Sports Day

Luckily last Thursday the weather was pleasant enough for the school to host Sports Day without any trouble; although we didn't have the sun appear from behind the clouds until after lunchtime, there was no rain to hinder the progression of the activities. Judging by the feedback I've received from various students in the school and their happy, joyful faces, I can easily conclude that the day had been a success and that everyone enjoyed it.

Myself, Cveta and Momoko were in charge of the obstacle course, as had originally been planned. We arrived at school rather early in order to set up the activity as well as to test it so that, if need be, we could make the required changes. We checked that everything was safe enough for all year groups to use since we didn't want any unpleasant accidents to occur, and luckily all of the obstacles turned out to be hazard-free; for the most difficult part of the course, which involved climbing a tree via a rope ladder, we even asked some of the year 13 boys to test it out for us, since we figured that if the ladder could hold them, it could hold anybody. 

Me testing out the rope ladder

Throughout the day, we had to change a few things here and there within the course, for example: we made it longer in order to make it both more challenging and entertaining. Thankfully, our careful planning had indeed paid off as we had hardly any issues with the obstacles and the participants; we were able to quickly deal with all the minor problems that we encountered, which made me realise that I am actually quite good at making decisions right on the spot and dealing with an unexpected situation swiftly. We ensured to explain the rules thoroughly so that there was no misunderstanding, and we also monitored the performance of each student to avoid any unfair play. Above all, we tried to make the pupils enjoy our activity, so that we could contribute to the overall success of Sports Day, and I believe that we managed our role with much enthusiasm and made it a delightful experience for everyone due to our good teamwork. It had certainly been a new challenge for me which I had enjoyed, and I think I had been diligent throughout the whole day since I truly wanted my first big event to be outstanding (further down the page I will include a video of a student completing the course).

Team spirit

                 

Cveta and I also volunteered to keep track of the scores throughout the day so that everyone could be conscious of the achievements of the house teams; we asked one student from each activity to promptly deliver their results to us so that there would be no delay. We were able to quickly update the points so that everyone was well informed on the progression of the ranks, and it was amusing to watch the different reactions of both students and teachers upon viewing the results (unfortunately I had forgotten to take a photo of the scoreboards).

Ultimately, I believe that I managed my tasks well enough, however there's always room for further improvement: me and my teammates should've definitely tested the obstacle course prior to the big day since if we had encountered some sort of issues, we would've had more time to think everything through and come with an alternative. We could've also customised it according to the year group which was participating in order to make it more entertaining and a challenge which was safe enough for the students to attempt. As for the score displays, I believe we should've made the whiteboards a little more interesting and eye-catching by decorating them with relevant drawings and/or images. For the next Sports Day, which has been planned for next summer, I will try to either organise a different activity so that it would be a new challenge, or I will create yet another obstacle course and I will keep in mind the mistakes made this time around.