Sports and Exercise Week

Dear Parents and Students

This week we have been playing the theme music from the film ‘Chariots of Fire’ composed by Vangelis. This was a 1981 historical sports drama, based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian student who ran as part of his commitment to his faith, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jewish student who ran to overcome prejudice. Both students studied at Cambridge University and it is a film about determination and grit in the sport of athletics but the piece also explores the concepts of principles and prejudice. Furthermore, success in sport does require perseverance and a commitment which can also build character strength.

All students at the Island School have regular PE lessons or access to sporting activities. Physical education and sport are an integral component of all 3 of our programmes. Maintaining a healthy body is an important part of our wellbeing. For students, taking physical exercise helps them to maintain balance but also helps them to learn as it contributes to good brain health. This year we welcome Mr Nicholas Salapatas as our new Faculty Lead for PE across the whole school and he comes to us with a wealth of experience in international schools. He is committed to promoting, growing and improving the delivery of Physical Education in our school over the coming months and years.

We are very aware however that it is a challenge to do sport in the heat in Cyprus. We have made some amendments to our PE programme as this September we have had some high temperatures. Grades 1 and 2 are now having their PE lessons in the shaded Montessori area of primary campus until the temperatures cool. If the temperatures exceed 32 degrees we have asked our PE teachers to take older primary and secondary classes indoors to do stretching, learn about different sports or in secondary some PE theory related to the MYP framework. Children bring water to the courts and we encourage them to wear hats and take regular breaks.

In the secondary assembly this week we had an amazing interactive assembly from Mr Niko and the PE team. One student started the assembly by reading out the rules of PE. Then in year groups students ran relay races involving actions like passing a ball between their legs. While a great time was had by all, the assembly highlighted the importance of how even a small amount of activity can improve our health and overall wellbeing.

In Montessori Primary, sports activities became an exciting part of our study of gravity and forces. Students and teachers explored spring force while jumping and rolling, contact force while playing football, and applied force while throwing a ball or helping younger friends learn how to swing. In the classroom, students also learned about Sir Isaac Newton and his great influence on science.

On Wednesday, Montessori children and teachers enjoyed a wonderful afternoon picnic in the forest park together with our Montessori pre-primary and primary families. A big thank-you to all children and parents for joining us! Montessori are already looking forward to their October mountain hike.

Our teachers have been joining in the fun this week by sharing pictures of themselves doing different sports to encourage each other to try new sporting activities and support each other to maintain their own levels of health.

In Primary this week, we explored our eight school values and discussed how a value is something important that helps us to be the best we can be. While we agreed that each value matters, starting next week we will take a closer look at them one by one - beginning with Love.

Next week will be Peace Week and our Jewish community will be celebrating the festival of Rosh Hashanah or New Year. So we have some exciting activities planned for our students to look forward to.

Wishing you a healthy and sporty weekend!

Best Regards
Deborah Economou
The Head of School