Report on Visit to In-School Kidsgames, July 2010

The Games Organiser’s Pack Session Content All you need to run The Games programme

Compete Create Discover

One Morning One School

A key way to engage church and school

‘What a fabulous day for the pupils –they all participated, all learnt, all achieved and all thoroughly enjoyed themselves, as did our whole staff. Thank you!’ Headteacher (from a participating school in the lead up to London 2012)

Fully updated for the European Championships

Revised: Nov 2015 1 Contents 1. Front Cover 2. Contents & What is The Games 3. Suggested Timetable 4. Opening Ceremony 5. Opening Ceremony 6. Discovery Zone 7. Discovery Zone 8. Discovery Zone 9. Discovery Zone 10. Creative Zone 11. Sports Zone 12. Sports Zone Challenges 13. Closing Ceremony 14. Country / Team Scorecard – Sports Zone 15. Zone Scorecard (for Sports Zone Co-ordinator) 16. Master Scorecard

What is The Games? What is it? The Games is a one morning school-based activity programme for pupils aged 8 – 11 (Key Stage 2 in England and Wales, P4-7 in Scotland). It is a morning that mixes fun and activity with educational curriculum-based sessions that incorporate RE (RME in Scotland), PHSE, PE, Geography and other areas. It takes ‘commitment’ as its main theme and uses the Bible story of the fiery furnace in the book of Daniel as its focus. The children are divided into groups (countries) of around 15 pupils, participate in Opening and Closing Ceremonies (assemblies) and rotate around three zones, Discovery (values), Creative (arts) and Sports where they earn points for participation and success.

To make sense of the following pages, it will help you to note the following terminology:

 The Games Co-ordinator(s) - The Games volunteer who heads up the whole event

 Zone Co-ordinators - The Games volunteer(s) who head(s) up the activities of the zone

 Country Team Leader - The Games volunteer who leads the country / team of children

 Country Groups (sometimes referred to as Teams) – the children’s groups / teams. In this pack we have suggested using nine countries who are playing in the European Championships.

Albania Italy Romania

Belgium Poland Slovakia

Iceland Portugal Sweden

but clearly you can select whichever participating countries you want.

2 A typical day

Obviously there can be no definitive blueprint for the day because each school will vary in its start and end times, the length of its breaks, and lunchtimes. It may also be that specific school requirements mean the outline below has to be amended due to demands on the school hall or playground for other pupils not involved in The Games programme. But in general terms…

8.30am The Games team arrive and hold briefing

9.00am Children register in classes and are given labels for their teams*

9.10am Opening Ceremony (assembly) in School Hall

9.30am Children move in teams to their first Zone.

9.35 am Zone 1 starts

10.05am Zone 1 ends. Move to Zone 2

10.10am Zone 2 starts

10.40pm Break / Playtime

10.55 am Zone 3 starts

11.25am Zone 3 ends

11.30 am Closing Ceremony

11.55am The Games finishes. Return to classrooms

* It is vital that children are allocated to groups in advance so that the teacher taking registration does not have to do this.

The Opening and Closing Ceremonies normally take place in the school hall which is often required for lunch time so it is vital that timings are clarified in advance and then adhered to in order that the school is not disrupted unduly. It is possible to hold the Closing Ceremony outdoors or seek an alternative suitable space.

One other option may be to drop the Creative Zone and simply run with two zones - though be aware you are likely to have more groups / children at each zone so more resources / space will be required. A timetable could then start and end as above but with the following pattern:

9.30am Children move in teams to their first zone.

9.40am Zone 1 activity starts

10.20am Break / Playtime

10.35am Zone 2 starts

11.15am Zone 2 ends

11.20am Closing Ceremony

Running two zones allows for longer sessions and a slightly earlier finish.

