Sports Week 2021
It has been an extraordinary week consisting of a wide range of sports for all of the children at St John’s to experience. The aim of the week was to introduce different sports to the children and to encourage their participation and perseverance in learning or developing their skills.
We began with a special assembly which included an inspiring talk from the remarkable para-Olympian badminton player, Gobi Ranganathan. He talked about how, in the past year, he persevered through the challenges he faced and how he remained focused on his goals. He also encouraged us to keep an open mind about trying out a new sport for the first time as he was a keen swimmer before he turned his hand to badminton!
We then literally ‘kicked off’ the week with kickboxing where the children enjoyed learning the various kickboxing techniques taught by coaches Jay and CJ such as the ‘front kick’ and ‘hook punch’. The children listened attentively and demonstrated a ‘have a go’ attitude when trying out the different moves.
The following day, we continued with something a little different as we meditated with Jane and Alex using a soothing yoga chant and practised our yoga poses including the ‘cobra’ and the ‘downward dog’. It was very impressive to see how many of the children were able to demonstrate their mindfulness and flexibility.
Our annual Sports Day took place in the middle of the week, with the traditional running race and the novelty races. It was a little different this year, with KS1 competing in their events whilst KS2 watched and cheered them on. The day was stills lots of fun and competitive with plenty of stickers and praise given to the children for their effort and spirit.
On Thursday, our Sports coach Mr Palmer taught the children how to play golf which they thoroughly enjoyed. The children were excited by having the opportunity to use P.E. equipment that they don’t usually have the opportunity to use. It was fantastic to see the children so focused when ‘teeing off’.
The week concluded with a high-octane session of Zumba with Gladys which encouraged the children to show off their dance moves and burn off some energy. It was certainly a fantastic way to round off a week full of fun physical activities!