Futsal training day!

Last Sunday's activity was a Futsal training day, in preparation for February's competition.
For those (like me) who have never heard of Futsal, here's a bit of a definition as to what Futsal really is;
- It is played indoors and on a much smaller 'field' than usual
- There are two teams
- Each team is made up of five players (including the goalie)
Thus it is very similar to normal football and it didn't take long for our boarding children to get the hang of it.

One of the sports teachers' from King's Hall school in Taunton came down to the school to do the Futsal workshop with the kids since the future tournament will be played at King's Hall. We also had a former All Hallows' student come to help with the workshop - Josh Whitemore, who graduated last year and was a very keen and talented footballer.

They began the session by teaching everyone key skills such as passing, shooting, defending, and also they were allowed to show off some creativity by trying their best with ball tricks - for example, balancing the ball on one foot, and kicking it up and behind their head.

After learning these key skills, the children began a small tournament. They were split into four different teams - red, green, blue, and yellow - and took turns competing against each other. Fortunately, it was more of a 'fun' match rather than a competitive one and so the scores really didn't matter.

Overall, the kids really had a wonderful time - especially those that had never tried the sport before!

Signing off,

Miss Donato :)

On Tuesday, a couple of the boarders participated in some cookery with Miss Maden. In order to get a little bit into the Christmas spirit, it was decided that they would make fondant which they could later use for decoration on gingerbread houses or gingerbread cookies, or they could simply just eat it - which is what most of the children did.

Christmas Puddings

Last Sunday, the kids partook in a cooking activity - something a little bit different than usual!

Miss Phippard and Miss Paice were the teachers in charge of this boarders activity and equally seemed to really enjoy it. The kids especially enjoyed the messiness of the cooking as they got a chance to get their hands dirty (and also the eating part of course).

Fortunately we had one of the skilled All Hallows' cooks, Susanne, to help with all the tricky bits in the ingredients and also to assist in keeping everything under control. The Christmas aprons and jumpers, as well as some carols from the radio going on in the background created a very festive atmosphere in the kitchen. Some of the children (and teachers) were even singing!

The children soon began to find their inner chef as they started weighing and stirring in butter, fruits, flour and brandy (carefully distributed by Susanne). Soon,  the figgy puds were poured into a pot, wrapped up and labelled - ready for the final preparations and to be later devoured by the proud and hungry cooks of All Hallows!

After a busy afternoon, some of the boarders - as well as Miss Paice and Mrs Barber - headed to St Bede's to try out 'Just Dance' on the Wii console. I have to say, there were many hilarious dance moves being done by the children! They absolutely loved it.

A big thank-you to the lovely Lucy Lovick who generously helped me finish this boarders blog!

Signing off,
Miss Donato :)

The Red and Black game

Last Wednesday our boarders’ activity was the game called ‘Red and Black’ – one of Mr Callow’s all-time favourites!

This game involved the staff being under pressure and being the main focus of the game. Miss Cook, Miss Martin, Mr Gardiner, Mr Wheatley, Miss Mewburn, Mr Callow, Mrs Roberts and Mr Roberts, and I were the staff involved. It was held in the gym as there were so many extra children boarding that night – making for a great activity night! The game went like this;

-          One of the staff members would pull, out of a bowl, two pieces of paper that had two of the teachers names on it

-          These two teachers would then go against each other in a random challenge created by Mr Callow

-       The kids would then line up behind the teacher that they thought was going to win the challenge

-          If a teacher won the challenge, the kids that lined up behind them would then stay in for the next round

-          The kids that made it to the last round then got a prize (of the confectionary sort!)

Some of these challenges included finishing a water bottle in the fastest amount of time, rolling the biggest number on dice, eating a Weetabix, balancing on hopscotch, eating marshmallows with chopsticks etc.

After all the teachers had had two turns each, it was the kids turn to play. If their cheering was anything to go by, the boarders really seemed to like this activity!

Miss Donato J

Circus Skills Sunday

Last Sunday we tried out an activity that we hadn't done in a long time - circus skills!

After a later-than-normal breakfast of delicious pastries and hot chocolate (due to Mass being in the morning rather than at night), the kids had an hour of free time during which the circus skills activity was being set up.

At 1:30, all the boarders gathered in the gym and were introduced to the two instructors. Next, the activities began with seeing if they could balance toothbrushes on the ends of their fingers - the next step was to see if they could spin it around on the ends of their fingers. It was really much trickier than it looked!

The second activity was even harder. This involved a plastic rod and a plate, and they had to try to spin the plate on the rod - only Juan (Year 7) and Miguel (Year 6) seemed to master this skill!

More circus activities continued including balancing, twirling and throwing batons into the air, and learning how to do lots of coordination tricks with spatulas which held little stress balls. It all sounds like the activities were a bit random, however that was the fun part as each one was so different to the next!

Signing off,
Miss Donato :)