3 Content – Opening Ceremony Normally held in the School Hall

Resources required: PE mats (chairs?), country signs, registers, pupil labels, PowerPoint with logo and rules, a set of words / for game, a soft flag for each country which is attached to a large garden cane by means of a couple of cable ties.  Have a set of PE mats set around the hall as bases for the countries but ensure there is space to get round the hall behind them. Provide a chair for Team Captains.  Have ’Welcome to The Games’ plus logo displaying on a projector.

Registration 5 mins As the children come into the assembly hall they should immediately form groups on their PE mat around their Team Leader, who is holding their country’s banner (an A4 laminated double-sided sign mounted on a wooden baton) – as shown - as well as a larger soft flag which should be rolled up and set to one side at this point. If the register has not been completed in advance, the Team Leader (or teacher assigned to the group) should complete this now. They could also have a sheet of address labels that display the country’s flag, onto which they can clearly write the child’s first name and the children then stick them on their T-shirt. Finally teach the children the word for Hello in the language of the country they represent – e.g. Halla (Swedish), Pershendetje (Albanian).

The Headteacher will normally give any announcements and then hand over to you…

Introduction 3 mins Welcome everyone to The Games. Explain it’s going to be a great morning of fun, activity and learning and that the whole team is really excited to be sharing the day with them. Point out that The Games team can be recognised by their badges and T-shirts.

Ask the children which major sporting event is about to take place. Then explain that all the countries taking part in The Games today are also involved in that event and that first of all you want to see who is here at the Opening Ceremony. One at a time (going around the room) announce, ’Hello COUNTRY’. The children involved can then respond by saying Hello in their own language.

Explain that throughout the morning the children will be moving in their country groups. Each country has a Team Leader and the children will need to recognise this person and their banner because they will stay together. Explain that everyone will be taking part in this, the Opening Ceremony and, at the end of the morning there will be a Closing Ceremony where awards will be given out! In between, everyone will be going to three (or two) zones; a Discovery Zone, a Creative Zone and a Sports Zone. These three zones represent the three major strands of every major Games / Tournament. The Discovery Zone will look at some of the values and characteristics that a good sportsman or woman and team player has to display. The Creative Zone will focus on the performing arts and the cultural celebrations that are a major part of all festivals around the Games. The Sports Zone will obviously be the place where the games and sports are played and there teams will be able to earn points for their country based on a) how their team performs and b) how they work together as a team, and there will be some rare, hard-to-get bonus points if any individual does anything particularly special. Countries will do these zones in different orders but everyone is doing exactly the same thing. So the main thing is to work together as a team, to try your best and aim to be the best and you will be looking for lots of smiles.

Country welcome 5 mins Each country has the flag of its country. Ask for two children to come forward from each country with their flag and they form a line at the front. One country at a time the children can walk round the hall waving their flag and waving to the ‘crowd’ (have some upbeat music playing) and once they are back at the start they can place their flag at the front of the hall (In advance check how this is best done – perhaps ‘plant’ the flag-poles in a couple of buckets of soil or sand or lean them against a wall and peg out the flags on to a washing line so that they are fully displayed. Get another adult to help you with this.) Once every team has gone round the hall and the flags are hung, you can invite the Head or a special

4 guest – or perhaps an outstanding child athlete or a child who has overcome significant adversity in their life to come forward and declare The Games officially open.

Theme Game 10 mins Ask for 10 children to come to the front (at least one from each team if you have 9 teams and get them to form a row facing away from everyone. Give those children a sheet of card with one of the following letters on it - C O M M I T M E N T. Explain to the rest that you are going to play a game of ‘hangman’ asking each country in turn to suggest a letter. If the letter is in the word which the children are holding, any child with that letter will turn around. Play the game until every letter is called out (or until a country can guess the word.)

Explain that one of the key requirements for a football player is commitment – they have to commit to years of practise, be committed to getting fit and improving their skills. In a match they have to be committed to doing their best for their team whether that is a goalkeeper diving at the feet of an onrushing striker, a defender making a last ditch tackle or block or maybe a striker bravely doing a diving header when they could get hurt. Even though they may get injured, top footballers are so committed that nothing stops them from giving it their all – not worrying about what could go wrong but focussing on what they should be doing. We will be thinking about commitment today – you will be looking at a Bible story of three people who were so committed to God that they didn’t back out even when they knew they were in real danger.

