The House Activities season was finalised in dramatic style in the last week of term with the Green Bears clinching the title in a “Plank Off” against the Blue Sharks.

In the house system, house points can be won in many different ways. Along with the common sporting competitions, we have competitions from the English, Maths, Science, Chinese and Social Sciences Departments. Being able to achieve house points in so many different areas allows students to utilise their individual strengths and win points for their houses.

During the course of the whole year, scores have been very close. Red Eagles, Blue Sharks and Green Bears all led the standings at some point during the school year. Last year’s champion the Yellow Lions had a difficult season having lost many members during the summer and it was always going to be a difficult year for them. The Green Bears started the strongest, winning or finishing second in most of the early sports competitions. This strong start didn’t last long! The Red Eagles soon found their wings and scored highly in the English Department and Primary Sport Afternoon competitions. The Red Eagles then led the proceedings until late March 2017, maintaining their advantage during the two-day Performing Arts activity. Unfortunately for the Red Eagles, their luck deserted them during the Secondary Sport afternoon and they crash-landed from first position to fourth and sadly never recovered.

Following the Red Eagles’ unexpected fall from the sky, the Blue Sharks found their fins and started to make waves. They overtook the first position and held on to it until the final day of the year. They scored consistently in all football, Ultimate Frisbee, and Sports Day competitions. Discretely, the Green Bears were waking up from their winter hibernation. From being in fourth position in December, they suddenly found themselves in second position by scoring highly in the Chinese Calligraphy, Science and Maths competitions.

The Blue Sharks took a small lead into the last House Activity Day of the year. The Primary students were asked to create a new country and present their country to a group of judges, whilst Secondary students undertook a creative task and were asked to design a product that solved a problem. Again, students were asked to present their creations to a group of judges. Even though all houses scored well, it was the Green Bears who excelled and to everybody’s amazement and they managed to draw level with the Blue Sharks at the top of the standings.

On June 29, 2017, the closing ceremony commenced and still we were without a clear winner. The whole year’s house competition came down to a one-point challenge, which was a “Plank Off”. The Plank Off consisted of five representatives from each house. Their challenge was to hold the plank position for three minutes. The house which had the most representatives remaining once the time had elapsed was the winner.

The Green Bears were victorious in the one-point challenge and were crowned 2016/2017 house champion.

The final 2016/2017 standings are:

Green Bears – 2746
Blue Sharks – 2745
Yellow Lions – 2690
Red Eagles - 2475
Phil Rishton
Sport & Activities Co-ordinator