Love is Strength, Skill and Sportsmanship

What an active and exciting week it has been for the students and Ms. Karen in sports and PE!

 

Ms. Karen recently attended a basketball coaching course organized by the Department of Education and Coach Voot from CIBA. It was an extremely well-run course attended by many primary and high school teachers, and Ms. Karen is very excited to pass on her new knowledge to the children and continue to help grow this sport in Cayman.

 

The Casa children enjoyed their Sports Day on a blissfully cool, cloudy Monday. The day focused on fun and participation. It was a great opportunity for the parents to come and see the children showcase their talents, and for the children to share all of the hard work that they’ve been putting into their PE sessions each week. The children rotated through 15 stations with activities in jumping, coordination, manipulative skills and locomotor skills.

 

 

Casa Sports Day was important not just for the Casa students but also for older students of the school: children in Grades 5 and 6 got the chance to share their amazing ability to guide and lead the younger Casa children in their different activities. They are a shining example of what being a Montessori child means: they exhibited a high level of  leadership skills, and demonstrated exceptional care, patience, understanding and confidence when working with the younger children, all while under the pressure of having a lot of adults observing. Well done to our Upper Elementary mentors – the Casa Sports Day would not be the same without your effort.

On Tuesday, eight Grade 6 students represented MBTS in the PSA Inter-Secondary Track Meet at the Truman Bodden Sports Centre, and competed with students their age and older from all the other private schools on island. The children had an excellent day and really enjoyed the high level of athleticism from the older senior athletes on display. All of the children outdid themselves and were really pleased with their personal performance. Well done to all of you and thank you for representing and being such wonderful ambassadors for the school.

Luckily, Wednesday was another beautiful, cloudy day, which was ideal for Upper Elementary Sports Day. The students had a wonderful time applying a wide array of physical skills, and the Grade 6 students got extra inventive with a few events to make them even more difficult. After lunch, the children enjoyed some treats, watched a video on the “greatest sportsmanship moments,” and had a thoughtful class discussion on sportsmanship: where it begins, less conventional ways to express it, and how it should always be practiced and valued, no matter how high a level athlete you are or how old you are.

 

 

Thursday brings the Lower Elementary Sports Day and we wish all of our active athletes a very successful and enjoyable day! In the Elementary program, the Sports Day is split into two parts: the first segment that has 15 individual or partner-based activities, and then the second segment wherein the children are divided into teams and participate in six team events. Sports Day is broken down this way for a few reasons: not all children enjoy the focus and attention of the individualized events, and while they still need to participate and try their best, they also have team events to look forward to later in the morning, which might be more their forte. This balance of different activity formats helps ensure that Sports Day is a fun day for all children. As well, not only are the team-based events lots of fun, but they are a great opportunity for parents to see the children to demonstrate a high level of sportsmanship and fair play; the students put into practice all their communication, listening, team-building and comprehension skills. Their ability to focus, be patient, be resilient and be adaptable are all put to use, and these are all traits that are intently focused upon in all of their PE classes.