Last week on Wednesday September 18th, Woodend competed in the 16th annual Southern District Hiragana Reading Competition. After holding our own school run offs which involved all Year 7 students, we took along our top 4 teams of 4 to compete against 10 other schools and 22 other teams from the district primary schools. Adding up all the numbers there were 104 students in total taking part!

Our 4 teams had put in a lot of practice in the lead up to the day and were ready to prove that hard work and commitment pays off.

The first round had our 4 teams working hard in the round robin event with 2 teams being in Group A with the other 2 teams in Group B. The top 4 teams from each group moved onto the finals. All 4 of our teams were very strong with 3 of the teams making the top 8 and gaining a place in the finals.

Finals were extremely competitive. Finals are knock out rounds so the pressure is on.

Our students held their own during a tight competition with 2 of our teams making it to the top 4.

Both our teams played strong rounds with one of our teams, playing off for 3rd place and the other making it into the Grand Final.

“Abunai Angels” successfully placed 3rd while “Mijikai Samurais” played off for 1st or 2nd in the Championship Round. The grand final round had students having to read 4 character words in Hiragana which is a fantastic achievement under pressure.

The Grand final was so close and we had to have 2 tie breakers as each round saw it end in a tie. Unfortunately, the other team ended up scoring a point more than us, seeing us take home a very respectful 2nd. The Mijikai Samurais, and all students, can be extremely proud of their achievements.

The top 3 teams from each district competition now have the opportunity to take part in the State Competition in October which sees us taking 2 teams. We wish them the best of luck.

The support and encouragement from all Woodend students to each other as well as other schools on the day was fantastic to see. You all did Woodend proud.

Thank you to the parents for helping with transport on the day.

arigato

Sarah Vinall

Abunai Devils

Mijikai Samurais

Hiragana Rockstars

Abunai Angels

Finals time

Getting ready to start!