Year 8 enjoyed a fun-filled House Activity Day on 23rd September, where they were able to take part in various activities and games organised by their Heads of House and Prefects in Year 14. Throughout the day there were mini contests such as dodgeball, a drama workshop, tug of war and a blindfolded obstacle course.

Kurt Gomba and Rose Boyce, Year 8, are part of Bullingbrooke, Tyrone – the green house. Their favourite part of the day was the dodgeball game, because their team won the most games, and they made so many friends along the way. Clearly, the Year 8’s in Bullingbrooke are ones to watch!

Connie Dodds and Tom Troughton were competing for Beresford, Charlemont – the blue house. They loved the blindfolded obstacle course, a tricky challenge that relied on balance and ability to negotiate the best route through a swamp, while also avoiding falling into branches or poison along the way. They enjoyed the process because it allowed them to encourage each other, meet new people and get comfortable with working as a team, all while having fun. Our year 14 Prefects also helped them through their tasks and Vilius Slajus was described as “legendary” by a highly impressed Tom.

Mountjoy, Ranfurly the red house, had some eager competitors, Nathan Sloan and Rachel Smiton. Their team were also very successful in the House dodgeball games, and they were also enthused by the drama workshop, where they had to move across the hall, taking on the personality of different characters and using their facial expressions and tone to say lines in different emotions. They each had fun and made “lifelong friends” throughout the day.

Faith Lappin and Josh Sloane were playing for their house, Nicholson, Dungannon – the yellow house. They enjoyed getting to know the senior Prefects, throwing giant footballs at each other and saying the catchy phrase, “teeny tiny toast” while portraying different emotions in the drama workshop. They thoroughly enjoyed it and thought it was an excellent way to settle in and make school fun. They would both love to do it again, and Josh described it as a “wonderful day.”

Hopefully Year 8 got a taste of what life at RSD is like, and a determination to carry on making their time here as fun as possible. We hope to continue boosting the enjoyment of school life for our students through these kind of events to encourage settling in, making friends and working well together as Team RSD!