We started this week, as we do all weeks, with a warm up - this time led by Ollie and Ray including jogging, stretching and tag games.
It was soon time to get on to the main sport of the week - Badminton. So out came the badminton rackets and shuttlecocks and to start with the coaches asked the kids to see how long they could keep their shuttlecocks off the ground by hitting it up in the air - Keepy-Uppies if you like. 

After practising their solo control of racket and shuttlecock the group then moved on to working in pairs. They attempted to get rallies going between the pairs keeping it going for as long as possible. Performances worthy of a mention include Pranav, Hal and Valentina.
From there the badminton nets were set up so that rallies and matches could take place across the nets. As you can see in the photos above and below the kids concentrated hard and demonstrated good levels of skill.

After the main break for snacks and refreshments, and a chance for some catching up, it was back to the courts for some more games across the nets

We finished off the session with some Curling. Ray devised a scoring target zone in the middle of the hall with a spot being the target and a scoring zone marked out by cones that the stones should end up in. The group was then split in to a red and blue team and the games began.

The session started with a warm up that included some jogging, stretching and some tag games. It was soon on to the main sport of the session - Rugby.
​The kids started by pairing off and passing a rugby ball between each other. Then it was on to moving the ball around the body then over and under.

Next up was a game called "Beat the ball" where everyone stood in a large circle. A runner was chosen each go to try and run around the outside of the circle faster than the ball could be passed around the inside of the circle. It is actually very tricky to pass the ball quickly and accurately, to catch and pass it on so quickly, and the kids did really well and had a lot of fun.

After a drinks break it was on to a game of Rob the Nest. This is where the group break up in to teams and try and steal as many rugby balls from other  teams nests to end up with the biggest number of balls in your own nest. The problem being that as you are running to take a ball from an opposing teams nest the opposition are doing the same to you by taking balls from your nest. A fast, frantic game that the kids enjoyed.

The next Rugby game the kids played was Dragons Den. Nothing to do with the TV series but a tag game where one kid would try to run up and get a Rugby ball from a circle and get it back to base without being tagged by the Dragon.

It was then time for the main break and a chance for the kids to catch their breath, have a drink and snack and a bit of chat.  It was then back to the hall for a game of Hunter, another tag game. In Dragons Den the chaser (dragon) and the kid getting chased started in different positions. In Hunter both started at the same end of the hall and had to run up separate lanes of cones before running back with the hunter trying to tag their opponent before they got back.
We then completed the session with some games of Boccia. A much more sedate game and one of skill in terms of rolling the balls with the correct speed and in the right direction to try and get closest to the white ball. 

It was great to be back after a lovely break for Christmas and New Year. It was a little cold in Oakview School as the heating wasn't working so we kept active throughout the session to keep warm, and help burn off some of those mince pies and chocolates we all had over Christmas no doubt.
The main sport this week was Cricket and after the usual warm ups they got straight in to the action with some pairs work doing Throwing & Catching. This was then followed by some throwing to stumps, this helps practice accurate throwing including speed of throw and direction.

It was good to be back and see all the kids enjoying themselves again. The Star of the week award was given this week to Alexander who was able to stay for the whole session this week and participated really well.

​Join us again next Saturday when hopefully the heating will be fixed and the school will be a bit warmer!






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