By Olivia Henry
On Monday 24th June 2024, students across the Senior School participated in our annual Sports Day, one of the highlights of the school calendar. Taking place at Perivale athletics track, the day was relished by students of all age groups as they earned points for their houses in a bid to win the coveted Sports Day title.
It also marked the first day of our Laudato Si week in which our school community took action to raise awareness about environmental sustainability and the importance of caring for creation.
The programme of events featured a variety of track and field events, from discus, javelin and long jump to hurdles and grecian. The track finals culminated in the first ever invitational relay, in which the highest performing runners in each year group from Year 7 to Year 10 formed a relay team within their houses. This coincided with a Staff vs Sixth Form relay race, which was enjoyed by participants and onlookers alike.
Each year, the calibre of athletic performance attains new levels of excellence and this year was no exception, as reflected by the number of records that were broken across a multitude of events. Emilie Walsh in Year 7 broke the 300 metre and 800 metre records respectively for her year group whilst in Year 8, Bernadette Martin broke the discus record and Luna Salvucci De Oliveira broke the 200 metre, 800 metre and hurdles records. A further three records were broken in Year 9, with Maria Gomes Bergamasco breaking the 300 metre record, Freya Barrett breaking the hurdles record and Sumi Nakarmi breaking the Long Jump record.
Personal success continued to be celebrated in the medal presentation at the end of the day, where those in Years 7 to 10 who placed within the top three for each event were awarded a bronze, silver or gold medal.
Luna Salvucci De Oliveira, who broke a total of three school records, was announced as the recipient of the Victrix Ludorum for being the overall highest performing individual of the day.
Not only were sporting successes celebrated, but individual students were also recognised for their off-field camaraderie and support through the Spirit of the House awards, which were awarded to Odile Freeman in St George’s, Kayla Nwaki in St Gabriel’s, Layla Baboli in St Michael’s and Gina Virdee in St Raphael’s.
St Michael’s was the overall winning house, retaining the Sports Day title for their fourth year in a row. Once house captain Saffron Rana had collected the trophy, students and staff celebrated with a group photo on the field. Reacting to the victory, Saffron expressed her excitement at winning her last Sports Day, explaining that “Our success was a result of the unfailing determination of each person in St Michael’s. From those on the field to those who supported their peers off it, everyone played their part in the victory.”
