An exciting morning in Lurgan Park was had by all as two King's Park teams competed in the Flahavans' Cross country Northern Ireland finals' qualifier. There was also a fun run where another 20+ children tried their hand, for the first time, at competitive cross country running. 

The standard has been set high over the last 7 or 8 years with the school winning 6 Northern Ireland titles. (Honours are even at 3 a piece! Three boys' titles and three girls' titles)  This achievement has not been equalled as yet by any other school, and gives King's Park Lurgan, the honour of being the top Primary School school in Northern Ireland for cross country wins. 

With success comes the pressure to maintain. So, today both teams stepped out carrying the weight of that expectation. 

The Southern Area has traditionally been one of the strongest areas to qualify from, and today was no exception. Despite the challenges of the current situation, both teams stepped out into a highly competitive field. And we are delighted to say that both teams came through as victors, winning by fairly narrow margins in both cases. 

Special mention has to go to Tom Kerr who produced something quite spectacular in the last 100 metres to win the boys' race. Close behind were Luke Wells, Brodie Hull and Noah Roderick. All top 4 runners finishing in the top 7.

Kai McCartney and Harry Sutton were not far behind, finishing 12th and 18th respectively. The girls' team had their work cut out as it was a first competitive race for all but one. Again, a top drawer performance. Special mention has to go to Anaya Patterson who finished second, to new kids on the block, Kamelija Vasilyiev and Emilee White who came third and fourth, and to Bethany Greer who came tenth. Ruby Cousins and Heidi McTernaghan completed the picture finishing 12th and 18th respectively out of a field of 65 runners. 

Both teams have qualified for the Northern Ireland final in January. 

The Individuals' race (or fun run) is a race for children to gain experience of competitive racing without the pressure of having to qualify for something. There were some 22 children entered into the this race, boys and girls starting together but being timed separately. In this race, (girls' section) special mention has to go to Kayla Mooney, Lucy Brown and Mia Gault who came first, second and third and to Max Wilson and Filip Zembruska who finished second and third respectively (boys section). 

https://athleticsni.org/Results

Some photos from our Odd Socks Day held on Thursday 18th November to show our support for Anti-Bullying!

Photos of the Final preparations for the Flahavans' crosscountry qualifier in Lurgan Park on Friday 19th November.

The children have been working hard to prepare for this and we have entered our top 6 boys and top 6 girls for the competitive races and ten boys and ten girls for the fun run. Runners will be notified on Monday. 

'Children in Need Day’ is Friday 19^th November and it will be a NON-UNIFORM DAY for all pupils.

This year the donations from King’s Park can be made online by clicking on this link: https://app.parentpay.com/ParentPayShop/Foc/Default.aspx?shopid=5297

£1 per family is the suggested amount however you may donate an alternative amount if preferred.

Thank you very much for helping the school to support this yearly event.

Anti-bullying week is next week (15th-19th November).  Teachers will be doing activities with the children to highlight the importance of Anti-Bullying

As part of Anti-bullying week Parenting NI are hosting a session for parents and practitioners, "Working together to stop bullying" on 17th November at 10am to 11am.  Places can be booked through Eventbrite (see poster attached)

 The session will look at identifying strategies for children and parents to cope with bullying, tips on recognising bullying and promoting kindness and tips on how we can work together to stop bullying.

Please see below for  Anti-bullying week resources and events that are coming up. 

There are 3 main resource packs this year to support involvement in ABW21;

School Resource Pack

Odd Socks Day Pack

Social Media Toolkit

There will be  a stakeholder information event on Monday 8^th Nov  @4pm. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/anti-bullying-week-2021one-kind-word-niabf-social-media-stakeholder-event-tickets-194402973527

For more information and how to get involved please refer to the website: http://www.endbullying.org.uk/anti-bullying-week/

Cross Country is back on the agenda. 46 children signed up to be trained and put through their paces. 

A paired back Flahavans cross country league is set to commence on 19th November in Lurgan Park.

We hope to ether two very competitive teams and fun runners. 

Today we said farewell to Mr Shields who retires after 21 years at King’s Park and 45 years in education.  A special assembly was held outdoors to celebrate his time here and during this he was presented with some gifts from the pupils.  Mr Shields’ message to the children was to remember everyone is good at something.  Discover what it is and enjoy doing it!  He shared his love for sport and encouraged the children to look after themselves and keep up some form of physical exercise throughout their lives.  He thanked everyone for their good wishes.

Barry Mulholland, Chairperson of the Education Authority visited King’s Park today to thank Mr Shields for his 45 years in education and wish him all the best with his retirement.

Mal Donaghy (ex Northern Ireland/Chelsea/Man Utd/Luton player) visited Mr Shields on behalf of the IFA to thank him for his work in education and delivering sport to pupils throughout his career of 45 years.
Mr Shields a keen sportsman also played for Linfield and represented the British Universities team in football, while also captaining Northern Ireland and the all-Ireland Universities team.