I am sure there are times when all of us have needed to be committed – it might be when you have really stuck at practising a musical instrument or learning your lines for a play – where you stick at something and give it your best effort because you want to succeed. (Perhaps share a story of your own or ask one of your volunteers to do so). Now we might not face the dangers of the three people in our Bible story and we are unlikely to have to demonstrate our commitment in front of 50,000 screaming spectators like a football team at the European Championships but Christians believe that God is absolutely committed to them and so they want to remain committed to him – even when life is hard.

Dismissal 3 mins Announce that it is now time for the countries to move off to their first Zone but before they go, there are three Golden Rules that they will need to follow to make the most of the day. Either have these displayed on screen or have (golden) postcards that three children can read out:  Always stick with your Team Captain (Explain the children will be having break as usual but during The Games time, they need to stick together and – when travelling – make sure they stay behind their flag.  Try your best to be the best (Explain that some will win and others won’t but today is about trying your best whether you win or lose).  Always smile (Today is about enjoyment so let’s see you having fun.)

Dismiss the countries in order – send those going to the same zone out together but ensure that they parade out behind their country’s flag.

5 Content - Discovery Zone Normally held in the School Hall

Theme: Total commitment Bible base: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego – Daniel 3

Resources required: Blindfolds, chairs, mashed up banana, bowl of gunge, drama script, AV clip (optional) The way in which the content of the Discovery Zone is delivered will depend on a number of factors, such as whether there are capable (assistant) Zone Co-ordinators who can lead (part of) an activity (members of staff or Team Captains), whether it is possible to move outdoors for some (all?) of the time or to move into classroom(s) at some points. Timings here are approximate and leave additional time for movement. Introduction 2 mins Say hello to each country (getting them to reply in their own language) and welcome everyone to the Discovery Zone, the place to think about the “commitment” that you touched on in the Opening Ceremony. To begin with you are going to play a couple of games.

Taste and see 10 mins Ask if anyone has seen or heard of “I’m a celebrity – get me out of here!” If they have, ask them to explain the trials – what do the celebrities do in them and why do they do them? (To get food for the camp). You are looking for a volunteer(s) to undertake a bush-tucker trial to earn a treat for their countr(ies). At this point you could show an AV clip of a trial – there are many available on YouTube - but BE CAREFUL to choose a clip that does not contain any inappropriate language.

Choose one (or two) volunteers from each country and ask them to sit on a row of chairs at the front where you will blindfold them for a series of challenges. These could include getting them to eat a mouthful of food (mashed up banana) or roll up their sleeve to retrieve a coin from a bowl of gunge. Make sure you can clear up any mess and don’t overstep any bad taste boundaries. If they succeed you can give a sweet to each child in their country. Explain that those doing the trials could easily have given up because they were unpleasant but they were committed to winning the treats and so kept going.

The Fiery Furnace 10 mins Tell the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from Daniel 3. You could read from a child-friendly Bible or act out the story using the script given below. Make the point that although the three of them faced certain death in the fiery furnace they were so committed to God that they weren’t going to worship the king instead.

Discussion / Reflection 6 mins Ask the children to get into pairs or threes and using a screen (or read loud) ask the following questions: a) Why did the king want everyone to worship him? b) Why didn’t the three of them bow down and worship? c) Have there been any times when we have felt like not bothering to stick at something we know is important? Or maybe we have stuck by a friend when others didn’t want us to be friendly to them. Encourage a couple of stories to be shared with the whole group.

Prayer 1 min Explain that you are going to finish this Zone time with a prayer, an activity when Christians talk and listen to God and if the children want to, they can make it their prayer too at the end by saying Amen which means, ’I agree.’ Father God, thank you for the commitment that the three friends showed when they were threatened with the fiery furnace. Thank you for looking after them and keeping them safe. Please help us to be committed to our friends and to what is right and please watch over us and keep us safe. Amen.

