A Junior School reflection on Colour War and Dulwich Values…

Learning takes many forms and happens in many different ways, in different places and at different times. Let’s see how our first House event of the year, Colour War, contributed to developing a community of learners in Junior School.

Colour War gave students the opportunity to experience a real sense of belonging and comradeship as they discovered the value of communicating and working in a team. While all five Houses were fighting head-to-head in a close competition, they also showed good sportsmanship, celebrating each other’s efforts and achievements.

Thank you to our students for their positive energy and great enthusiasm! Let’s discover a sample of their reflection on Colour War…

…What was the most surprising was to see that most Houses had many participants in the event. Maybe everyone thought that “even if I’m not good at this, or haven’t done this before, it’s worth a try”. It never hurts to try and participate, right? I think we have developed resilience in this event. First of all, winning any sport is difficult. But even if you lose multiple times, you still have a slim chance of winning in this match/competition, so no one wants to give up.

-Benjamin S (Wodehouse)

 

What an exciting and fun day! All of the students in the Junior School participated in a sporty, cooperative, and thrilling event: Colour War!!!

This event included Tug of war, Penalty Shootout, Dodgeball, Obstacle Courses and Bingo, with five different Houses competing against each other in each activity. My personal favourite was the Penalty Shootout, a football game full of teamwork and tactic skills.

Some Dulwich values I saw continuously were resilience, kindness, confidence, integrity and open-mindedness. Everyone shared the equipment, shared their thoughts, were totally honest and tried new events even though they weren’t sure of it.

I hope that everyone enjoyed House Colour War and had a brilliant time! Let’s keep up this fantastic work and effort but always keep a thankful and humble heart.

-Melinda M (Wodehouse)

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Capture the Flag is when you have to run from your starting place to the opposite side of the field to take the flag that is guarded by the opposite team. You can be tagged once you pass the centre line, then“go to jail” until a teammate manages to rescue you.

You have to be strategic and split the team between catching or protecting the flag, and tagging opponents, then perform your best and display full concentration.

You also need to show integrity because if you are tagged and you keep saying you are not, then this game will lose its fun. Remember, your teammates can save you, so if you just wait patiently, they will come and save you.

-Adia C (Johnson)

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Let me introduce you to my favourite Colour War event: the Obstacle Course, a race where you have to avoid obstacles and jump over some of them.

You can develop a lot of the Dulwich values. First, you can show confidence simply by going. You might fear what you can’t do or things that you find very hard, but as I tried and tried again, I have improved and developed another value, resilience. You can also show respect: if someone is a bit nervous about going, you can encourage them. If someone was too slow or messed up their turn, you can smile and comfort them. This way, you can also develop kindness and make somebody feel better.

It is my favourite event because running across the Obstacle Course makes me feel energetic and refreshed.

-Jamie K and Annie J (Alleyn)

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Dodgeball was the second event that the Year 6 participated in. Personally, I think everyone did a fabulous job and I know that everybody tried their best. On behalf of Owens, I would like to congratulate everyone for their amazing performance in dodgeball and the Colour War.

Dodgeball is a competitive but also a collaborative game of repeatedly dodging, throwing and defending.

-Daniel W (Owens)

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I enjoyed dodgeball the most out of all activities because this game is not only about your own ability or skill, but also about working together and communicating within your House.

This activity helps students develop many Dulwich Values like resilience. For example, we can show resilience by not being miserable about losing the previous game but trying to win the current one. This is a very important mindset and can help students a lot while facing difficulties in the future.

-Chloe L (Owens)

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“When I count to 3 and say pull, you tug on the rope. Ready? 1……2……3………Pull!!”

We pulled as hard as our hands could. The rope was scratching against our hands, but we kept on pulling. We were pulling really hard. And... WE WON!!!

This game showed us the value of confidence because if we had lacked confidence, we wouldn’t have been able to win. Another very important value is respect. If we win, we won’t boo the other team, we cheer them up.

-Amber W & Hayden T (Soong)

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