Early Years Sport

Walk-A-Thon

On Monday 6 March, students in years Prep, 1, 2 & Year 6 buddies participated in the Walk-A-Thon!

The students could walk or run laps of the oval earning points towards their House teams. It was a fantastic morning with all the students having fun being physically active.

In total all of the Early Years students walked 1087 laps of the oval, which would be almost 435km!

4th Meers Blue House – 208 laps

3rd Crichton Yellow House – 251 laps

2nd Upton Green House – 280 laps

1st Schippers Red House – 348 laps

Swimming Program

During week 7 & 8 this term all Prep, 1 & 2 students will be completing the Swimming and Water Safety Program at YMCA Epping Leisure City, Epping. Please practice with your child so they are confident at; getting dressed, undressed, drying themselves, using the toilet while wearing bathers and wearing a seatbelt when travelling on the bus.

Parent helpers should be contacted this week with their designated times and we greatly appreciate your help with the students. A reminder if you are unable to now help, to contact Chelsea Pirogov at the Office.

Sally Donaldson

Primary Teacher, PE

Junior House Cross Country

Last Thursday, 2 March, the students in Years 3-6 participated in our annual House Cross Country carnival.

The students had mild conditions for the event – perfect for cross country. All students were urged to participate, even if they walked, as participation meant earning house points towards the House Cross Country shield.

Most students ran the different events, attempting to do better than they did last year, although walking was encouraged as a form of participation as well. Students in the 8/9/10 year age group ran 2km, and students in the 11, or 12/13, year age group ran 3km.

Students finishing in the top ten, for their event, earned increased number of house points. The top 10 in each event will have the opportunity to attend the District Cross Country carnival on Thursday 18th May at Eltham Lower Park, there will be more information to follow for these students.

I congratulate all participants at our carnival, all top ten place getters, and especially, the top three place getters for each event who are listed below.

Junior House Cross Country top 3 results - 2023
Placing	Girls – 8/9/10 years	Girls – 11 years	Girls – 12/13 years
1	Milla C	Amie P	Ellie C
2	Abigail P	Amelia W	Chloe W
3	Kiara C-G	Hannah B	Eve H
	Boys – 8/9/10 years	Boys – 11 years	Boys – 12/13 years
1	Jonny S	Jackson W	Hamish S
2	Matthew S	Axel C	Jai C
3	Malachi R	Kayleb R	Daniel E

After tallying all participation, and top 10 finishing house points, I can announce that Crichton house is the champion cross country house for 2023 – well done Crichton house.

Final tallies – Crichton: 169; Schippers: 132; Upton: 125; Meers: 114

Practice Enhances Progress

For all students, regardless of age, practice enhances progress. This is especially true within PE and Sport skills, and much of the basic practice does not need to be high level, nor does it require significant equipment.

All games/sports require participants to utilise one, or a combination of, Fundamental Movement Skills (FMS) – these include skills such as catch, throw (underarm and overarm), striking (using a bat or racquet), ground kicking (like soccer), punt kicking (like AFL), running, dodging, and leaping.

Of all the skills, other than the body movement skills of run, dodge, and leap, catching and throwing are skills which have such a wide range of uses within games/sports. It is unsettling to view the disappointment on a child’s face when they attempt to engage in games where throw and catch are needed, yet they can’t fully participate because they are simply not confident enough with these important fundamental skills.

I encourage all students to make time to practice the skills of catch and throw (underarm and overarm) at home, especially students in P-6. Students are taught the important elements of these skills at school and are regularly coached on methods that enhance catch and throw success, and confidence.

Practice at home does not need to be intense, it simply needs to be fun and consistent. A tennis ball is all that is needed to begin suitable practice outside, or rolled up socks, or a soft toy, for practice inside.

Students in P-6 are encouraged to collaborate with their brothers and sisters for their practice; many students have siblings at PVCC who are learning the exact same skills – perfect to practice with! Further, a number of primary-aged students have siblings in secondary school whom they can practice with.

Practice of catch and throw (underarm and overarm) at home will assist your child/children to participate with increased confidence, and pride, in activities at school.

Guy Gurney

Primary Teacher - PE Specialist

Camp Australia

Incursions in After School Care