Jump Jam Success in New Zealand!
On Wednesday 26 October 2016, eleven Year 5 and 7 students along with two teachers from Swan Valley Anglican Community School flew out to Christchurch, New Zealand, for the very first International Jump Jam Competition. The students competed in two categories, Strictly Jump Jam and X-Factor.
Jump Jam is an educational resource created by Brett Fairweather to encourage and develop children’s fitness through choreographed aerobics. Whilst the programme has been in New Zealand for over 16 years, it is was only introduced to Perth schools during the last three years. The SVACS students have been training for this event for the past 10 months and have held a number of fundraising events to help alleviate the cost of the trip.
The competition was held on Saturday 29 October at Lincoln Event Centre in Christchurch. Our very excited and loud Perth School won their Strictly Jump Jam category, performing “Absolutely Everybody”. Three of our Year 7 students, Ella Dodds, Ashlea Tester and Abbey Edwards, competed in X-Factor; where they had to lead to audience and direct them through the moves. The girls were delighted with their second placing.
Miss Sharna Ashby and Miss Kate Eggleston were so proud of the girls and the result, but also ecstatic that all the energy and time the students and staff had put into training and fundraising had finally paid off. When flying home, the SVACS students and staff were lucky to meet and perform for André Rieu at Auckland airport. Their good luck continued as André Rieu invited the students, staff and parents to his concert the next night.
Jump Jam Trip to New Zealand!
By Cayleigh Davis (Year 5)
On Wednesday 26 October 2016, Miss Ashby and Miss Eggleston took 11 girls (five Year 5 and six Year 7s) to New Zealand. We made it to the airport with our families as we set off for Auckland, and were all feeling excited but nervous, especially me because I was one of the youngest and it was the first time I had been away from my family. When I left my Mummy she said "be confident, have fun and it's OK to be nervous and home sick, but don’t let those feelings spoil your time away, so stay positive and message any time I need to."
We all walked through to the other side and waited to board our plane, very nervous but excited. We found our way to our seats and I sat next to Alyssa and Ella. We flew for six hours and ten minutes and then we had to get another flight to Christchurch. Upon our arrival at Christchurch we were then in for another two and a half hour flight. We had finally arrived! We waited for the Arbor Grove students to arrive, so that we could head to our accommodation at Living Springs. Living Springs was awesome because we had an amazing view and the best play area with lots of activities. Unfortunately the view came with a very bendy hill ride in the bus!
We went on a lot of excursions whilst we were there, including the Willowbank Wildlife Centre, where we got to view loads of different animals, some too close for comfort! The International Antarctic Centre was awesome, we had snow ball fights and the blizzard was unreal, I even went in my first ever igloo. It was so much fun. I bought my family presents from there and a little husky teddy for myself that is so soft. We also went to the Museum, did a Tram Tour, walked round the Botanic Gardens, had a nice dinner with Brett, Linda and Ange. It was nice that they spent time with us even though they are so busy.
The competition was amazing but the best part of it is that after all the fun, hard work and hours of commitment and effort at school and at home, our nerves and excitement, we had WON! It was the best feeling. It felt surreal when it was announced that we were the winners of Strictly Jump Jam and second place in X-factor (Abbey, Ella and Ashlea). We all jumped up, cheered and screamed, and thanked Miss Ashby and Miss Eggleston, because without them believing in us it wouldn't have happened.
What made the perfect end to our trip was seeing Andre Rieu and performing for him and everyone else at the airport, he generously gave us all free tickets to go and see him in concert in Perth the next day. A once in a lifetime opportunity and something I will never forget. Another memorable moment was when everyone welcomed us home at the airport with banners stating “International Champions”, there were a few more tears upon our arrival. I know we all worked so hard and Miss Ashby and Miss Eggleston put so much time into helping us achieve an awesome result, they made us believe in ourselves and that anything is possible when you be the best you can be.