Round the clock sport for Children In Need

The aim of the event was for pupils, parents and staff to play as many different sports as possible over a 24-hour period in order to raise money for the charity. The Mayor of Henley officially kicked off the event when Running Club (this week consisting of 90 parents, children, staff and a dog!) set off from the school at 8am.

Running club was followed by a whole school dance session led by local legend, John Johnny, on the astro. We all did 'The Car Wash' and had a go at some breakdancing. Throughout the day, the children took it in turns to do various sports, including PE, Athletics Performance Testing, Bellboating, Netball, Jazz Dance, Ballet, Hockey and Football. 

When school finished at 3.45pm, a group of staff, children and parents went to Henley Tennis Club for an energetic cardio tennis session with the coach, Tom.

Mr Armitage, Mr Vigano and Ms Ovstedal then took over to keep going for the rest of the evening and through the night until 8am the following day.

They played Squash, Badminton, had a go at some Gymnastics, did a 2 hour night walk led by Deputy Head, Mrs Newman, went to the gym (where they did their own spinning class), played indoor golf, table tennis and then spent an hour on the ergos at Henley Rowing Club. Local deli, Pavilion, provided much-needed coffee and cake at 7.45am before the event was officially ended back at school by the Mayor of Henley.

It was great to have so many parents and even pupils joining in a number of the evening and early morning activities.

We used Instagram stories to keep everyone updated on the event throughout the 24 hours and we were lucky enough to be able to share personalised video messages from celebrities including Erin Kennedy, Giovanna Fletcher, Sara Davies, James Cracknell, Candice Brown and Angela Scanlon.

Huge thank you to the following for supporting the event:

• Henley Town Council & The Mayor 
• John Johnny
• Steph from Divas and Dudes Dance Academy
• Ian Brown from Bespoke Conditioning
• Kevin Nutt and the EYOT Centre
• Nick Friend and Henley Rowing Club
• Leander Club
• Henley Hawks Netball
• Amy Graham from Ballet Body Henley
• Tom Scott and Henley Tennis Club
• Henley Leisure Centre
• Katie Johnson and Vision Gymnastics
• Pavilion Deli & Cookery School and the Judah Family
• Love Fitness Gym
• Accent Catering 
• Stevensons

...and, of course, to the Rupert House parent community, who got behind the event and joined in so readily! 

Thanks to the generous donations from parents, staff and the local community, we have raised a fantastic £4,000 for Children in Need. In addition to this, the Premier League has kindly topped up the total with a further £500.

Mr Armitage said 'The children, parents and staff at Rupert House love sport and leading a healthy, active lifestyle and they enjoy a challenge, so they were very keen to take part in the Sportathon when we suggested the idea to them. The children and parents' enthusiasm buoyed us on through the challenge of keeping going for 24 hours and we are very grateful to all the local clubs and sports providers we work with as a school for so kindly hosting and supporting us, as well as to the children and parents who took part in the 20 different sporting events even into the early hours and first thing on Saturday morning. It was also very kind of the Mayor to set us off and to then meet us at the end of the challenge and for various celebrities, including locals such as Erin Kennedy and James Cracknell, to send us some words of encouragement. We were bowled over by the generosity of all those who so kindly sponsored us and although we were exhausted at the end, knowing that so much had been raised for Children in Need made the whole experience very worthwhile!'