We had two contrasting challenges this week.

The first was a deceptively tricky card test that asked students to apply their short and long term memory, organisation skills, concentration, focus and of course a shade of luck wouldn't go astray.

The second soccer challenge tested speed, agility and co-ordination.

The second test proved to be the more popular of the two, probably by virtue of its short duration and there was no stopping the razor - sharp Kingstons, Cathal and Katie, who shared top spot with 23.

I challenge any of the soccer stars we watch on our screens to compete with these two sporting geniuses.
Speaking of stars, Dylan Hourihane and Daniel Nzunu can compete with the very best and have learned their skills from the top coaches in SCS and the Skibbereen Club. They came in joint second with 19 turns.

Draws were probably inevitable in a one minute competition but I didn't expect 4 students to have the same score. A quartet of familiar names shared third place just one point behind as Hannah Sheehy, Cathal McCarthy, Ella Hayes and Matthew Benn all brought in 18. Second years Orla Seymour and Marie Hurley came 4th with 16. Kate O'Connell retained her consistent form with 14, followed closely by fellow first year Felix Prateesh 13 and Caoimhe Flannery and Michael O'Leary on 12.


In the card challenge, the top three were separated by the slimmest margin. Our leader Katie Kingston was once again victorious with 41, followed by Caoimhe Flannery 42 and Ella Hayes 43. We had such fun doing this challenge when teams were pitted against each other. I miss that wonderful spirit created by students combining their talents and working towards a common goal. That said, I am looking forward to the days when classes compete against each other and my P.E. class take on the formidable 1A. Cathal McCarthy came 4th with 51. First year Felix Prateesh completed the task in fifth with 74. There was one more consolation prize which goes to Matthew Benn for finding a unique and interesting approach to the task, which I will use at a future date.


World Record Update

'All our dreams come true if we have the courage to pursue them' - Walt Disney.

Meanwhile the Sean Daly story just gets better and better. The world record holder has been cementing his position as number one in the world in the one minute two ball bounce. On Thursday, I received the fourth video which showed Sean add an extra 31 bounces to his 800 in 59 seconds! It really is astounding watching a master sportsman in action. That Sean is a student in our school performing a difficult skill to this high standard is even more amazing. But to my astonishment, the story does not end there as Sean dismantled his own record on Friday evening adding an extra 51 bounces to the total. The new world record now stands at 882. The next step in this journey is to follow the detailed list of instructions sent to us by Guinness World records, details of which I will let you all know in time.

Challenge 19 has been posted to your team app.

Using any ball you like, how many baskets can you score in a row or consecutively from a distance of 10 feet?