We are active and healthy...
Lockleys North Primary School
Wellbeing
We are teaching the You Can Do It! curriculum throughout the whole school to help support social, emotional and academic learning. This focusses on the idea that everyone can be successful at almost anything and that trying your hardest helps you to be successful. We teach about 5 "keys to success": confidence, persistence, getting along, resilience and organisation. In term 1, the focus will be on confidence, persistence, goal setting, time management and teamwork and in term 2 the focus will be on values, character strengths and getting along skills. To help the students to be confident, we are teaching them 4 ways of thinking:
- I can do it!
- It’s okay to make mistakes when learning something new.
- I am proud of who I am.
- It’s OK to tell others what I think and want.
Healthy Eating
Our students need to bring a small piece of fruit or vegetable to eat during our Healthy Eating Session each day. We encourage children to be involved in choosing and preparing their snack as research shows that this makes them more likely to eat it. Students will take their healthy snack to their InitiaLit groups so a small piece of fruit/vegetable in a separate container is preferred. Cups of fruit in juice are difficult to open and eat without spilling, therefore fresh fruit or vegetables are preferable.
Relaxation
Relaxation and calming the mind and body are an essential part of everyday life. After lunch all Mellor students are involved in relaxation and quiet reading in the classroom. They are encouraged to find a comfortable spot away from distractions and listen to calming music or guided meditations. This allows time to calm the body and refocus for the afternoon.
Physical Education
Children’s engagement and enthusiasm for physical activity is great for general wellbeing.
60 minutes of physical activity everyday promotes a healthy heart, healthy mind and healthy body. Benefits for keeping active include enjoyment, being challenged, increasing academic performance and on task behaviour as well as building self-esteem and self-efficacy amongst students.
Being active is easy and can be as simple as active home chores, going to the playground or taking your dog for a walk.
This year we will continue to promote the importance of physical activity through PE and through the Premier’s Be Active Challenge, a program for all South Australian children. The Challenge is the same as in previous years, with students doing 60 minutes of physical activity per day, 5 days per week for 4 or 10 weeks. After 10 weeks of daily physical activity, schools are in the running to win an award. I encourage children to challenge themselves this year and record their physical activity for 10 weeks. Children will set and record personal, achievable goals and track their growth throughout the year. After completion of the challenge, children will be rewarded with personal satisfaction and a medal at the end of the year. More information about The Premier's Be Active Challenge will be provided in upcoming newsletters.
This semester, children will continue to develop and master fundamental movement skills, through cooperative team building games and health and fitness games. Children will inquire into invasion and striking and fielding games using a tactical game based approach developing children's locomotor skills, hand-eye coordination, spatial awareness and object placement and control. Skills will be transferred in various sports such as basketball, football and hockey. Children will explore basic movement patterns like jumping, skipping, hopping, throwing, catching, kicking and running to be confident to participate in all sports and games.They will understand the benefits of being healthy and physically active and apply strategies for working cooperatively, following rules fairly in team games.
At the beginning of last year, “Active play” was introduced at lunchtime in the gym, providing children with opportunities to be physically active, promoting social interactions in a safe, supervised environment. Active play at lunchtimes will continue this year (Tuesday and Wednesday for Mellor students).
Throughout the semester children will be involved in sporting clinics, explicitly teaching children skills that may inspire and give children the confidence to learn a new sport.
Sports Day will be held in term 4, enabling children to develop sportsmanship skills and build confidence in their physical abilities. Children can earn team points in lesson time by upholding the LNPS values- care and concern, pursuit of excellence, respect and honesty. The points are recorded and contribute to their sports day teams total, celebrated at the end of the year.
Students are reminded to wear suitable clothing and footwear to all PE lessons to ensure their full participation.
Our Mellor PE lessons are held on Tuesday (M2 and M4), Thursday (M1 and M5) and Friday (M3).
Amy Byrnes Early Years PE
Amy.Byrnes464@schools.sa.edu.au