Young High School held their first twilight swimming carnival on Monday - an event that was hailed a tremendous success by organisers.
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Students in the hundreds flocked through the gates of the Young Aquatic Centre sporting all sorts of attire in the theme of red, blue, green or yellow to support their house group.
The carnival commenced at a later time of 2pm in attempt to beat the heat that would normally be endured at a typical mid-day carnival. And given the extended hours that saw the carnival set to finish at 8pm, those students who did attend earned themselves a day off on Tuesday.
But beating the UV rays wasn’t the only reason the school chose to hold a twilight carnival, with increasing participation rates, parent involvement and making it a wider community event also on organisers minds.
These goals were reached with participation rates significantly higher than previous years.
“Our numbers were up, participation was better and parent involvement was great both in and out of the pool,” PDHPE teacher Paula Danckert said.
That wasn’t the only good news to come from the carnival – everyone loved it.
“There has been lots of positive feedback from parents and through the kids behaviour participation and attendance, I’d say it’s been a positive result,” Paula said.
The P&C ran a barbecue on the day that provided students with much needed energy after swimming all day.
At the end of the night a special relay was held that saw Year 12 students, parents and staff go head-to-head in an eight by 50m relay.
“The staff just beat the parents, and Year 12 were a little bit behind them still,” Paula teased.
Due to the carnival being such a success, plans to do it again next year are definitely on the cards.
“The idea of a twilight carnival came from the PDHPE department and the participation of students and involvement of the parent community means that continuing this tradition is a ‘no-brainer’,” Young High School principal Andrew Turvey said.
“The success and enjoyment by everyone in attendance means Young High School twilight swimming carnivals are on the cards for many years to come”.
More photos to appear in Friday’s edition of the Young Witness and on our website.
