Sporting News 

Health and Physical Education News 

Academic Success is positively correlated to involvement in Sport. 

The benefits of regular participation in sport and exercise are widely acknowledged. Research has consistently found significant long-term physical, mental, emotional and social benefits, providing individuals an opportunity to improve their fitness, coordination and self-esteem whilst learning how to regulate their emotions, solve problems clearly and engage effectively with peers in social settings. 

New research recently released by the University of Sydney has reinforced these benefits as outlined in the article below: 

“Kids marks are boosted if they play sport at school for two hours a week” (Herald-Sun, April 13, 2022) 

Kids who play two hours of sport a week at school are more likely to get higher grades with the biggest boost coming in two surprising subjects. 

Students who play sports during the school day are more likely to achieve higher grades, new research has revealed. 

The University of Sydney’s analysis of 115 studies involving more than one million children in Australia and internationally found a positive link between academic performance and participation in physical activity. 

Marks were boosted if kids aged between nine and 18 years old played sports during school hours for an average of two hours per week. 

Science and mathematics subjects showed the highest grade improvements in physically active students. 

Biostatistician and the study’s lead author Dr Katherine Owen said skills young students learned on the field were most easily transferred to those study areas. 

She said the biggest improvements were reported during school times because students resumed learning almost immediately after being active at lunchtime or in physical education. 

“Skills developed through sport like problem solving are quite useful in those subjects,” Dr Owen said. 

“We think it’s because of the immediate effect of sport on concentration and attention. There’s just an immediate effect on the performance for the kids who do sports in school,” she said. 

Research commissioned by the Victorian government found just 29 per cent of the 67 per cent of Victorian teens who played before age 15 continued once they reached that age. 

Australian school students are required to complete 2.5 hours of physical activity at school per week until they reach Year 10. 

Participation in sports for Year 11 and Year 12 students is encouraged, but not compulsory. 

But principal of government-run selective Suzanne Cory High School Martha Goodridge-Kelly said the secondary college has embedded sport into its curriculum for students in all year levels since 2016 because of the developmental benefits and the positive correlation between exercise and higher marks. 

The school was ranked fourth in its 2021 NAPLAN results and is one of the top five highest performing government schools in Victoria. 

“There’s a double period where our entire VCE cohort are off on sport at the same time,” she said. 

“We place a really high value on this because we know that it’s important, not just for while they’re at school, but also for their future lives and unfortunately, some students don’t do it outside of school.” 

Senior research fellow at Deakin University’s Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN) Dr Natalie Lander said it was “integral” for students to do an hour of physical activity each day because exercise dropped dramatically when kids transition from primary school to high school where they are often seated for long periods of time. 

Cross Country Wrap up 

On Tuesday 5 April the Nossal High School Cross Country event was held. It was a very successful day with all Nossal students actively participating in the 3km run. Congratulations to all students in competing on the day. Thank you to all staff in encouraging the students (particularly the staff who ran and cycled) and ensured their safety as they ran around the Nossal / Federation University Campus. 

The overall House winners for the day were: 

1st: Pegasus – 699 points 

2nd: Phoenix – 640 points 

3rd: Griffin – 437 points 

4th: Garuda – 342 points 

Congratulations to the following students in each age group. These students are now eligible to represent Nossal High School at Akoonah Park on Tuesday 24 May. Permission Forms should become active on Compass this week for parents / carers to sign. 

House Athletics Carnival 

The next House Carnival will be held on Wednesday 25 May. On this day school will commence in tutorial at 8.48 and will finish when students return to school at approximately 3.00pm. Please note the late finish on this day.  

All students are expected to attend and are strongly encouraged to enter into at least one event. There are many events to participate in including sprinting, distance, jumping and throwing event. 

Students should wear the Nossal Sports uniform, or active wear that is in their house colours on the day. 

Permission Forms should become active on Compass this week for parents / carers to sign. 

School Sport News 

On Thursday 7 April, the Nossal intermediate boys’ volleyball team played in the interschool competition at Dandenong Stadium. The first team we played were Gleneagles, which was an intense game, where we were behind, however in the end, momentum was on our side and we ended up winning 2-0. We had a break as we did not have a game, which was followed by three consecutive games, against Fountain Gate Secondary College, Timbarra Secondary College and Berwick Secondary College. Versing Fountain Gate, we lost 1-2. Afterwards, we went 2-0 in both games, and made finals, versing Doveton High School. The final match was best of 3 sets, where the first two sets were first to 21 points, and the last set being first to 11. We ended up losing 1-2, and the title of 1st place went to Doveton, who on the day were the better ball slappers. 

Aaron Du 

Year 10

On Thursday 7 April, Nossal’s intermediate girls’ volleyball team boarded the bus, prepared for an exciting and challenging day. The girls played incredibly well in their first match, beating Doveton SC in straight sets. In their next match against Gleneagles SC, they continued to show the hard work they put into training and won, with the scores being 2-0. Their streak continued and they won their match against Timbarra SC, also in straight sets. As the girls moved onto finals, exhaustion began to set in, but they still played with everything they had, and gave Fountain Gate SC a very impressive fight. Unfortunately, the girls lost, placing 2nd for the day. Well done to the team for their amazing performance throughout the day and all the best for Fountain Gate SC as they move on to the next level. 

Caron Sequeira 

Year 10

Congratulations to all Intermediate Volleyball teams who trained solidly for weeks leading up to the competition, supported each other in their skill development and demonstrated outstanding sportspersonship on the day of competition. A special thank you to the Senior coaches who led them in their training – Tessica Gomez, Maz Zhu, Vaidehi Palliyali Vidraman and Yomith Jayasingha.