By Kyra Gillespie
Students, parents and staff members at Chairo Christian School’s Pakenham campus were excited to be announced as the School of the Year at the recent Netball Victoria Community Awards.
Schools from across the state were nominated for the prestigious award based on their school netball programs, with a focus on inclusion and involvement of all students in a positive netball experience.
Chairo was commended on the sportsmanship and encouragement displayed by their students and on the positive focus and growth of netball within the school community.
“We are absolutely thrilled to have been chosen for the award,” Chairo physical education teacher Troy Whittaker said.
“It just affirms all the hard work that the staff and students have put in over the past year.
“This is the first year that the award has been offered so it’s an absolute honour to have been nominated.”
This year the school entered two teams in the Victoria Netball School Championships, ran a Victoria Netball NetSetGo program with Prep to Year 6 students, taught a Years 7 to 10 netball unit, and fielded seven teams, including parent/teacher teams, in the competition at Cardinia Life in Pakenham.
Many parent volunteers and teachers have given generously of their time and talents to coach and encourage Chairo students in their netball skills and abilities.
“The girls’ team already have a uniform so we are going to use the $500 that we won towards uniforms for the boys’ team,” Mr Whittaker said.