Conclusion 1 min Thank them for participating so well and ensure that the leaders know where their group is going next.

6 Hot Bother

Cast Narrator, King Nebuchadnezzar, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego

Narrator reads script with enthusiasm and energy using appropriate voices to portray characters when speech appears in inverted commas. Encourage audience participation when response is required and choose children from the audience to take the part of the characters, chosen children perform the actions described

Props King Nebuchadnezzar: Crown / cloak / big gold chain (bling) Cue cards: Responses for king’s officials / Noises for instruments Fire / flame: Strips of coloured fabric (red / orange / yellow)

Sometimes life is scary and you want to run and hide But when you’re in a team, you can’t let down your side So here’s what you should do, when you don’t feel good enough You’ve gotta keep on trying; to be brave and to be tough

100% commitment, that’s the attitude to choose Always be determined; whether you’ll win or lose I know a little story that’ll help you think this through It’s about three faithful friends who knew exactly what to do…

They got into hot bother, and all their hopes seemed lost But they stayed committed to the cause, regardless of the cost We need to travel back in time to the land of Babylon God’s people had been captured, t’was a nasty carry-on

I’m gonna need your help, I want you to join in Let’s start with Nebuchadnezzar, he was a powerful eastern king

 Choose someone to be Nebuchadnezzar and dress them in props: crown / cape / big gold chain (bling)  Every time I say, Nebuchadnezzar, I want Nebuchadnezzar to say: ‘I’m Nebuchadnezzar the king’ (Encourage them to act the part)  And then I want the rest of you to say: ‘Nebuchadnezzar, you are the king, you do look lovely in your bling’

Now, Nebuchadnezzar, (‘I’m Nebuchadnezzar the king’ / ‘Nebuchadnezzar, you are the king, you do look lovely in your bling’) had a team to help him rule He had lots of posh officials to make him look quite cool He had prefects to give orders, treasurers for dosh Judges to judge others, and governors to boss

 Organise the audience into 4 groups of officials. Give each group a catch phrase to chant each time you say, ‘The king’s officials.’ (Groups take it in turn to chant their phrase – get them to practise now)

1. Prefects: We’re the Prefects, so do as we say 2. Judges: We’re the Judges, so it’s up to us, OK 3. Treasurers: We’re the Treasurers, so give us your dosh 4. Governors: We’re the Governors, so you know who’s boss

7 Let’s get back to the story; and Nebuchadnezzar (‘I’m Nebuchadnezzar the king’ / ‘Nebuchadnezzar, you are the king, you do look lovely in your bling’) the king He made a golden statue, it was a humongous thing He wanted everyone to see it, to ‘ooh’ and then to ‘aah’ So he called for his officials (Encourage response below) who came from near and far…

Then Nebuchadnezzar (‘I’m Nebuchadnezzar the king’ / ‘Nebuchadnezzar, you are the king, you do look lovely in your bling’) created a new law That all must worship his statue, by falling on the floor It could be at any time, in the night or in the day They’d know exactly when, cos the band would start to play

Horns and flutes made up the band with trumpets and with lyre Those who wouldn’t worship, would be thrown into a fire

 Re-organise the 4 groups of officials into the 4 instruments. As before they take it in turns to make their instrument sound - this time the cue is, ‘the band…’

1. Horns: Honk! Honk! (Like a truck horn) 2. Flutes: Toot! Toot! Toot! Toot! Toot! Toot! (Like a clapping rhythm) 3. Trumpets: Brr! Brr! Brr! (In the style of a circus clown) 4. Lyre: Liar, liar, pants on fire (In a sing-song playground style)

As you can imagine, Nebuchadnezzar (‘I’m Nebuchadnezzar the king’ / ‘Nebuchadnezzar, you are the king, you do look lovely in your bling’) enjoyed his power So he called for the band to play (Encourage response below) nearly every hour

