PE & Sport: Information & Monthly Update – by Nadeen PE Department
Dear Parents,
As we come to the end of our first term at the new school, we can reflect back on all of the successes and accomplishments we have made in such a short amount of time. It has been fantastic to see so many children involved in sport in so many different ways. From extra curricular activities, to external sports academies, to House sports tournaments and sports days, to competitive fixtures hosted at the school. There has been so much to celebrate and enjoy, we cannot wait to see sport at Nadeen School continue to thrive.
PE Theme
This half-term has been the PE block at school, where the emphasis has been on providing opportunities for students to be active, alongside learning about the importance of living a healthy active lifestyle. This began with our fitness week, in which children were invited to join in with our early morning wake up shake up sessions before the start of school or during their break time. These were taken by a host of different teachers, introducing children to a range of different ways to be fit and active. Due to the popularity of these wake up shake up sessions, these have continued throughout the term on a Thursday by our resident fitness aficionados, Ms Sarah & Ms Louise.
There have also been fitness challenges for students to get involved with. Mr Jack has been setting different timed fitness activities for children to compete in, with the winner each week for each year group earning themselves a free chance to splat the teacher at the Festive Fayre. Mr Phil & Mr Chris have also held a ‘lap challenge’ event throughout the term, to encourage students to get more steps in each day. The class that achieves the most laps of the track will earn themselves a bonus PE lesson next term. So far across the school we have completed 7,434 laps, which is equivalent to 1,152km.
Curriculum PE
It has been a hugely successful half-term in Curriculum PE. All students from Year 1 to Year 9 participated in the Athletics unit, which was perfect preparation for our Sports Day week. The students covered all of the field events, were introduced to the key aspects of sprinting as well as learning the sprint start technique. The students then put their skills into practice during Sports Day and they did a fantastic job! Year 3-6 have continued in the swimming pool and have been specifically focussing on their freestyle/front crawl techniques. They have all made huge strides in their swimming and finished the unit off with a fun pool party in their final swimming lesson! Once we return from the winter break, our Early Years children will begin their swimming lessons, as will our Secondary students. Year 1 & 2 will continue in the pool for one lesson a week, alongside football in their other lesson. Year 5 & 6 move on to football & gymnastics.
Sports Days
Last week we hosted our Sports Day week! We started off on Monday with Year 1 & 2 working in their houses to win as many house points as possible, before Year 3 & 4 took part in theirs on Tuesday. For the first time at Dilmunia, we hosted some competitive races on the track and it was great to see! Year 5 & 6 then participated in a more competitive Sports Day as they vied to win gold, silver & bronze medals in a range of track & field events. The competition was fierce, there were some impressive performances and there were records broken! Tylos walked away with the coveted KS2 Sports Day trophy. Buoyed by Tylos winning the day before, our students in Year 7-9 took to the track on Thursday. Again, the competitiveness was great to see as the boys & girls competed to get through to finals, win medals and maybe even break records! After a thrilling day of quick times, big jumps and huge throws, Awal walked away with the first ever Secondary Sports Day trophy. All of our students performed exceptionally throughout the week, not only supporting their team mates but also their friends in other houses, it was truly wonderful to see. Our final Sports Day of this academic year takes place in January, as our Early Years students participate in their Sports Day. Finally, thank you to all of the parents for coming out to support during Sports Day week, your support is greatly appreciated.
Competitive Sport
In November, Nadeen School hosted its first ever volleyball tournaments for the U14 boys and girls squads. We were delighted to invite schools from across the island to compete and showcase their volleyball skills at our new campus. The tournaments were a huge success and each match was filled with excitement. Nadeen played remarkably well in each tournament, considering this was our first time ever competing in a volleyball match and playing against competition that have been able to play regular tournaments in previous years. The experience will help both teams to learn and grow from the experience. The girls did fantastically well to claim the bronze medal, finishing 3rd overall after a big win against ARKS and then overcoming Canadian School in a closely fought match. The boys finished joint 3rd on points, but just missed out on a medal due to points difference.
In December, our U11 boys and girls football teams competed in the PSL (Primary Sports League) tournament hosted by ASB. Again, all of our teams played exceptionally, remaining undefeated throughout the tournament. The girls topped their group and played the final against the host school. After a nail biting match, it was level at full time and so went to ‘golden score’. A fantastic team goal, finished off by Ava clinched the gold for Nadeen and the celebrations commenced. The boys played equally well and were unlucky to not make the final, missing out on goals scored. However, they didn’t let this disappointment affect them, winning the 3rd/4th place play off convincingly to claim the bronze.
Well done to all of our teams that competed this term, each one has shown tremendous improvement, displayed excellent sportsmanship and represented the school admirably throughout.
Upcoming Sports Events
Monday 22nd January – U11 PSL Athletics meet
Friday 26th January – U11 BSME girls football
Saturday 27th January – U11 BSME boys football
Wednesday 31st January – Early Years Sports Day
If you have any questions then please contact one of us in the PE department, k.lemmon@nadeenschool.com, m.rees@nadeenschool.com, j.larkin@nadeenschool.com
Thank you,
PE Department
