Wednesday 3rd July saw Northgate come together for the annual Sports Day. Bright sunshine and a slight breeze, the conditions were perfect for some quick races. The morning session included some of the field events such as discus, shot, javelin and high jump as well as a few track events such as 800m, 1500m and hurdles. Year 10 House Captains were on hand to ensure competitors were in the right places and events were filled. Representing Rowling we had Daniel H and Alanna M, for Holmes Charlie B and Louise S, for Attenborough Megan N and ClaraBelle W and finally for Hawking Oli F and Sky F. Megan and ClaraBelle showed the Northgate spirit in the 800m showing that it was the taking part that really counted as they finished the race, gaining important points for their house, with their pomp oms – well done girls! A busy morning saw lots of points awarded for each house with the standings heading into the afternoon events as follows:
4th Attenborough 292 points
3rd Rowling 311 points
2nd Hawking 313 points
1st Holmes 321 points
The afternoon saw pupils and staff head out to the field, competitors in their area and pupils in designated house areas. Banners were on display with everyone behind their house team, cheering and adding to the great atmosphere. Mr Oldfield was the official announcer, guiding the proceedings with the PE department of Mr Phillis, Mr Llewelyn, Mrs Holt, Mrs Green, Mr Darlow and Miss Wilson starting the races, time keeping, judging the javelin and more – they were certainly kept busy.
The afternoon session started with the sprints – 100m and then 200m. There were some incredibly close races with some standout moments including Harvey F in Year 10 breaking the 100m record set by Tom Crocker back in 2007, taking it down to 11.42 secs. He also managed the double by winning the 200m however no record this time. Kallum S in Year 7 took the 100m and 200m double, equalling a 16 year record for the 200m with 28 secs. There was a 100m and 200m victory for Chloe D in Year 9 too – well done!
1st and 2nd places for the 100m and 200m were as follows:
Mr Oldfield announced the results for the afternoon events so far – Attenborough were in 4th, Hawking in 3rd with Holmes and Rowling in joint 1st. It was all to play for in the remaining events.
Next up were the 300m and 400m races. Year 8 boys 300m – Adam J for Holmes beat Nilson F for Rowling in a time of 47.77 sec. In the Year 9 boys 300m – Andre L for Hawking beat Cameron FS for Holmes in a time of 46.10 sec. Finally, in the Year 10 boys 400m, Rodrigo F for Rowling beat Emhal Z for Holmes in a time of 1 min 00.25 sec.
It was time for the all-important relays with a quick update of the overall positions so far:
4th Attenborough
3rd Hawking
2nd Rowling
1st Holmes
The final race of the afternoon was the eagerly anticipated staff relay. Stepping up to compete for Rowling were Mrs Chisnall, Mr Jones, Miss Myhill and Mr Malin, for Holmes, covering two legs, Mr Darlow, Miss Titchen and Miss Moore, for Attenborough Mrs Green, Mr Llewellyn, Miss Burton and Mr Scott, for Hawking Mrs Isbill, Mr Phillis, Miss Wilson and Mrs Holt, with a guest team from Dereham Sixth Form of Mrs Hills and Mr Elphick. The race started fairly evenly, however it was a storming third leg around the top bend for Attenborough by Miss Burton that put them into a comfortable leading meaning Mr Scott had a huge grin on his face as he brought the baton home. Miss Wilson finished in second for Hawking with Mr Malin for Rowling closing quickly in third. The Sixth Form team finished in fourth with Miss Moore coming home in 5th for Holmes.
It was then a waiting game whilst the final scores were added. The results were as follows:
4th Attenborough – 531 points
3rd Hawking – 559 points
2nd Rowling – 585 points
1st Holmes – 599 points
It was so close at the end but huge congratulations to Holmes. Head of House Miss Moore received the trophy from Heads of School Dr Hone and Mrs Galley alongside the House Captains Calum C, Aimee S, Lacey C, Ryan W, Jimmy C, Ebony P, Charlie B and Louise S.
Mr Phillis commented, ‘There was a very positive atmosphere and high levels of enthusiasm from both the competitors, spectators and staff and we were really pleased to see the pupils competing in large numbers with only a few events not having a full complement of pupils from each house.’