1. Horns: Honk! Honk! (Like a truck horn) 2. Flutes: Toot! Toot! Toot! Toot! Toot! Toot! (Like a clapping rhythm) 3. Trumpets: Brr! Brr! Brr! (In the style of a circus clown) 4. Lyre: Liar, liar, pants on fire (In a sing-song playground style)

No-one fancied dying in the fiery flames So even the king’s officials (Encourage response below) joined in his silly games

There were three faithful friends though, the chaps I mentioned before Who wouldn’t worship the statue by falling on the floor They refused to worship other gods, their faith would not give way So they risked the consequences of the fire when the band (Encourage response below) began to play

1. Horns: Honk! Honk! (Like a truck horn) 2. Flutes: Toot! Toot! Toot! Toot! Toot! Toot! (Like a clapping rhythm)

8 3. Trumpets: Brr! Brr! Brr! (In the style of a circus clown) 4. Lyre: Liar, liar, pants on fire (In a sing-song playground style)

Of course King Nebuchadnezzar, (‘I’m Nebuchadnezzar the king’ / ‘Nebuchadnezzar, you are the king, you do look lovely in your bling’) was as angry as can be So he summoned the faithful friends; (choose 3 children) one, two and three! (encourage them to act the part) Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had been dragged to this new land They stayed committed to their God, even though it had been banned

When the king appeared; you know, Nebuchadnezzar (‘I’m Nebuchadnezzar the king’ / ‘Nebuchadnezzar, you are the king, you do look lovely in your bling’) All the people shouted out; ‘Oh king, live for ever!’ And then he rounded on these men and asked if it were true ‘Do you refuse to worship? Don’t you know what I can do?’

‘I will throw you in the fire, and I’ll make it hotter!’ The three men all agreed, they were really in hot bother! But they knew their God could save them, if he wanted to They certainly wouldn’t bow down; they’d die if they had to

The king then gave the order, for the flames to really burn (use prop: 3 strips of coloured fabric, red / orange / yellow) The friends huddled up together, the king looked rather stern (wrap the fabric around the 3 to make it look like they’re in the fire) But as he watched them in the fire, his mouth fell open wide There were more than just the three of them, he saw four men inside!

The fourth looked like an angel, amazing and surreal And none of them were burning up, perhaps their God was real! The king then called them out, it really was no joke (drop the fabric / flames) They’d not been fried or frazzled and they didn’t smell of smoke!

‘From now on we’ll all worship the God of these three guys They trusted in him only, and look, he saved their lives!’ So what will you do when the going gets that tough? Be brave and stay committed, it really is enough!

9 Content – Creative Zone Normally held in classrooms

Theme: Exploring and Creating

Resources required: Depends entirely on activities offered but this outline requires: an inflatable globe (map of world / atlas), (large) dice, dice chart (see below), hand-bells and sheet music. This is the zone that offers the most variety and therefore probably requires the most detailed planning. The aim is to try and tap into the mood of the cultural side of The Games and give rein to those whose skills lie in areas other than sports. It also provides the best opportunity for the children to discover a little more about the country that they are representing and work across a number of curriculum areas. However, exactly what appears in this Zone will depend on the range of skills of the Zone Co-ordinator(s) and it is probably best that a number of co-ordinators with complementary gifts are deployed in ways that offer a range of activities. Again the space (and size of that space) that the school has available will, to some extent, determine what is offered here. What is vital is that every child is engaged and involved throughout.

The Creative Zone is best done by having countries rotate around two activities, spending about 13 minutes at each but this requires excellent time-keeping and co-ordination, as well as two Zone activity leaders.

What follows is just one option, when two adjoining classrooms are available…

Introduction 2 minutes Say hello to the countries and welcome them to the Creative Zone. Explain that they will be spending their time in two ways and that the countries will rotate for equal time periods around the subzones of Music, and My Country. Send the countries off to one each. If you have an extra group it can be split in half so there are roughly equal numbers at each sub-zone.

