Year 8 Push Program

By Mr Ben White (Year 8 Team Leader)

What is ‘PUSH’ you may ask?  It is the centrepiece of our student experience in Year 8 at BHCS.  Being a teenager can have its challenges.  From peer pressure, puberty, exams, tests, expectation from parents, and then the perception of ourselves.  This can be quite the minefield!

It is well documented that the benefits of exercise and general fitness are linked to social/emotional well-being.  Research has also shown that academic focus and performance is improved when we exercise due to increased brain activity.  PUSH has been developed around this idea - exercise and physical exertion prior to classwork helps us to focus our attention and think clearly.

“It’s about growth versus decay, activity versus inactivity. The body was designed to be pushed, and in pushing our bodies we push our brains too....so as far as our brains are concerned, if we’re not moving, there’s no real need to learn anything.”

― John J. Ratey, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain

We are in such a blessed school, with fantastic opportunities, and as a result we can provide this program to our students.  We offer 4 different activities that not only get students engaging in physical education, but focus on developing a personalised base level of fitness.  Our hope is that by educating young people about the importance of fitness and health they will see the benefits to their body, their mind, and learn these practices for their futures.  The activities offered currently are: Mountain Bike Riding, Fitness/Cross-Training, Trekking and Boxing; all aimed at stretching the students to push themselves to their limits and engage in an active curriculum.

Here are some student reflections on PUSH to date:

"I like the PUSH program because it has given me inspiration to be active outside of school. It is a well coordinated program with a variety of activities and workouts."

“I did mountain bike riding and it was great to do something unique like this in school.”

“Push is fun because it gets you moving.  Last term I did boxing, which was amazing because I got to punch the boxing bags with my friends.”

It has been great to see some students really begin to thrive as they are given opportunities to test their limits and PUSH themselves physically, and most of all, they are loving it!  Most parents and teachers who learn of this program respond simply with: “Wow! That sounds fantastic, I wish I could have done that when I was at school!”.  To all of our Year 8 Students - well done.  Let's keep on pushing through to the end of the year!