St Ives Enjoys Sports Festival
Liza Askew
/ Categories: In the press
Over the three days, the children learnt about the history of sport and considered how it has evolved over the years. This involved learning how to race-walk, a skill they have now all adopted to rush to lunch, with an inter-house relay competition in their new-found skill. They learnt about the bizarre sport of cheese rolling, loosely based on Gloucestershire’s annual extreme sport and every pupil in the school took part in the St Ives Cheese Rolling Competition, where they rolled a big piece of cheddar down the school driveway, much to everyone’s delight! They learnt about sports psychology and had some thoughtful discussions about what motivates them and learnt how to set SMART objectives. They explored the subject of Sports Science by using the school’s new heart rate monitors and looking at the effects of exercise on the body. They learnt about healthy eating and how to put together a healthy break time snack from the snack buffet. They learnt what is involved in becoming a coach and worked in groups to put together a their own coaching session, which they then used on their peers. They even spent a day at Farnborough Sixth Form College being taught by the sixth form sports students and coaches where they played Basketball, Handball, Softball, Orienteering and Rugby. It was an action-packed three days and the children loved it.
Kay Goldsworthy, Head Teacher at St Ives, said “The Sports Festival has been a huge success! It has shown pupils that there is something for everyone in the world of sport and has opened the children’s eyes to all the opportunities within it. They have enjoyed every second of the last three days. Our only regret is teaching the children how to race-walk so successfully, as they now all use it to rush to lunch and I can no longer tell them not to run down the corridor!”