Wellbeing Wisdom

As another week of remote learning begins, this week I’d like to highlight the importance of physical activity on our wellbeing. One thing that most families have learned during lockdown is that balancing a child’s screen time with physical activity isn’t an easy task. Although research tells us that the increased time spent on screens results in a reduction in sleep and less physical activity which all impact negatively on a child’s health and wellbeing, busy lives and responsibilities often get in the way of best intentions. With four young children in my own household, I know I am certainly guilty of this at times!

The effects of these three components differ greatly, however physical activity is the aspect of time use that matters most to children’s quality of life across all age groups. This is because physical activity helps improve quality of life and builds social connections and self-esteem as well as probably simultaneously reducing screen time and improving sleep.

Staying active is crucial for our physical health and wellbeing and for children and young people, being active every day has many social, emotional, intellectual and health benefits, including:

* improved concentration

* reduction in stress and anxiety

* improved sleep

* an opportunity to have fun with family and friends and develop teamwork skills

* better self- esteem and confidence

* healthy growth and development (including strong muscles and bones)

* lower risk of disease

* improvement in coordination

The Australian Government Department of Health recommends children aged 5-17 should have 60 minutes of physical activity at least 3 times per week. While this may seem like a lot, it doesn’t have to be a full 60 minutes at one go - several shorter sessions throughout the day are just as effective. It is also worth noting that although common recommendations for physical activity include walking the dog, riding a horse/ bike or playing at the park, activities like gardening, washing the car or doing the chores around the home are also great opportunities for your children to undertake some physical activity. Put simply, when there is a designated break in the online learning structure throughout the day, encourage your children to use it. Five minutes of skipping, vacuuming or weeding will break up the long periods of sitting. This not only helps children to grow and develop, it is also establishing good habits for life while impacting on their immediate health.

This brings us to… challenge time! Firstly, well done and thank you to everyone that took the time to send in some food art, some great pictures were taken! The winner, who is the lucky recipient of a book club voucher, goes to the Stevens family! Congratulations Ava and Harry!

To kick off the second wellbeing challenge this week I would love to see everyone getting active! Please send in some pictures of those burpees, sit ups or your favourite walking companion to be in the running for this week’s prize. Please be careful and only undertake physical activity while an adult is home.

Stay safe and good luck!

Book Week

During Book Week our students celebrated at home. Old Worlds, New Worlds and Other Worlds was the theme for this year. Students were given the opportunity to dress up at home and we certainly had some wonderful characters show up on our School Remote Learning Site.

Mrs Howarth also created a Book Week rubric that the students were able to access all week through the Sacred Heart Remote Learning site.

By the looks of things everyone had a fantastic week!

RE News