Physical Education
Beginning with play, children love physical activity. Ficino School provides a full and balanced programme. There is physical activity every day for every child, with a wide variety of activities to give children the opportunity to continually develop their skills.
Our programme encourages and reinforces character building qualities such as self-discipline, respect for others, honesty, fair play, competition, teamwork, and leadership.
All PE lessons are taken by specialist PE teachers. Lessons include large and small ball skills, athletics, gymnastics, adventure education and a variety of team sports. Students visit the local pools for swimming lessons with experienced independent instructors, leading to a swimming gala in Term 4 for Years 3-8. High quality local venues are used for a wide range of specialist instruction including basketball, orienteering, badminton and table tennis.
From the age of 5 children are introduced to team games where they learn teamwork and sportsmanship. There are competitive matches within the school and against other schools. In addition, daily games, gymnastics, cross country running and challenging field trips ensure that boys and girls stay fit and competitively motivated.
Fitness
The school is committed to maintaining good levels of physical fitness for its pupils.
Children have ten minutes of fitness twice a week, as well as two PE periods each week.
Athletics
Athletics Day is held at Mt Smart Stadium.
All children take part, competing within their own year groups, where they are encouraged to strive for their personal best. A wide range of track and field events are included in the programme at age-appropriate levels. They are awarded points on the basis of their performance in the different events and these points contribute towards the house total.
Cross Country
The annual cross-country races are normally held on Mt Eden, which offers a good course for all age groups and excellent viewing for spectators.
All children compete in the cross-country races in their year groups. All place getters gain points for their houses.
Hockey
The Ficino School hockey teams compete very strongly and successfully each season.
Students from Class 1 through to 8 are eligible to participate, playing in boys and girls mixed teams. The games are played on Saturdays, with mid-week training for about an hour during the week.
Netball
We have netball teams to cater for all year groups, boys and girls.
The season runs during Term 2 and Term 3, and sometimes summer netball is offered in Term 4.
