On the 18th of November we were excited to work alongside the incredible team at Doncaster Children’s University to deliver their first South Yorkshire Games Tournament.
15 schools from across the SYCU sent representative teams of their pupils to Doncaster College for the tournament and there was a genuine feeling of excitement in the air.
We kicked off the day by welcoming the schools and teaching everyone the 4 games that would be used in the tournament. Bananagrams challenged the children to form words and create a crossword-like layout with their randomised letter tiles, while Figure It tested their skills of deduction as they attempted to work out the number pieces they couldn’t see based on what they could see. Pattern Party had the children racing to form a specific shape with their cards, but only if they could ensure any adjacent sides had a matching feature (trickier than it sounds). And we rounded off our games with Got It!, which saw the pupils testing their maths skills by adding, subtracting, dividing or multiplying their number cards to achieve a random figure. We were particularly lucky to have Got It’s Designer, Will Hanson, with us on the day to check our sums.
We choose our games based on a number of factors, particularly aiming to find a combination which will challenge the students in different academic areas and at the correct levels for their age, but always ensuring they’re accessible and FUN.
The rest of the morning saw the children practicing the games and developing their own strategies. Our team were on hand to clarify rules, give tips and keep everything running smoothly.
After a lunch break the children were split into the groups they would be playing against. After some initial trepidation it was lovely to see children from different schools interacting warmly with each other.
And then came the moment everyone was waiting for as the tournament commenced. Each grouping competed in the 4 games in turn, keeping track of the points achieved by each pupil. The students were a credit to their schools as we witnessed no poor sportsmanship – in fact quite the opposite, we were thrilled to see children congratulating their opponents on a good move or an impressive win across all the tables.
With all the scores handed in and calculated, we awarded Carfield Primary with the highly coveted victor’s trophy. And just to ensure they had plenty to carry home we awarded their pupil, Edgar, his own trophy for achieving the highest overall score in the tournament. Huge congratulations to their team.
But we weren’t quite finished there. To round the day off we invited the 4 pupils with the highest scores to face off for one final battle. This time the game was Match Madness Junior and the children raced to match the specific pattern and layout on a card using their blocks. This game can be a real brain burner of a challenge, but our four competitors did their respective schools proud. All four pupils received a game of their choice for giving us all such a tense and enjoyable finale to watch.
And just like that the tournament came to a close. We were so pleased with every aspect of the day – from the fantastic venue to the incredibly supportive schools, the enthusiastic pupils and the nail-biting finish.
We received some fantastic feedback from the school staff who attended and the smiling faces on the children spoke volumes. We’re already planning our next CU Inter-School Gaming Tournament.
Interested in hosting your own Inter-School Tournament?
Imagination Gaming has been working with schools for over 18 years, delivering curriculum-based activities that engage, enthuse, and educate pupils of all ages and abilities. Our tournaments, which we refer to as our “mind-sport competitions,” use a wide range of exciting tabletop board games to promote healthy competition and fun learning. Something different to the usual sporting competitions, giving those non sporty pupils an opportunity to represent their school and shine.
Want to learn more? Our glowing testimonials speak volumes about the impact we make, explore them at https://imaginationgaming.co.uk/testimonial/.
If you’d like further information or would like to discuss how your school can get involved in your very own tournament, contact us at [email protected]
