Pupils enjoy the spirit of Rio during Olympics-inspired sports festival

Year 5 girls from Farlington, Loxwood Primary, Cranleigh Church of England Primary and Greenway Academy paraded like athletes in an Olympic stadium, carrying flags while live music was played by Farlington musicians.

The festival was run by the Year 10 Sports Leaders as the final part of their Level 1 in Sports Leadership.

They displayed excellent organisational, communication and leadership skills ensuring that all those involved had a fun-filled and safe afternoon.

The event started with an endurance race of 600m. A wide range of activities followed with the girls moving from station to station trying their hand at a wide range of skills including hurdles, striking a rounders ball, scoring hockey goals, throwing, golf and jumping.

All of the teams were competing for gold in each activity.

The afternoon ended with a celebratory tea for the nine and ten-year-olds after which Ms Higson, Farlington headmistress, presented medals to winners and runners-up. All girls were presented with a participation certificate

Sara Whittaker, Farlington’s Director of PE and Games, said, “It was great afternoon of fun, with an immense amount of talent on show from all the pupils involved.

“They all entered into the spirit of the Olympic parade, waving at the cheering supporters.

“The Year 10 girls did a fantastic job of leading and encouraging the younger girls. Hopefully everyone had the chance to try something new, but most importantly everyone enjoyed the experience. With so many external pressures on girls, sport is an excellent way of building girls’ self-esteem, teaching them that winning and losing has nothing to do with your worth as a person and that hard work, repetition and constant practice are keys to successful performance.

“Nurturing a love of sport is something that will prove invaluable to them as they progress through life.”