Following the success of the previous weeks excitement, on Friday the 14th June, St.Theresa’s Catholic Primary hosted the second of 2 separate Imagination Gaming Inter-school Tournaments in a week! This time it was the turn of the schools linked together in the SCSP Diocese.
As a school that uses Imagination Gaming’s team to deliver activities in the classroom every single week, they were keen to show the schools in their local communities what it was all about. What better way than inviting them for a bit of co-operative and competitive fun with a games tournament!
Who came?
Todays event welcomed schools from Sheffield and beyond, with teams from Emmaus, St. Wilfred’s, St. Marie’s, St. Patricks, St. John Fisher and of course St Theresa’s. All the pupils were a mix of girls and boys from years 5 and 6, and all were ready to do battle for the trophies and coveted title of tournament champions!
“Great games to get the children thinking. Fun, engaging, and competitive games for all. A very good day.”
Mr Fiddler, Y4/5, St. Patricks
The Morning
As we waited for the teams to arrive and get settled, we played a few different games from this years Imagination Gaming Family and Education Game Awards, a great way to get comfortable in new surroundings.
Games such as the new cooperative communication game Team 3 from Brain Games,(pictured above), and the hilarious Pigasus all about quick thinking and observation were just 2 of the many popular pre-tournament tasters.
Get Ready
Once everyone was settled it was time to learn some games that they may face in the afternoons tournament. (Of course we chose some new games, we didnt want the experienced game players from St Theresa’s to have any advantage!!!)
We spend the morning learning a few games as a group first, then taking those games back to our teams to practice together. It’s at this point the teams can perfect their strategies and help each other be confident with the task ahead and share their ideas.
Again more new games when it came to the tournament! Along with the serious, we put in plenty of the silly too, including Mosquito from Djeco (pictured above) ! Here competitors flip cards and race to react accordingly… whatever happens, the mosquito gets it! From the same company we also used Polyssimo Challenge, (pictured below), almost the exact opposite kind of game, as this thoughtful and logical game requires players to carefully examine shapes and not only piece them together to get the most in, but also strategically obstruct opponents from using their own.
“My favourite thing was how the board games all needed you to use your brains (whilst being very fun)”
Max, St. Wilfrid’s
Amongst the 6 different games we ended up using in this tournament, there was also space for this Imagination Gaming classic favourite Zeus On The Loose from Gamewright and Coiledspring Games. A superb numbers game with beautifully themed cards that has been a stalwart of our curriculum and fun days since the first time we played it!
So What Happened?
Well some excellent gamesmanship happened, thats what! In the afternoon all the children were separated from their teams (and comfort zones) and put on a table with children from different schools for a carousel of competitive gaming.
It’s fantastic to see just how they work together in this environment. A perfect mix of social integration as everyone battled to do their best, but still supported each other to succeed, even in combat!
But who won?!
Well, without further ado, here are your competitors and winners!
Firstly, massive congratulations to Laila from Emmaus for achieving the most individual points of any of todays players, a massive 22 out of 25… amazing! Well done you!…
Well done Laila, but who were the eventual overall team winners?!!! Well look at ALL these lovely teams below, and all will be revealed!
Firstly here’s the team from St. Wilfrid’s…
below is St. Theresa’s
here’s St. Maries…
and St. John Fisher…
Who else but Emmaus…
and last… but certainly not least because they were the eventual…
TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS!!!
…St. Patrick’s….
…. ERM!…. Unfortunately, St. Patrick’s were unable to be here to accept their prize ( a photo permissions thing but go with it!…) but rest assured, they were over the moon and I’m sure they are still bragging about it now!!!!
Congratulations indeed to all the schools that attended, both children and teachers for their enthusiasm, and extra thanks for all the wonderful comments we received.
