Health and PE Update

Physical Literacy

Understanding Physical Literacy can give you a better understanding of the role of Health & PE at school. The role of PE has expanded from the concept of ‘playing sport’ and is much more focused on the attitudes and emotions towards being active, how it impacts our mental and physical health, social skills and values such as resilience, collaboration and growth mindsets along with the skills required to complete physical tasks or compete in games or events.

The Australian Sports Commission has noted that although we are a sport loving culture we are generally watching more sport these days and are at risk of falling behind the world in our health and fitness levels. (The following video from the Aust. Sports Commission outlines its approach to Physical literacy and why)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY3YD2hRmPc&t=114s

The Australian Sports Commission breaks this down to 4 key elements:

Physical

Social

Psychological

Cognitive

The picture below breaks this down into more detail.

In a recent PD run by the peak body for health, PE and recreation (ACHPER), I was encouraged to define my purpose statement for PE. This is draft 1 and is still a work in progress so I would welcome any feedback.

My initial thought was:

In PE we want to be inclusive, resilient and collaborative whilst having fun, showing grit and maintaining a positive mindset. Through a safe, competitive fitness environment with a focus on being active and developing sporting skills, we strive to understand why and how being active contributes to a healthy body and mind.

Within this, we were then encouraged to zone in on 4 key words that clearly encompassed our thoughts and approach. Mine were Collaborative, Fun, Active and Healthy.

What does all this mean from a PE lesson perspective. I’m still reflecting and mulling over that, but in general I’m hoping our students will get a sense of my passion for healthy and active lifestyles, a willingness to try new skills and collaborate with others and will develop a positive psychology towards being active and competing (with themselves or in teams). How that manifests in individuals will look different out of school - maybe it’s joining a basketball team, taking up gymnastics or dancing, riding bikes, fencing, swimming or hockey. Hopefully through their involvement in our PE program they develop a desire to be active and explore and develop their skills in different settings.

Sean Bell

Recently, Sean spoke to the students from Level 2-6 at an assembly and then in more detail with the Level 6 students about his upcoming physical challenge. He spoke passionately about having and setting goals, the drive that comes from goals, how to follow through these with resilience and determination and the importance of team in achieving goals. Sean knows a bit about big, audacious goals. 6 years ago he had a dream to break the world record by running 14,000km around Australia in under 170 days (approximately 80km per day). His goal- not only to run around Australia but also to raise a seriously large amount of money for the Make-A-Wish foundation. His aim is $1.4million. Sean’s run begins this Sunday (March 10) and we will be following along. Our Level 6 students are already thinking of ways to support and encourage Sean in both his running and fundraising attempts. To find out more about Sean or to follow along check out his website https://seanbellruns.com/ or his socials https://www.facebook.com/seanbellruns

Upcoming Dates

Tues 19 March - Senior Cross Country (Levels 3-6)
Mon 22 April - Senior House Athletics (Levels 4-6)
Weeks 1- 4 in term 2 (10 days) - Level 3 & 4 swimming