On the last Friday before half term Farlington Senior School held its annual House Challenge Competition. For 2012 the theme had to be the Olympics and, a fortnight before the day, the House Captains received a detailed brief. Challenges to be met included:
- designing an alternative to the much-debated official logo,
- making outfits for competitors,
- creating an Olympic torch,
- researching, preparing and cooking a meal suitable for a sprinter to eat 6 hours before the race,
- taking part in a ‘Super8’ indoor athletics competition,
- a drama piece entitled ‘An Olympic Nightmare’,
- a dance on the theme of ‘Circles’ , and
- writing an alternative to the National Anthem for the whole House to perform on the day.
Each House set to with a will, and the competitive spirit pervaded the whole school (including the staff room!) The girls worked at the challenges all morning and in the afternoon we held our own ‘Opening Ceremony’ in the New Courtyard Hall. The showcase commenced with a parade of the Olympic torches – followed by the outfits, all made from recycled materials, particularly notable amongst these was a dress made by weaving Tesco carrier bags together. The cooking, was pronounced to be of a very high standard by the judge, our Catering Manager; Mrs Goyer judged the art work and, together with Mrs Lucy Cooper, had the very difficult task of deciding on the winning House based on the events of the afternoon showcase. Ultimately Curie claimed the highest medal tally on the day but, once again, it was really good to see all girls completely involved in working with others from different year groups, towards a common goal.