What can the Dane Court houses learn from Helsinki house? Quite a lot, it seems. Why? Well:
Dane Court Grammar School has six houses...
one of those houses is called Helsinki...
Helsinki is the name of the capital of Finland...
and Finland is the undisputed capital of crazy (some would say pointless) competitions.

Only just last week the Mobile Phone Throwing World Championship was held in Savonlinna (eastern Finland). The winner (a Finn, of course) threw his (or somebody else's) phone an amazing 76 metres.
There seems to be no logic in creating a competition that tests your ability to throw a small electronic device as far as you can but it's clearly popular. The first competition took place in 2000 and there have been world champoinships every year since. Christine Lund, the founder of the competition writes:
"Finland is known as the home country of the mobile phones and Finns have always been very fashion-conscious about the phones. Many Europeans wonder why the Finns buy brand new phones when the old one is still working. For the interpreters and translators who work globally the mobile phone is a common tool when working and a part of accessory in the freetime.
Mobile phone is an essential part of us that connects us to nearly anywhere in the world but when you most need it the battery runs out or your sweetheart doesn't answer or some one doesn't return your call. Hope, anticipation, passion and frustration concentrates on mobile phone."

So, people get so frustrated with their phones that they throw them? Really? I think it's more likely to do with Nokia, the well-known electronics company, being Finnish and has been since it was founded 147 years ago (no they haven't been making mobile phones all that time).

Anyway, back to what Dane Court's house system can learn from Helsinki house. In a word (well, two and a half words): inter-house competitions.

Mrs Snaydon and Mrs Birkett; if you are looking for new ideas you have come to the right place. What about:

• Wife-Carrying (it doesn't have to be your own wife)
• Boot Throwing (as in wellie boot)
• Swamp Soccer (we could make a swamp, somewhwere on the field)

And don't forget Mobile Phone Throwing (we have plenty of those in school).
All the above are real competitions founded in Finland more than a decade ago and still going strong.

Official mobile phone throwing world championship website

Finland's passion for crazy contests

In pictures