Well what an intriguing 2020 it has been in HPE! After beginning the year with the swimming carnival locked in, planned and ready to go, the Wuhan lurgy reached our shores and decimated any chance of group aquatic pursuits. As Term 2 ticked around the shadow of Covid-19 was permanently cast upon us and the cancellation of the Cross Country Carnival followed swiftly. (Insert sad emoji).
We rejoiced however as the HPE Department were slightly prepared for such an interruption and set about developing and implementing an at home program that (hopefully) kept idle children and parents motivated and invigorated, as they navigated the strange world of ‘lockdown’.
As winter began its cold and frosty takeover of Autumn, students again began filing through the doors and returning HRCS to some sense of normality. Our sport leaders returned to their duties assisting and inspiring the next gen of HRCS legends. Miss Wise finally mastered the battery operated ball pump, Mrs Ludwig had the Kinder & Preps honing the basics with military precision and Mr Johnson ensured he washed his hands at least once a day.
The netball and basketball courts were again alive with developing shooting techniques, dubious dribbling and an extensive variety of playground banter and questionable ‘self umpiring’. Add to this the introduction of the mudslide program under the tree near the oval and HRCS was again the beating heart of quality Health and Physical Education in Claremont.
5/6 sport returned with an abbreviated roster and smaller Round Robin tournament. HRCS teams again displayed a great capacity to engage and participate with positivity and really demonstrated what ‘Holy Rosary Spirit’ really looks like. A big thanks to our 5/6 team of teachers who stood up as coaches and team managers this year. In particular Miss Walter who in her first year took a group of rag tag 5’s and 6’s and turned them into a formidable netball force, akin to Emiliio Estevez in ‘The Mighty Ducks’. I would also like to publicly thank Mrs Sonja Fletcher for volunteering her time to coach a team. A massive thank you to everyone involved from the HPE team!
Along with the successes of our teams we also had 8 individuals who were selected to compete in the Franklin v Clarke regional tournament. Congratulations Ava, Leila, Imogen, Julia, Lucas, Ben, Hunter and Mitchell.
As term 4 approaches like Cathy Freeman on the home straight at the 2000 Olympics, the HPE department has been working tirelessly to fit in as many experiences as possible to make up for the rude interruption that was the Corona Virus. Gymnastics (Kinder), Learn To Swim (P-6), Milo Cricket & Hot Shots Tennis, highlight some of the major events coming in term 4.
I would like to sincerely thank Sue Reardon, Jacki Jones, Sharon Goldsworthy and Naomi Wakefield for their huge amount of support throughout term 3 in regards to bus bookings, event planning, first aid etc, we simply could not function without you here in HPE!