Pupils at Bromsgrove Preparatory School were treated to a full day of learning and fun in their very own Olympic Day.
The day started with an opening ceremony with each of the 26 forms (having adopted a country pulled from a hat a few months ago) entering in with their country’s flag. Each country was welcomed one by one, followed the special guest Ellie Smallwood. Ellie is a Year 10 pupil from South Bromsgrove High School who acted as torch bearer in Gloucester last week. She presented the torch to Beck Cutting (as Head Boy) who then paraded the torch around the sports hall.
Each year group presented a piece to represent the Olympics which ranged from a scene from the recent Year 3 Ancient Greek production, the Olympic Mascot song, a song about being proud with British sign language and a speech from the Year 8 pupils about each of the values of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. We also had performances from the Olympic Choirs which had been worked on and produced by the Music Department.
After Headmistress Mrs Deval-Reed declared the Games open, the pupils went off in year groups for an afternoon of Olympic-themed activities, including creating Visitor Guides of London, menu making for the Olympic Park restaurants, a Question of Sport quiz, silly record attempts and games, writing postcards to GB athletes to wish them luck and swimming challenges. Years 6, 7 and 8 also spent an hour taking part in Paralympic sports and activities run by students with physical disabilities from Chadsgrove School and the Specialist Sports College. The pupils tried wheelchair basketball, goalball, polybat and seated volleyball.
Year 8 were the media coverage for the day, with groups of students taking pictures, interviewing staff and pupils and reporting back to a hot desk where the stories were written and produced for an Olympic Newspaper. They also had the chance to learn some Chinese, as China was one of the countries adopted by Year 8, and they had the physical challenge of trying to run, cycle and row the distance between Bromsgrove and London during the day.
Teacher in charge of the day Mrs Richards said: “On the whole the pupils had an incredibly enriching day and were a credit to the school in the way that they conducted themselves. Many pupils asked if they could do the same thing next year! I think they really liked the style of the day too, which was a day of learning as well as fun. The day was fantastically well received by the pupils and something I hope they remember for a long time to come!”