News from the Physical Education Department
Hello from the Physical Education Department!
We hope everyone enjoyed the chance to relax and spend time with close family and friends over the holiday break. The weather has finally turned it on for summer! We have another year filled with exciting sporting experiences and opportunities for students. Our weekly Physical Education sessions will focus on skill development, team play with the aim to expose the students to different sports and create pathways into the community.
Summer Heat!
As we return to school we are met with the sweltering (on the odd occasion) heat. This means that all students will need a hat and a water bottle to keep safe from the sun and stay hydrated. It is compulsory from the Department of Education to wear a hat in Terms 1 and 4. NO HAT, NO PLAY!
Sporting Clinics and Community Partnerships
This term we are lucky enough to have a number of in school clinics happening here at Preston Primary School. The concept behind inviting sporting clubs is for students to take up sport outside of school and engage in the community. To kick off the year, we have coaches from Darebin Basketball Association, NRL Victoria and Northern Parx Netball Club to run sessions across the school. These clinics will give students the opportunity to get a feel for different sports and recognise if it is something they wish to pursue further. Previously we have used funding to bring coaches in but we really would like to encourage our local sporting clubs to bring in volunteer coaches to promote their club and build enrolments. If you are interested, please let us know and we will arrange our timetable to suit your availability.
Before and After School Sport
This year we are bringing sporting sessions to you here at Preston Primary School. As we have busy weekly schedules it sometimes makes it hard to travel to and from local sports meaning that children miss out. Young people aged between 5 - 14 should be completing at least 60 minutes of moderate physical activity per day to ensure our body stays healthy and we would like to have access to more opportunities. We have invited the Melbourne Renegades to run clinics afterschool on Mondays, commencing in Week 3. This is almost booked out so if you are interested, please see get in touch. They will also have the Gades Van onsite next Monday to promote programs for Blast Cricket and will be handing out giveaways. We are likely to bring tennis as a before school option commencing soon. If you are interested, please complete the following form through the link below.
PPS Swim Squad
PPS Swim Squad has been highly successful through the trials and holiday sessions thanks to the planning of coach Toni Huntington. Due to this, sessions will continue to run throughout the year and are available, at this stage, to those who have attended the swimming trials. The aim of these sessions is to build interest and confidence in swimming ability. Later on in the year more students will be invited to attend, ensuring PPS is well represented at district and divisional level of competitions. We also aim to create pathways through water sports including open water swimming, aquathon, triathlons and surf lifesaving.
KIDDO
This year we will run the KIDDO program with our Junior School students. We successfully introduced the program to PPS last year and the results were wonderful. The program was created by professors from the University of WA to combat the decreasing Fundamental Movement Skills by young people in Australia. The students are tested at the beginning of the year and from the data received, we are able to identify strengths and areas in need of improvement. We test the students again at the end of each semester, this allows us and parents to see growth across many areas. At the end of each testing period, parents of students involved will receive an assessment report document, so you can see the results for yourself. The document has activities you can complete with your child at home to improve their skills.