Saying Thank You is a Powerful Thing...

Just after the bell went at around 3.05pm-ish today, I got a visit from an 8 year old boy who came to my office door and quietly said, "Miss Va'afusuaga, thank you for P.E, I really like it", with a huge smile on his face.  That made my day.

And this got me thinking about the many people who have made P.E and sports possible this year for so many children.  I haven't thanked them all properly yet and would like to mention some, who come to mind...

I think about the coaches who changed their working hours so they had time 

during the day to train and attend competition games...Thank you!

To the generous donors who have paid for netball fees, netball dresses, 

rugby boots, rugby fees and P.E shorts for our players...Thank you!

To the coaches and managers who have consistently taken their

teams to games in all kinds of weather...Thank you!

To the coaches and managers who have had babies, who are facing 

health challenges, yet they turn up faithfully with a smile and a cheer...Thank you!

To our staff members who have an 'everest' amount of work to do, yet, 

make the time to coach or manage a team...Thank you!

To a 'reading support' volunteer who buys mini chocolates every week

 for our Players of the Day...Thank you!

To another 'reading support' volunteer and her grand-daughter 

who mend our ripped sports uniforms...Thank you!

To another thoughtful 'reading support' volunteer who collected lost tennis balls 

and brought them to school for the children...Thank you!

To the sweet grandmother who baked cookies for 13 weeks for 

60 netball girls before their evening games...Thank you!

To people in the community who donated old rugby boots and 

sports equipment for our children to use...Thank you!

To the sports clubs who provided subsidies for 

players to help families out...Thank you!

To the parents who baked cakes for the cake stall 

and ran sausage sizzle fundraisers...Thank you!

To the family members who attend games, cheer for everyone & 

help with transport, lunches and packing up...Thank you!

To the students who worked at fundraisers, washing cars and selling sausages 

in the weekend to help their team-mates pay for their sports fees...Thank you!

To the staff members who help transport netball players to evening games...Thank you!

Also our local college and a local church for allowing us 

to borrow your vans to transport our teams...Thank you!

To our local college for providing umpires and referees for our tournaments...Thank you!

To the private school who give us their second hand sports equipment 
that's in good condition...Thank you!

To the sports monitors who turn up each day, giving out equipment, dealing with 

demanding requests and complaints from peers, and still turn up for the job...Thank you!

To the children who offer to help carry equipment, put them away 

and help set up and pack up after activities...Thank you!

To the children who find equipment 'over the fence', 'down the road', 'in my classroom', 
'at the park'...and return it back to the right place...Thank you!

To the administration staff who created, printed 

and sorted 118 certificates for our netball prizegiving...Thank you!

To our super associate principal who allows us to use his van for all 

sports activities & supports me in every aspect of my job...Thank you!

To the Board of Trustees, our principal and senior management staff who value 

and support physical education & our sports programme (plus for hiring me!)...Thank you!

I'm bound to add more to this list...but in the meantime, if you're reading this post and have made a contribution to our school, I just want to say a massive 'thank you to you' in Maori and Pacific Island languages.

Kia Ora! (Maori)

Fa'afetai lava! (Samoa)

Malo aupito! (Tonga)

Metaki! (Cook Island)

Fakaaue lahi! (Niue)

Fakafetai! (Tokelau)

Fakefetai lasi! (Tuvalu)

Vinaka! (Fiji)

Tenkyu! (Papua New Guinea)

Mahalo! (Hawai'i)