Charity sports day (and night)

A SCHOOL in Henley was spurred on by celebrity messages during a 24-hour “Sportathon”.

Teachers, pupils and parents from Rupert House school in Bell Street raised nearly £4,500 for the BBC’s Children in Need appeal after participating in 24 hours of sporting activities last week.

The children took turns with different events throughout the day and headteacher Nick Armitage, deputy director of sport Jamie Vigano and head of marketing Jenny Ovstedal continued with the challenge into the night.

The school was supported by video messages from famous faces including GB rowing athletes Erin Kennedy and James Cracknell, media personality Giovanna Fletcher, Dragons Den star Sara Davies, bake-off winner Candice Brown and TV presenter Angela Scanlon.

Davies sent her video from Nepal, where she is doing a charity trek for breast cancer awareness charity CoppaFeel!.

She said: “The Sportathon sounds absolutely immense. I am out here in the Himalayas and I heard about what you guys were doing and I just wanted to send a note to say good luck with it all.

“I hope you raise a ton of money for Children in Need because I know they need it and will be highly appreciative. I am sending all the love in the world.” Fletcher, who is also accompanying Davies, said: “I have been walking up mountains for the last few days but I don’t think I could cope with a 24-hour sport challenge.”

The challenge started at 8am on Friday with a run at Henley Rugby Club launched by Mayor Rory Hunt and finished at 8am on Saturday after a row at Henley Rowing Club.

Throughout the day different year groups took part in activities including breakdancing, “elite performance” tests, ballet, netball, cricket, hockey, a riverside walk and bell boat racing.

After school, children were invited to join Ms Ovstedal, Mr Armitage and Mr Vigano at a tennis session led by coach Tom Scott, from Henley Tennis Club, and gymnastics taught by Vison Gymnastics coach Katie Johnson.

Parents joined the group for squash at Henley leisure centre and a night-time walk around the town.

Ms Ovstedal said: “It was great, really good fun. After school myself, Mr Armitage and Mr Vigano took on the rest of the evening and the night.

“The gymnastics was great – we had Mr Armitage on the beam and doing forward rolls.

“We went on a walk from 10pm to midnight, then we went to Love Fitness, the gym at the rugby club, and did a spinning class.

“Then the parents left us and we did indoor golf and table tennis. The night was quite entertaining. One of the teachers brought an indoor golf set so we had a go at that and were hitting the ball down the stairs and trying to get it in made-up holes.

“We couldn’t find a bat for the table tennis so we had to use tambourines. Every time we didn’t have something to do we went for a walk.”

Ms Ovstedal said the challenge had been worth it, even though she only slept for three hours afterwards, and she had enjoyed the support of the school community throughout the day.

She said: “The nicest thing for me was seeing the parents and children getting involved after school hours and parents in different years who came along and got chatting to each other.”

Mr Vigano said: “The kids are doing really well with their sport so we kind of went, ‘there a lot of clubs on’ and said that if we threw in a lot of things in and got the local community involved, the hockey club, cricket club and the rugby club, we could do 24 hours’ worth of sport.

“We got everyone involved, from nursery all the way up to year six, so at some part of the day every child in the school would have taken part in a sport at least once or twice.

“It’s about making sure the kids are aware that they have good lives and that other children don’t.”

Mr Vigano had little sleep thenight before.

He said: “My son woke me up at 4am to do some cycling around the kitchen,” he said. “He is only two so it’s okay.

“I’ve done things like marathons before and once you hit that wall the adrenaline takes you through anyway.”

Speaking during the challenge, Mr Armitage admitted to being nervous about continuing through the night.

He said: “It has been tiring and pretty full on but such fun.

“I have a slight sense of trepidation about this evening and I am feeling quite tired already as we have quite a way to go.

“But we are looking after ourselves, keeping hydrated and getting lots of food on board so we can keep ourselves as energised as possible.

“The children have been amazing — they have been spurring us on and so enthusiastic about it all.”

In the morning year six pupils were invited to participate in the elite performance testing session, which was led by Ian Brown, of Bespoke Conditioning, which he started while studying at St Mary’s University in Twickenham.

The tests measured the children’s sprint speed and their jumping power and ability using electronic equipment.

Mr Brown, who lives in Henley, said: “There is nothing to be scared of – it’s not fitness. We are not doing a bleep test or a yoyo test, none of that horrible stuff.

“The bulk of what we do, apart from run clubs at places like Rupert House, is work with junior athletes.

“These tests measure things like your sprint speed, your power and your jumping ability, which underpins your ability as an athlete.

“Most of your sports will require you to accelerate, run fast at top speeds, as things like leg power make you a better athlete.

“Most importantly, it’s not about being fast or strong, it’s about how you are going to get more opportunities to get on the ball, get into space and be more effective with the skills that make you the sports people you are.”

Tilly Fennell, 11, who was wearing a red skirt and yellow jumper for the fundraiser, called the sprint speed test “fun”, adding: “It was not too difficult and not too easy.”

Her classmate Molly Swinglehurst, 10, said: “I love sprinting so I found it really fun and I am quite competitive so it’s fun to have a competition against other people.

“I like supporting other people because when people support me it makes me feel very included.”

Alice Roskelly, 11, was wearing a Winnie the Pooh onesie as a nod to Children in Need mascot Pudsey bear.

She said: “I chose it because it’s a bear and it’s red and yellow. I also have other things like shoes with ribbons on them, yellow glasses and some Pudsey ears.”

Year 3 students took part in an inter-house hockey tournament on the 4G pitch at Henley Rugby Club between the school’s four houses, Sahara, Nile, Amazon and Everest.

Genevieve Rossdale, seven, who represented Sahara, said: “We just played Everest and we won 2-0. It was hard but fun.”

Her teammate Frankie Paulin, eight, said: “It was quite tricky.”

The pair, together with their teammates Lucy Vernon and Quinn Kneafsey, seven, had made up a Haka-inspired dance to try to intimidate their opponents.

The school thanked the following community groups for supporting the event: John Johnny, who provided a breakdancing workshop, Steph Maxwell, of Divas and Dudes Dance Academy, Ian Brown, of Bespoke Conditioning, Kevin Nutt and the Eyot Centre, Henley Rowing Club, Leander Club, Henley Hawks Netball, Amy Graham, of Ballet Body Henley, Tom Scott and Henley Tennis Club, Henley leisure centre, Vision Gymnastics, Pavilion Foods and Love Fitness Gym.