Our latest IST (Inter-School Tournament) was held last week at Emmanuel Junior Academy in Sheffield. The 3rd tournament in just 3 weeks, this was a chance for Year 6 students and a few Year 7 students to shine, after the success of the infant tournament held for schools in the same area just a week before.
We were ready for 8 teams of four students representing 4 different school, but this time, rather than competing for their own little team, everyones points went towards a school total for a little added spice… which team would be victorious today?!
Of course it’s not all about the winning (apparently!), and as always the morning session was focussed around students getting comfortable in their new surroundings and learning to play games they had never seen before. Remember lots of children come to these days perhaps never ever having played a board game before, so getting everyone on the same playing field is crucial… but easily done.
At this tournament we had invited some children we knew would find this particular environment challenging and, while it took them a little time to find their feet, once they did they were flying so to speak. To see such a range of children manage to be able to sit in a new environment, with new challenges and pupils they had never met before, and excel is simply a fantastic feeling… and by the end of the day the smiles were universal.
“Thanks for a brilliant day”
Samantha Bell, Westfield School, Sheffield
The games used required a mix of skills to conquer, meaning that there would always be something to suit everybody. From maths skills, to logic, memory and even drawing and shape handling, there was a chance for everyone to shine and challenge themselves, and perhaps taste a bit of success and failure in equal measure… both good for the soul!
We played Doodle Rush from Brain Games, Take It Easy from Burley Games, Ubongo from Kosmos, Brix from CoiledSpring and BlueOrange and Lost and Found.
As always, the teams were competing for a trophy to take back to their school by each pupil contributing points from all the games they played against children from the other schools, but as always there was a trophy for the highest individual scorer too!…
So… WHO WON?! Well you can see our individual Champion at the bottom but first here’s all the teams, proudly holding their certificates of achievement below, see if you can spot the trophies!
Firstly here’s Emmanuel Academy, fantastic hosts and a credit to their school…
Next up the Y7 students and staff from Westfield School who competed fantastically well…
Another brilliant team here from Mosborough Primary school…
But here they are… our latest winners… Brook House Junior School…. Yeahhhhh!!!!!…
And last… but definitely most impressively, the Individual Highest Points Scorer of the day, leading her team to victory was… SOPHIE. Big well done Sophie!
