Primary Sport

Lunchtime Play – May 2024

A wonderful development in the Junior Primary School, over the past twelve months, has been the advancement of ‘play’ at playtimes.

It is not uncommon to see multi-age, mixed gender play. Students have gained an increased confidence to utilise the beautiful grounds, and facilities, that the primary school has available.

Last Thursday, as I did my weekly lunchtime oval yard duty, I could only admire the range of play being undertaken, and the joy, care, kindness, fairness, and fun being exhibited by so many children.

As Winnie the Pooh so eloquently said, “Nobody can be uncheered by a balloon”. Consequently, “no child can be uncheered by good play”; this is what I observed as I walked on the oval in the brilliant sunshine observing the play:

Year 4 boys kicking a footy. Whilst this isn’t unusual in schools across Victoria, the fact that they had brought in their footy boots, to wear whilst they played, is – this shows they had planned ahead for their playtime!
A group of Year 6 girls sitting on the cricket pitch playing UNO with cards they had borrowed from the Sports and Rec Shed.
A group of boys, from Years 3-6, playing Markers Up (an AFL kicking game) – all were being fair and kind.
A mixed gender group of Year 4 and 5 students playing soccer with a ball they had borrowed from the Sports and Rec Shed.
Three Year 3 girls kicking a footy – the footy had been loaned to them by a Year 3 boy who was up playing Markers Up!
Four Year 3 boys playing softball/baseball with equipment they had borrowed from the Sports and Rec Shed; one boy brought his own glove to school showing how keen he was to play softball/baseball.
Three Year 5 boys playing Speedminton, a new racquet sport I had introduced to them just that week, using equipment they had borrowed from the Sports and Rec Shed.

There were way more play examples on show up on the basketball courts and at the Ga Ga pits and on the playgrounds. I am an advocate for good play; there is much research to show that good, fair, kind play positively influences overall learning outcomes.

Long may good play continue at PVCC.

District Cross Country Carnival

PVCC had the joy of taking 51 junior primary athletes to the 2024 District Cross Country event on Thursday 16 May. The weather, and general conditions, were wonderful for middle-distance running and I suspect that most of the students will be very pleased with their running efforts.

Ultimately, PVCC came equal third in the overall District CC results - this is a magnificent achievement, and it is the first time we have placed in the top three of any district events since I've been at the college. I acknowledge each runner for their efforts as it was the sum of all efforts that placed us in that third-placed position. I give due credit to Diamond Creek East PS for being the first-placed school in the overall District CC results. PVCC has seven athletes heading to Division Cross Country and this number is an increase on our number of students that qualified in 2023. To qualify, runners needed to finish inside the top 10 of their event.

Well done to Mila C (1st: 9/10 girls), Ella W (3rd: 9/10 girls), Malachi R (3rd: 9/10 boys), Mat S (8th:9/10 boys), Neve D (3rd: 11 girls), Jonny S (2nd: 11 boys), and Amie P (9th: 12/13 girls) for their qualification. I wish them all the best for the Division CC event (May 30).

Here is an interesting fact that I ascertained when I viewed the overall placings for all of the events at District CC. In total there were eighteen possible top 3 positions; PVCC filled five out of those eighteen top 3 positions which was more than any other school, the next best being two other schools who filled three of the eighteen top 3 positions.

Furthermore, we had a number of students who finished within the 11-20th positions which is also fantastic given that there were between 70-84 runners in each race. PVCC continues to demonstrate that we have talented, persistent, faith-filled athletes who can compete against those larger student cohorts from the bigger schools within our district.

Guy Gurney

Junior Primary PE teacher and Sport coordinator