AFTER a few weeks settling into their new school, Year 7 pupils at Commonweal were treated to a couple of activity days at Croft Sports Centre.

The aim was for students to get to know each other better through problem solving and team building, followed by sports races, certificates and a trophy award.

And, although one day started with a 20-minute shower, the weather and the spirits of the pupils soon lifted.

The aim is that all the Year 7 students should take part in these school days with a view to meeting new people and getting to know people in their tutor group, teaching group and the staff who work with them or those they might see around the school.

With just under 240 students coming from more than 25 different schools in the county, Commonweal’s teachers believe this is an important part of the transition process to secondary school.

“I think for the students, success was getting as wet as possible,” said Mel Hall, the school’s transitions co-ordinator.

“This was achieved when they had to use a water-soaked sponge to transfer water to the tube, to fill it, so that the keys could rise to open the treasure chest.

“Some teams became a bit more competitive and were throwing the sponge to each other in order to fill the tube as quick as possible.”

Fencing, wall climbing, a puzzle time trial and gutter run as well as a yeti walk and rescue me session were other games where the students had a chance to show what they could do, not only as an individual but also as a team.

Just before prizegiving, there were some classic sports day races, which included the egg and spoon, a three-legged race and some short sprints.

“ It was very fun and warm, I loved the fencing because I won both rounds,” said Zak Blackmore, one of the pupils who took part.

“I would recommend other people go to take part.”

Catherine Knights said: “I liked the sponge throwing and the climb wall. I would love to go again.”

Another pupil, Olivia Pasqualitto said: “I liked it at Croft where we did the climbing wall and the sponge throwing. Everyone was helpful and encouraging.” and all activities was really fun; I loved it at Croft