Music Your music leader needs a set of hand-bells / boom-whackers and / or other musical instruments which the school may have. Give the children a hand-bell or similar and start by doing some scales. Then the group spends a few minutes learning to play the ‘Match of the day’ theme tune. Announce that the country which has done this activity the best will be selected to play the song in the Closing Ceremony.

Note that if you do not have a music specialist or access to instruments, the ‘making’ activity below can be used in its place.

My Country This is a time for the leaders to sit with the children as they discover more about their country. You may need to do a bit of research but don’t feel you need to be an expert – some answers are hard to source or be confident about - so simply admit you don’t know and move on. Ask the children to find England (Scotland or Wales); then they should find France (the host country). Have a large dice and a sheet of card (or the white-board) with the following key: 1 = Size, 2 = Climate, 3 = Population, 4 = Roll again, 5 = Famous for, 6 = Better or worse at football. Ask for a volunteer to roll the dice. Each time they roll a 1 they can comment (with your help) about the size of France compared to England (Scotland / Wales). For a 2 they talk about it being hotter, wetter, humid, snowy; for a 3 they can talk about the number of people; 4 = roll again; for 5 they could talk about a famous person or geographic feature and for a 6 they have to decide if their country would beat England (Scotland or Wales) at football. They then repeat this but thinking about their own country (Iceland, Poland ....)

Making There are plenty of options here but the key is to make something effective in a very short time that does not require significant preparation or adult help. Probably the simplest idea is to have multi-coloured beads and elastic and, using the colours in their flag, the children make a simple bead wrist bracelet by threading elastic through the beads. Other ideas include painting their flag onto a tile or draw / colour the flag or some facts about their country on card cut out into the shape of a football. This activity can be led by the Country Captain if there is not enough team for a separate Zone leader.

10 Content – Sports Zone Normally held on the playground / field

Theme: Playing / Developing teamwork

Resources required: See sports equipment below, sports zone challenge and scorecards.

This is a series of games / challenges that the teams should rotate around. Divide the countries into two equal sub-groups called Attack and Defence, so that everyone gets plenty of game-time. Team Leaders should be able to keep their own scores for the challenges and run the games themselves on the whistle. It is helpful to have a scorer / organiser at each activity and whilst the country captain can do this for one sub group it is helpful if an adult from the school (or another volunteer) can go with the other sub-group. This leaves the Zone Co-ordinator(s) watching out for good teamwork (= points), keeping things moving and particularly checking that things are running safely.

Introduction 2 mins Say hello to each country and welcome the teams to the Sports Zone. Explain that they will be representing their countries in a number of challenges and that points are at stake for how well they do in those challenges as well as how well they perform as a team, such as cheering and encouraging each other. Give out the Sports Zone Challenges sheet and the scorecard to the team captains

Game overview 4 mins Explain that each challenge will start on your whistle and will run for two minutes. Each country will be subdivided into two equal groups (Attack and Defence) with one sub-team at any one challenge at a time and you will simply rotate around them all (time permitting). Walk the teams around the challenges explaining how they work and perhaps offer a little bit of coaching but don’t get distracted by questions. Most games involve taking turns (e.g. relays) and so the person who goes first must go last in the next relay while the second person becomes first ....

Warm Up 3 mins Get the countries to divide into two (equally) and then each (sub) team should be encouraged to find its own space and spend 2 minutes in a warm-up. This works well if the team is in a circle and one person at a time comes to the centre to lead an exercise for 15 seconds such as running on the spot, jumping jacks, star jumps.... Leaders need to be ready to step in if an exercise suggested is likely to result in an injury.

The Games 20 mins Move the teams to their designated starting point. Check that everyone is happy with the rules of their first game. Blow your whistle. After two minutes blow the whistle again to end the game. The Team Leader should note their score (no cheating!) and ensure the game is set up ready for the next team before they move (on your whistle) to their next station. Note: If time is tight then not every sub team has to get to every game - or simply shorten the time they spend at each activity. Repeat as necessary. Ensure at least two minutes is left at the end of the session for…

Conclusion 2 mins Bring all the teams together and ask them which game they enjoyed, which game they think they did best on .... Thank them for trying to do their best to be the best and for working as teams, being friendly towards their team-mates and fellow competitors. Ensure the Team Leaders know where they are going next and collect in the score cards.

