Last Friday, Hampton Academy celebrated a hugely successful Primary School Sports Day which involved over 150 children. The event was hosted by the academy and all Year 3 students from our surrounding primary schools were invited to take part in the afternoon of sport fixtures and fun activities.For the first time ever, Hampton Hill, Hampton Juniors and Buckingham Primary came together to participate in inter-schools sports fixtures at one venue. Hampton Academy School Sport Coordinator, Jimmy Giblin, organised the event to allow every child the opportunity to represent their school in a competitive fixture, whilst having fun in the atmosphere of a secondary school.
The youngsters played Tag Rugby fixtures and Harlequins RL coaches were on hand to support and referee the fixtures. Darren Pugsley, Harlequins RL Development Officer, organised the fixtures and was fantastic at engaging the young pupils; all of whom were invited to join the local Rugby League club, the Richmond Warriors.
When teams were not on the field, they were participating in fun activities lead by Hampton Academy students. These young leaders also held Q&A sessions and helped guide the Year 3s around the sports facilities. Jimmy Giblin took the primary school children, their teachers and parents on a tour around Hampton Academy. They had the opportunity to see the sports hall, gymnasium, fitness suite, changing rooms, sports fields and got the chance to see a range of sporting activities at break time and in PE lessons. They met PE staff, Mr Mayfield and Ms Davidson, and got a chance to talk to Head of PE, Ms Nuttall, in the corridor at lunchtime.
Leading up to Friday, the sheer scale of the proposed event was a terrifying thought, but Jimmy Giblin recruited an army of 16 young leaders from Hampton Academy's Year 10 Btec course. The huge numbers of interested primary school children were split up into 16 teams and the young leaders acted as captains, ambassadors and guides for a team each for the entire day.
Mr Giblin would like to thank the school sport partnership for helping to organise the event, Darren and Harlequins RL for their help and Hampton Academy's young leaders who were great role models and inspiring ambassadors! “They did an amazing job and today would not have been possible without their help." Mr Giblin commented, “Everyone has had a brilliant experience at Hampton Academy - and it is a credit to the young leaders."
