Hamilton College Pupils are a picture of health

Pupils at Hamilton College got active with a host of special activities and visitors during their popular annual health week.

Junior school and nursery youngsters took part in sessions ranging from nanbudo, dance and football coaching to animal antics, food talks and walking their daily mile.

All classes enjoyed a packed five-day programme based around the themes of social, emotional, cognitive, physical and spiritual wellbeing themes and took on a list of challenges around each one.

Martial arts coach John Mcsorley led a popular nanbudo class, with pupils learning basic postures and breathing as well as taking on the much-enjoyed challenge of high kicks, as well as finding out how the sport helps develop skills like discipline, motivation and determination.

Dance coach Megan Gill had the whole school enjoying a high-energy Clubbercise class – and the inspired pupils showed off their moves once again when they were thrilled to be provided with glow sticks by PE staff for a fun dance session with the help of a DJ and dancers from Hamilton College’s senior school. Youngsters also had a huge range of PE activities throughout the week, including welcoming coaches from the school’s partners at Motherwell FC community trust for a fun afternoon of football coaching.

All classes had a series of visits from animal expert Hannah Marr of the Scottish SPCA, who delivered an outdoor workshop for pupils from J4-6 who then competed in their house groups to share their new-found knowledge with classmates, while the younger year groups took part in the charity’s Rabbit Rescuers session.

The first visitor of the busy week was Ailsa Wilkie of the Royal Highland Educational Trust, who guided J1 pupils through the journey of food from farm to fork and brought in an array of food for pupils to find out about how each item ends up on the table.

School parents showed their support for the health event as medical student Natalie Patrick led a question-and-answer session for J6 on her studies; and psychiatrist Dr Heather Bullen spoke to J4-6 classes about her job and about managing emotions, including feelings and strategies to use to combat anxiety and stress.

Pupils were interested to learn about topics including how to support people with autism, and about stress, with one pupil saying: “It happens to everyone – little bits of stress can be good because they motivate us to do well, it’s only a problem if it gets too big and stops us doing things.”

Health week concluded with a spiritual reflection time at a series of assemblies led by Rev Ross Blackman, minister of Hamilton Old Parish Church and one of the school’s governors.

Junior school and nursery senior teacher Linda Tonner praised the “energy, zeal and enthusiasm” of the participating pupils and thanked all of the visitors who contributed to the success of the weeklong event.