Equipment required for games listed 1. Sports relay A variety of sports equipment – one piece per participant 2. Football pass A football, a large hula-hoop 3. Water break A bucket, water, a jug, plastic cups 4. Over and Under A football 5. Pass Four cones, a football 6. Penalty kick A set of blindfolds, a football, a football net (or two cones) A supply of cones is helpful to separate off challenge areas and mark out the starts and ends of relays.

11 Sports Zone Challenges

1. Sports relay. Gather an array of sports equipment (a football, tennis racket, swimming woggle, cycle helmet, cricket bat (one piece per member of the team) and divide the team into two groups, A and B, that are lined up behind two cones about 7m apart with each person holding one piece of equipment. On the whistle, the first person must run to the first person opposite (1 length). They hand over their piece of equipment to this person who runs back and passes it and their own piece of equipment on to the next person. In the end everyone is handing over all the equipment but they keep running lengths until the whistle blows. How many lengths were run?

2. Football Pass The sub team lines up in two lines (A and B) about 3m apart facing each other. One (or two) child(ren) stand between the teams holding a hula-hoop. On the whistle the first person in A must pass – with their hands, like a goalkeeper - the football through the hoop and it must be caught by the person in B facing them. This person (whether they caught or dropped it) then passes it back through the hoop to the second person in A and so on. When everyone has made a pass the first person in A swaps with the person holding the hoop How many passes went through the hoop and were caught?

3. Water Relay There is a bucket of water and an empty jug next to it. (Make sure you know in advance how many cupfulls it takes to fill the jug!) The team lines up in a circle around these with each person holding a plastic cup. On the whistle the first person fills their cup from the bucket then empties it into the next person’s cup. That person passes the water on until the last person drops any remaining water into the empty jug. Only then can the first person refill their first cup. Keep going until the whistle blows. If the jug is full, pour the water back into the bucket and keep going. At the end pour the water in the jug into the cups to count how many jug / full cups were completed – only complete cups are counted! How many cups were filled?

4. Over and Under Children form a line with the person at the front holding a football (any ball would do). They then pass the ball over their head to the person behind them who then passes it between their legs to the person behind them. This person then passes it over their head so that the over and under pattern is repeated until the person at the end of the line holds the ball. This person then runs to the front and starts the process again. How many ‘runs’ were completed?

5. Dribble and Pass The children are lined up behind a cone. There are four cones about 1.5m apart leading away from the first player. On the whistle the first person must dribble the ball around cones to the far end and then pass the ball back to the next person who does the same. Once all players have come to the far end the relay continues with the first player dribbling the other way (so the last player in the team does not make a pass). How many loops were completed?

6. Penalty kick The children are lined up by a cone and the first three are blindfolded and have a football each. On the whistle the first player shoots the ball (takes a penalty). If it goes in the net (between the cones) a goal is scored. That player retrieves the ball and gives it and their blindfold to the next player who doesn’t have one. Each player continues in turn. How many penalties were scored?

12 Content – Closing Ceremony Normally held in the School Hall

Theme: Celebrating Resources required: Piano (Instruments), Space Academy DVD, Photos, Gold medals There are a number of ways to launch the Closing Ceremony, which depend on space available in the main hall (or, if the weather is good, outdoors?) and how quickly the various groups arrive there, so again be flexible.

Gathering 2 mins Gather all the teams in a central venue on their PE mats or in distinct areas.

Welcome 3 mins Welcome everyone back to the Closing Ceremony and repeat the ‘Hello COUNTRY’ welcome. Remind the group of the song they played in the Creative Zone. Ask one group to play the instruments.

Review 3 mins If you have been able to take photos throughout the morning, show these on a big screen because the children love seeing pictures of themselves in action. It would be good to have some suitable music to accompany the slide show. If you haven’t been able to do this, simply miss this section out.

