On Wednesday 27^th June, St Mary’s Junior School basked in the sunshine on one of the hottest days of the year so far. Of course, it had to be Sports Day!  The children behaved incredibly well and coped fantastically in the above average temperatures. In the lower school, many class points were awarded for moving between events, which included marching, cat walking, flossing and conga- ing to the next activity! The team events this year included: relays, sack race, howler throw, chest push, standing long jump and obstacle race. As usual the level of sportsmanship and team work were brilliant.

After the team events, Sports Day continued with the competitive races for Years 3 and 4. There were some incredibly tight races in the sprints with children demonstrating incredible determination and focus during the 75 metres. Then came the 400 metre long distance race, two laps of our tracks. Once again, all the children that participated demonstrated perseverance, despite the heat, which shows how much of an impact the Daily Mile has had on the fitness of the children. As is traditional, the morning finished with the relay races. By the end of the morning, the overall results stood at Red team in first with Yellow in second and Blue in third position.  

The temperature gauge continued to rise for the Upper School and yet again, the children coped remarkably well, as did the equipment, although new sacks may need be ordered for next year’s Sack Race as year 6 children jumping in them has certainly taken its toll! Parents were also warned to stand back for the Howler Throw due to some of our children being able to throw at a distance of at least 40 metres! There were also some more imaginative ways of moving between events in the ‘freestyle’ section!

As in the morning the children demonstrated our values to perfection by persevering in their own races whilst respecting others in theirs. The children were also really encouraging especially in the long distance of 600 metres for the older children and once again everyone completed the distance.

The final results were announced in today's Act of Worship. Despite Red finishing the morning in 1^st and Blue in 3^rd, the Upper School flipped the results completely on their head, with Red team coming third overall and Blue team edging 30 points in front of Yellow team to come first overall.

Well done to all the children for taking part, especially the Play Leaders for running the events, and thank you to all the parents, grandparents and friends who came along to support them. It was also wonderful to receive the following feedback from one particular parent, who emailed to say ‘… a big thank you to all who organised Sports Day this year particularly for the Year 3's and 4's.  This was our first Sports Day at St Mary's and the whole atmosphere was one of fun and positivity.  All of the children and staff seemed to be having a great time and it was lovely to have activities for all.  We shall be looking forward to the next one.’ As will we! See photo gallery for more pictures of the day.