first of two school records on the day. His time of 14.73s was seriously quick!

From the field events, parents re-took their seats and the boys re-focussed their attention on individual running races and the high-scoring, House relays. The thrill and fun of the races on the track were matched by good listening skills, some courage, great enthusiasm and a high level of performance. Under new banners, the House spirit was bubbling over. The obstacle course is always a highlight; once again the boys came out on top, as they conquered the ‘run-the-gauntlet’ section (leaving the gladiators defeated and deflated) and emerged triumphant from under the parachute! Spectators played their part in creating a noisy, supportive atmosphere throughout from which the boys gained confidence and a belief that, regardless of outcome, doing your best was really the only thing that mattered. Sprint races, a record breaking Year 4 400m event in which the top two finishers (Monty Williams and Xander Arentz) both broke the existing school record, several well executed relay races and the fun of the ‘all-in’, House events closed out a very special afternoon.