Zone Review 3 mins Ask your three Zone Co-ordinators to give a quick summary of what went on, how everyone did and perhaps mention any particularly amusing or spectacular moments. They should each say a big thank you to all the children for doing so well.

Input 8 mins Remind the children that the aim of the day was to have fun (have they had any??!!) – spend a few minutes asking the children to share their highlights. But then remind them that today has also been about learning about commitment. Remind them how Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were so committed to God that they didn’t bow down and worship the statue of King Nebuchadnezzar even though they knew they might die. Show the story from Episode 3 of Space Academy (5 mins) available for free at www.scriptureunion.org.uk/thegames or, alternatively, there is a Lego version of the story at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMGfzRVMjv8 (5 mins). The three friends were prepared to die to show their commitment to God but he rescued them from the fiery furnace and the King even made a new law that everyone should worship God. Christians believe that God was so committed to us that he sent Jesus to earth to show us how to live. They believe that he is still committed to us and wants us to be committed to him. All our volunteers are showing their commitment to him by coming into your school which can be quite scary but God gave them courage, so let’s give them a big cheer for helping out today. Ask the children also to give a big round of applause for their teachers / TAs who have been with them.

Awards 5 mins Remind the children they were busy scoring points and the time has now come for the results to be announced - as good sportsmen and women, they should be pleased for the success of others and so you only expect to hear cheering. In reverse order read out the top three countries, building up the tension as you do. Have gold medals available to present to the winning team and ensure there is great applause (and suitable music) as they come forward to receive them – perhaps awarded by the Headteacher or another special guest?

Closing /Prayer 2 mins Announce that it’s now time to close The Games and that you hope everyone has enjoyed themselves and also learnt a lot too. Say that you will finish with a prayer and that the children can join in if they wish by saying Amen at the end which simply means, ’I agree.’ Father God, thank you for the fun we have enjoyed today, for all the activities and for all the people who have made it possible. Thank you for the example of those footballers who are so committed to doing well for their country and for the story of the three friends who were so committed to following you. Amen”

Conclusion 2 mins Before handing back to the Headteacher ask the children to think which subjects they have actually been doing this morning even though they weren’t having normal lessons - PE, PSHE, RE, music, geography…. Thank them for their participation. It is likely that the Headteacher may wish to take over at this point but if not, send the countries (or by class) back one at a time to their classrooms. DO finish promptly - the school will prefer you to under-run if they need to use the hall.

13 Sports Zone Team Scorecard

Country / Team Name

Country / Team Leader

Event Score

Sports relay

Football Pass

Water Relay

Over and Under

Dribble and Pass

Penalty kick

14 Sports Zone (Co-ordinator) Scorecard Remember that you are awarding points for:  Performance (how well a team achieved the task – out of 5)  Team work (how well they co-operated and encouraged each other – out of 5)  Individual inspiration – a hard-to-earn bonus point – out of 1 So the maximum possible is 11 out of 10!

Country / Score /10 Team

Albania

Belgium

Iceland

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Slovakia

Sweden

These scores will decide the final places in the Closing Ceremony.

15 Country / Team Register

Country Number in Country / Team

Team Leader School Adult

Timetable Zone Allocation 9.10am Opening Ceremony (assembly) in School Hall Country 1 2 3 Hello 9.30am Children move in teams to their first Zone. Albania D S C Pershendetje 9.35am Zone 1 activity starts Belgium D S C Goeiendag (Flemish) 10.05am Zone 1 activity finishes Iceland D S C Hallo 10.10 am Zone 2 activity starts Italy S C D Ciao 10.40am Break/ Playtime Poland S C D Halo 10.55am Zone 3 activity starts Portugal S C D Ola 11.25 am Zone 3 activity ends Romania C D S Alo 11.30 am Start of Closing Ceremony Slovakia C D S Ahojte 11.55 am Children return to classrooms Sweden C D S Hall