Physical Education

From Kale Vagnoni and  Mark Quinn, PE teachers

Hop Step and Jump

Molesworth Campus

Our Preps, 1’s and 2’s have hit the ground running this Term. Quite literally. Running has been our focus this week. Our Fundamental Movement Skill of choice. Our bread and butter. Our nuts and bolts. Our soup de jour, but with movement not soup.

Perhaps in a subconscious attempt to undo Kale’s Easter egg exploits of the holiday break, we’ve used an old school classic PE game, Rob the Nest, to delve deeper into this complex skill we call running. Looking out across a busy Molesworth yard at playtime it’s evident that most students naturally do it. But how do we do it? What movement ingredients do we add to the pot? And how do we add spice?

The start of this long schlep has been all about the target. If you are running somewhere, look at that somewhere. Don’t look to the side or even worse, behind you, as those in that busy playtime yard so often do. “Keep your eyes on the prize”, we’ve been reminding them, for both safety and stride efficiency.

After all, it’s just one food in front of the other…

Errol St

Despite the denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance of it all at the end of Term 1, our prayers have been answered and our glorious Autumn weather patterns have kicked into gear. Crisp mornings, warm afternoons, blue skies. Athletics season is officially here!

This week has seen the Seniors follow the Juniors with a focus on running. Both Sprints and Hurdles have been underway, with plenty of grit and determination. 

With shoes or barefoot, kids in Year 3 to 6 have been laser-focussed on that finish line. The complex skill of hurdling bringing with it a handful of kids who didn’t even let falling over stop them from springing back up and moving as fast as they possibly could toward the end goal. Perhaps it’s something to do with the weather?

This year we will be including some of our core Health Curriculum concepts in the PE Dept Newsletter. The idea behind this is to give families a little more scope into the Health curriculum that is delivered in lessons throughout the year. These Health Hacks are designed to be a great talking point for discussions at home surrounding Health and Movement. 

This week at the Molesworth Campus our Health focus has been a revisit of the importance of the breath as a tool to help ourselves out when strong emotions begin to take over. 

Breathing Right When Things Go Wrong: 

Life is full of ups and downs. Focussed breathwork can help us find peace and calm if we are feeling flustered. Try these types out at home;

Box Breathing: Inhale, pause, exhale, pause - each for 4 seconds. Repeat.

Balloon Breathing: Place a hand on your belly and imagine a balloon filling with air as you slowly breathe in and a balloon letting air out as you slowly breathe out. Repeat

And the next time the feeling of anger enters your body, try 5 slow breaths, in through the nose and out through the mouth. How do you feel now?