Health & PE Update
Lets Get Physical!
I was recently forwarded an article that quoted some interesting and confronting facts regarding Australian teenagers and their lack of intent to live a physically active lifestyle. I was blown away, in particular, by the statistic from the World Health Organisation that Australian teenagers rank with some of the least active teenagers in the world.
Out of 146 countries in the study, Australia ranked 140th.
Only 11% of Aussie teenagers reported exercising for an hour per day, as stipulated by the WHO guidelines. The countries where students were most likely to meet the guidelines were Bangladesh (34% achieving the daily target), Slovakia (28.5%), Ireland (28%) and USA (28%). The impact of exercise on both our physical and mental health is well documented. The increased prevalence of mental health concerns and anxiety amongst students of all ages is concerning.
Regular activity can positively affect sleep patterns, concentration, brain development, bone strength, muscle control, balance & coordination, self esteem and overall mental health. (https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/children-youth/australias-children/contents/health/physical-activity)
The following is a poster of ideas from the Department of Health for a more physically active lifestyle for children. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VbtarZom-nBPLJBTiWwzp0cltXvdj-CU/view?usp=sharing
We do our best at Jells Park to encourage active lifestyles through our huge range of extra curricular activities. Just some of the options available to students across different ages include:
JP Racing, Snow & Surfing trip, Hoop Time, House Cross Country & Athletics, Running Club, Swimming lessons, Brain Breaks (in class), aerobics, netball teams, Interschool sport, PMP, Sporting Schools funded activities, visits from National, State or team organisations (such as AFL), Ride to School Day and more.
I encourage you to start small and maybe make 1 change or introduce 1 activity to the family routine that increases the amount of activity you do as a family. Remember, role modelling is the best way to empower your kids to be active.
Sporting Schools Grant
This term we have been successful in obtaining a Sporting School grant to hold gymnastics lessons for our Level 1 & 2 students. These will be held each Wednesday over the last 4 weeks of term. More details will be forwarded over the coming weeks.
Running Club
It's great to see between 50-70 kids every week enjoying the fun of running club. Whilst the weather is holding we will continue with Running Club on Wednesday mornings at 8:30am. Even if students have never been before they are welcome to attend. Parents must drop their kids at the parkland where we have a registration table. We keep a record of all who attend each week. Once they have checked in, they will join in the warm up and running or physical activities.
Lunch time fitness training sessions
Each Monday at lunch time, the JP Racing team are holding short 15-20 min strength and conditioning sessions to build leg strength and fitness. If other students are interested in attending they are welcome to come and participate in the gym.
Sean Bell
Earlier this year, Sean came and spoke to the whole school and more specifically to the Level 6 students. Our students were blown away by the challenge Sean set himself to run around Australia and many have been keeping up to date with his progress. Work is underway for a couple of events to get our school active and raise funds for Make-A-Wish to support Sean. More details soon.
If you are interested in keeping up to date with Sean’s progress, he is up to day 62 today and has been running (on average) a double marathon per day (84km). This week he crossed the 5000km mark in his total trip of 14,400km over 175 days.
You can follow along via his social media & website…
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seanbellruns
Instagram: @seanbellruns
Website: https://seanbellruns.com/
Darren Jenkins
Health and PE Coordinator