The end of a Nayland term typically finishes with some kind of house event or competition. Despite the sudden plunge into a winter freeze, some brave souls from all four houses faced off to play capture the flag on Wednesday lunchtime.

The basic idea of the game, which is an army war game, is to stop one team from getting through your team’s defences and scoring on the other side. Students sometimes play it in their PE classes. 

The name of the game is perhaps a little misleading, however.  "We use a ball instead of a flag. We invade their territory and capture their flag (ball), meanwhile they are invading our territory. So it's a game of strategy if they stop long enough to strategize," Aquila house leader Brennan Geddes clarified. 

However, cramming it into a lunchtime means games can only be 12 minutes long and that's where it starts to get fun.   "It's a full-on run, tag, back to the start, run on again, dodge, and hoon to the end kind of game until someone is lucky enough to break through the ranks and score at the other end," Mr Geddes and Pegasus house leader Dixie MacDonald said.

Mrs MacDonald said there had been lunchtime sessions to bring students up to scratch about how to play in preparation for the final competition on Wednesday. She and the other house leaders wanted to offer a bit of healthy competition between the houses to keep encouraging integration of students of all different year levels. As with any house event, it was also a chance for house captains and leaders to step up and take the reins .

Unsurprisingly, given the weather, there weren’t huge numbers on the back field on the day. However, there was a swag of students lining the banks in support and a fair turn out from each house to lay down the challenge. “The sun was shining, the sky was blue and we had some really committed students and the odd teacher who showed real determination to win for their house. And it was fun!” Mrs MacDonald said.