St Francis Xavier, Kait and Sam's school, had thier cross country carnival. This is not like we do it in the States. Instead of our PE, they have sport. Sport is every Tuesday and Thursday and the kids wear thier sport uniform on those days. They do different sports throughout the year. (They were doing swimming when we arrived.) So, every kid (grade 2 to grade 6) must train for 9 weeks and participate in a 2K run. The younger ones run a shorter race. I think this is for all schools in New South Wales(our state). The training every Tuesday and Thursday for 1st term culminates in a all day carnival. I helped so I did not get the best pictures--but I will do my best to descibe it. The photo above is the park really close to the school. Just beyond the trees is South beach. The course is mapped out by colorful cones(called witches hats here) and volunteers pointing the way(that was me--post 6!). The kids were divided into age groups for the running. So Sam was in the 9 year olds and Kait in the 10.
For special all school events, the kids are divided into "houses". (kind of like Gryffindor, Slytherin, etc in Harry Potter) Kait and Sam are in the Yellow House(Loyola). Each class consists of an even number of kids K-6 and siblings are kept together. There are 3 other houses--Red, Green and Blue. They wore shirts in the appropriate color for thier team. So beyound the individual competition, there is a team competion. The winning team gets thier name on a plaque that goes back alot of years. Blue has been the reigning team for the last 5 years --so the pressure is on.
Here is Kait with her good friend Edwina. Thrilled to be in the same house. They met thier goal and finished! They jogged alot, but walked some too.
Sam, holding the flag, did well. He got 3rd in his age class. It was a tough race and it was down to the last second as to who would get 1,2, and 3 spots. He was quite proud of himself--he has one more sport he loves--long distant running. The Blue team won again! So now they have a six year winning streak. Next term they do Track and Field--and have another carnival. I am sure I will help then too.
St Francis Xavier, Kait and Sam's school, had thier cross country carnival. This is not like we do it in the States. Instead of our PE, they have sport. Sport is every Tuesday and Thursday and the kids wear thier sport uniform on those days. They do different sports throughout the year. (They were doing swimming when we arrived.) So, every kid (grade 2 to grade 6) must train for 9 weeks and participate in a 2K run. The younger ones run a shorter race. I think this is for all schools in New South Wales(our state). The training every Tuesday and Thursday for 1st term culminates in a all day carnival. I helped so I did not get the best pictures--but I will do my best to descibe it. The photo above is the park really close to the school. Just beyond the trees is South beach. The course is mapped out by colorful cones(called witches hats here) and volunteers pointing the way(that was me--post 6!). The kids were divided into age groups for the running. So Sam was in the 9 year olds and Kait in the 10.
For special all school events, the kids are divided into "houses". (kind of like Gryffindor, Slytherin, etc in Harry Potter) Kait and Sam are in the Yellow House(Loyola). Each class consists of an even number of kids K-6 and siblings are kept together. There are 3 other houses--Red, Green and Blue. They wore shirts in the appropriate color for thier team. So beyound the individual competition, there is a team competion. The winning team gets thier name on a plaque that goes back alot of years. Blue has been the reigning team for the last 5 years --so the pressure is on.
Here is Kait with her good friend Edwina. Thrilled to be in the same house. They met thier goal and finished! They jogged alot, but walked some too.
Sam, holding the flag, did well. He got 3rd in his age class. It was a tough race and it was down to the last second as to who would get 1,2, and 3 spots. He was quite proud of himself--he has one more sport he loves--long distant running. The Blue team won again! So now they have a six year winning streak. Next term they do Track and Field--and have another carnival. I am sure I will help then too.
2 comments:
I'm so glad the kids are enjoying themselves and getting involved. Remind Sam that St. Augie has a fun track team to join next spring. We'd be glad to have both of them come out for us. My husband is the track coach, can you tell?
We enjoy following your lives down under. Keep up the great work, Sharon!
Cathy Majewski
Hi Guys,
I read this post on Friday and tonight, the first Harry Potter movie was on tv and they were naming the winners of the house cup and it made me think of you guys and the houses at school. I hope your kids are enjoying being in their houses and the competition that comes with it.
Chris and I have some great memories of house competition in primary school and high school.
Loved the pictures of the youth cross and it was nice to see some of the photos of my old school (I went to St Marys).
Hope you are having a great weekend. The walleye are running on the Maumee and Chris and I could not believe how many fisherman were out today! It was such a beautiful day so I can understand while they were out.
Chris and Katie
Post a Comment