The Rotherham School Games team hosted their every popular Sports Hall Athletics Programme in January and February, with children from Y5, Y6, Y7 and Y8 having the chance to participate. The primary programme consists of 10 boys and 10 girls making up a team, accumulating points for their times, distances and scores across a number of indoor track and field events. The Y7 and Y8 competition has boys and girls competing as separate teams in events progressed on from the primary model, which gives the programme a real pathway for children who may have engaged at primary school.
The overall aim of the School Games is to engage as many young people in athletics as possible; however, the top 2 teams in each event category do go on to represent Rotherham at the South Yorkshire School Games in March, where they compete with the top schools from Doncaster, Barnsley and Sheffield in the county finals.
The Y7 competition took place across 2 consecutive heats, with 9 schools and over 140 athletes from across the borough participating. Congratulations to Wales boys and girls, Winterhill boys and Aston girls who finished in the top 2 and qualified for the next round.
The Y8 competition also took place across 2 consecutive heats, this time with 8 schools and over 120 athletics from across Rotherham taking part. Congratulations to Wickersley girls, Winterhill girls, St Bernard’s boys and Wales boys for qualifying for the South Yorkshire event.
The Y5/6 primary programme was the biggest of them all, with an extra heat added to accommodate the sheer volume of schools who signed up to take part. 30 schools and an astounding 600 children took part in 1 of the 4 heats, where the competition, enthusiasm and engagement was at an all time high. All athletes competed with a smile on their faces and demonstrated the School Games values throughout. Congratulations to Waverley Junior Academy and Aston Hall, who finished 1 and 2 respectively, and will go on and represent us at the School Games in March.
A big thank you to the Wickersley Partnership Trust Primary PE & School Sport team, who helped score the events and motivate the secondary and primary children throughout. Also a big thank you to the Y9 Wickersley Sports Leaders, who were drafted in to support the additional primary heat and did a fantastic job supporting the event.
Finally, a big thank you to all the staff in our schools who coordinated their children to attend the events – to have over 800 students between Y5 – Y8 participating in the programme is an outstanding feat, and one that wouldn’t be possible without the continued support and engagement from school staff.
