The annual Celebration of Skipping was organised by the Department of Health’s Public Health Directorate and supported by Britannia International. Nearly 200 children attended the seventh Celebration of Skipping held in late June at the National Sports Centre, Douglas. This year saw 14 different “freestyle” rope skipping performances from Primary Schools across the Island, all of which rose to the challenge to devise their own creative skipping routine to a short piece of music.
Minister for Health, David Anderson MHK said:
'Congratulations to the winners and very well done to all that took part in this year’s event. Skipping in Schools is a fantastic initiative that continues to keep the Primary School aged children fit and healthy. Public Health can be proud of facilitating a quality programme, in partnership with DEC and DCCL, that is an important element of the Department’s continued emphasis on wellbeing and physical activity as part of Isle of Man Government’s Physical Activity Strategy and helps to promote and develop lifetime healthy habits in young children. I would like to thank Britannia International for their continued interest and support in this programme and the annual celebrations.'
The Public Health Directorate promote the Skipping in Schools project as a way of encouraging pupils to be more physically active in a fun, non-competitive environment. Rope skipping can increase levels of fitness, improve muscle strength, coordination and balance, and build up bone strength. It is also a fantastically versatile activity as it can take place in the playground or in lessons, alone, with a friend or with a very large group. All primary school aged children should aim to be physically active for at least 60 minutes every day to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
The annual Celebration of Skipping event has grown bigger every year since its inception. Starting out in 2007 with only four teams in a school hall, the event has now grown to fill the main sports hall at the National Sports Centre in Douglas. The routines have continued to get more impressive every year, with this year being no exception. Many children have succeeded in mastering difficult rope skills that were demonstrated for the other schools in attendance, as well as parents, carers and the public.
The event also allowed all the children to take part in a Double Dutch Workshop, run by Guinness World Record holders, Jump Rope UK, with each school having representation in a new figure-of-eight challenge, which saw Rushen and Arbory Primary Schools come out as top skippers on the day.
Britannia International has supported the Skipping in Schools project for the last three years, and this year funded the Jump Rope UK team to visit schools across the Island to give their valued support, advice, and inspiration; they also performed a number of complex routines at the event. Britannia International supplied water and fruit snacks throughout the event to keep the children fully fuelled for their active day and provided goodie packs for the pupils to take home.
Colin Mitchell, Operations Manager of Britannia International, said:
'We are very pleased to sponsor the Celebration of Skipping event as part of our commitment to supporting young people in the Isle of Man. It is a terrific success, attracting a lot of interest from local primary schools, and it was great to see so many children being active and enjoying performing their impressive routines.'
During the event, prizes for the top achievement in each of the Manx Skipping Challenge categories were awarded to the following children:
- Key Stage One Awards: Aleesha Kiernan and Sharima Fernando from Manor Park School
- Key Stage Two Awards: Efreleen Cantero, Macy Tyrer, Natalia Winnicka and Sophia Iankova from Fairfield School, and Leon Shearer, Lexa Hattersley from Rushen Primary School.
Rushen School’s Skipping Team won the group prize for continuous figure-of-eight skipping. The Isle of Man Anti-Cancer Association Shield was presented to Rushen Primary School for the best skipping achievements overall throughout the year.
