Physical Activity Improves Academic Results

Research over the years has indicated that physical activity improves academic results. Charles Basch from Columbia University summarised how the brain is positively impacted by being active by:

The flow of oxygen to the brain is increased
The number of brain neurotransmitters is increased, which assists your ability to focus, concentrate, learn, remember and handle stress
The number of brain-derived neurotrophins is increased, which assures the survival of neurons in areas of the brain that are responsible for learning, memory and higher thinking.

Unfortunately, only 1 in 5 young people between the ages of 5 to 14 meet their daily requirements of physical activity (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare). Over the past few years here at PPS, we have tried to make physical activity opportunities for families more convenient and affordable to ensure children can reap the benefits. These currently include:

Run Club (Mon, Tues and Thurs – Senior Campus)
Swim Squad (Wed – Year – 2 to 6)
Netball Clinics (Thurs – Senior Campus)
KIDDO FMS activities (Prep & Year 1 – online portal)
WOW Tuesday (Walk or Wheels to school)

If you need more information or are needing assistance with physical activities for your child please get in touch.

Northern Parx Netball Club Clinics

This term we were able to make community connections with the Northern Parx Netball Club. NPNC coaches have been delivering clinics before school on a Thursday morning to deliver engaging activities to build interest among students in the netball game. Students from Year 2 – 6 have enjoyed participating and being active before school. There are still a few weeks left for the clinics so if you are interested in attending or registering for NPNC please click on the link below for more information.

Northern Parx Netball Club - https://epic-feynman-60b596.netlify.app/

Cross Country

This term we held our PPS Cross Country Carnival. The focus of the event was to maximise participation among all students. Sometimes when students face the idea of long-distance running, they may be turned off and look to avoid it. With so many events in our community and Australia wide now being classed as fun runs, it was easy to promote this idea to students to just enjoy their time being active with friends for the morning. All students that attended school that morning took part with the event being a success. As part of these fun runs there is also the competitive side where students aim to qualify to represent PPS at the district cross country event.

Congratulations to Archie J, Phoebe J, Quinn H, Ruby S, Jackson C and Freya M for winning their races and well done to all those students who qualified.

The district event will be held on Wednesday the 22nd of May at Parade College.

Good luck!

Community Partnerships

This year we are inviting sporting clubs into the school to run clinics at PPS before or after school. The concept behind this is for students to take up sport outside of school and engage in the community. 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.

Thank you

Kris Mihal and Lisa Hayes

2024 Term Dates
Term 2	15 April to 28 June
	Friday 07 June is a PUPIL FREE DAY

Term 3	15 July to 20 September
	Monday 12 August is a PUPIL FREE DAY (please note change of date - 19 August is now a normal school day)

Term 4	7 October to 20 December
	Friday 22 November is a PUPIL FREE DAY
	Friday 13 December is a PUPIL FREE DAY

2024 Term Dates and Pupil Free Days