It may not be the fastest-paced sport in the world, but lawn bowls has been given the thumbs up from pupils at Connells Point Public School.
Every Friday morning, Connells Point Public School takes a group of about 20 pupils down the hill to Blakehurst Bowling Club. The school started the tradition this year and has not looked back.
“I initiated it as a community event and the guys came on board at the bowling club and voluntarily do it – they don’t charge us anything. They have been brilliant,” teacher Laura Power said.
“I wanted to initiate something new for the students to experience. We are always looking to expose them to new sports.”
She said some of the pupils were skeptical at first but have since come to realise the grass was in fact greener at the bowling club.
“At first some of the kids were like ‘do we have to go’ but now they are like ‘can we go’. They love it and are really enthusiastic about it,” she said.
“And what we’ve found is the children that are not traditionally good at sport are succeeding, because you don’t have to run or jump you have to think.”
She said a big thank you to the club chairman Wal Chin for helping run the event each Friday and to the other volunteers at the club.
Every four or five weeks the school rotate another group of 20 pupils, in Years 3 to 6, to try lawn bowls.