Wednesday 6th July saw the return of sports day. A slightly overcast day with a bit of drizzle at lunch time, however it didn’t dampen the spirits of our competitors and spectators.
The morning session included some of the field events such as discus, shot and high jump as well as a few track events such as 800m, 1500m and hurdles. House Captains were on hand to ensure competitors were in the right places and events were filled. A busy morning saw lots of points awarded for each house, with just 4 points separating the top two teams. The standings heading into the afternoon events were as follows:
4th Holmes 273 points
3rd Attenborough 276 points
2nd Hawking 301 points
1st Holmes 305 points
The afternoon saw pupils and staff head out to the field, competitors in their area and pupils in designated house areas. There were plenty of banners, the House flags, cheering and painted faces, with everyone behind their house team and adding to the great atmosphere. Mr Oldfield was the official announcer, guiding the proceedings, albeit with a rather temperamental loud speaker system. The PE department of Mr Phillis, Mr Llewelyn, Mrs Holt, Mrs Green and Mr Darlow were all starting the races, time keeping, judging the javelin and more – they were certainly kept busy.
The afternoon session started with the sprints – 100m, 200m, 300m and 400m. There were some incredibly close races with some standout moments including a showdown between Tyler H and Kallum S in the Year 10 boys 100m and 200m and similar with Jack B and Ollie O in the Year 9 events. It was great to see so many students competing and gaining points for their house and the cheering was immense, whether you were coming in 1st place or 8th place.
Top 3 places for the 100m, 200m, 300m and 400m were as follows:
It was time for the all-important relays with a quick update of the overall positions so far from Mr Oldfield:
4th Attenborough 410
3rd Holmes 438
2nd Hawking 451
1st Rowling 494
The final race of the afternoon was the eagerly anticipated staff relay. Stepping up to compete for Rowling were Mr Lea, Mr Jones, Miss Hickey and Mr Phillis, for Holmes, covering one and a half legs each, Mr Darlow, Mr Fox and Mrs Simms on the anchor leg, for Attenborough Mrs Green, Mr Llewellyn, Mr Stirling and Mr Cushion, for Hawking Mrs Holt, Dr Barrett, Mrs Tonkin and Mr Hester, with a guest team from Dereham Sixth Form of Mrs Hills and Mr Elphick. The race started fairly evenly; however, on the back straight Holmes took the lead with excellent legs from Mr Darlow and Mr Fox. Mr Fox passed on to Mrs Simms and it was all to play for. Mr Cushion took the baton in second place and tore down the home straight, pipping Mrs Simms to the finish line and a win for Attenborough.
It was 1st for Attenborough staff, 2nd for Holmes, 3rd for Hawking, 4th for Rowling and 5th for Sixth Form.
It was then a waiting game whilst the final scores were added. The results were as follows:
4th Attenborough – 471 points
3rd Hawking – 525 points
2nd Rowling – 545 points
1st Holmes – 584 points
It was a resounding win for Rowling and some much needed points for the House competition. Head of House, Mr Fair, received the trophy from Heads of School Mrs Galley and Dr Hone, alongside the Year 10 House Captains Emma D and Jude S-M and House Captains/Vice Captains from Years 7 – 9.
Mr Fair commented, ‘It was never in doubt in my mind that we would win. We are the champions! We are already looking forward to sports day next year and retaining the trophy. Rowling rule!’
A huge thank you to the PE department for their outstanding organisation, as ever, and putting on such a great sports day. Thanks also to staff involved in running events, the finish line judges, those recording results, Mr Oldfield on the tannoy and Dr Barrett for the great photos!
