Educación Física y Salud 

Cross Country 

First, I would like to say a big thank you to all families and caregivers who came to Newlands Cross Country Carnival to help and cheer on our runners. It was a fantastic day for the school community. We received great feedback from students and that is why I am excited to announce that the event will have the same format (with some minor changes) for the next year!  

Last Wednesday, our fastest runners from Year 4, 5 and 6 had the pleasure to represent Newlands in Cross Country Coburg District and they did extraordinarily well. I am very proud that the students got involved in physical activities which help them not only stay physically healthy but which also build new relationships and improve their mental health. Great effort everyone!

Interschool Sport Competition - Term 2

This term, our Year 456 students are competing against three other schools in Netball, Football and Australian Rules Football. We were scheduled to start the competition last Friday; however, it was cancelled by the visiting school. Therefore, the competition officially started today, and Newlands faced Pascoe Vale South. They made an incredible effort and showed great cooperation and collaboration within their teams! Next Friday, we will wrap up this short competition playing against St Bernards. For those parents willing to cheer on our players, the games start at 11.30am and finish at 1pm. They will take place at the following venues:

- Netball: St Bernards Primary School

- Football and Australian Rules Football: McDonald Reserve

F1

The first two weeks of Term 2, our F1 students have been involved in running activities that helped them build their stamina and physical resilience, as they got ready for our Cross Country Carnival. The main focus was on helping students build a positive relationship towards running. They learned how to correr (run) at different paces and swing their arms back and forth to gain balance. Chasing and tagging games were introduced to improve students sprinting skills and a 150m racecourse was used to learn how to control their energy levels when running long distances. Currently, our F1 students are learning how to lanzar (throw) and coger (catch) tennis balls with one hand. They are showing a great commitment to keeping their eyes on the ball, throwing the ball straight up and placing their hands in ball-shaped positions to get ready to catch. In the following weeks, they will spend time to practise underarm and overarm throwing to hit different targets. 

Some of the below pictures are from the Gymnastic program which took place at the end of last term.

23

At the beginning of this term, our grade 23 students have been focusing on learning how to reduce/increase speed when running, to manage their energy levels. They took part in different individual and team activities and games where they had to pace themselves to achieve a certain goal. Some of the games they most enjoyed were, "The animals speed" and "Carreras Locas". 

At this stage, I am running a basketball teaching unit where students are learning how to botar (bounce), driblar (dribble), pasar (pass), recibir (received) and lanzar (shoot) through fun team games. Baloncesto (basketball) is one of the most played sports in our community and those students with most advanced skills are showing excellent collaboration by helping others how to perform different skills effectively. Team sport games help children improve their communication skills as well as build their self-confidence by actively participating in making decisions in collaboration with others. If you have a pelota de baloncesto (basketball) at home, let your children show you what they are learning at school! 

456

Our students in Year 456 are extremely lucky to enjoy a variety of opportunities to perform physical activity and exercise this term. Apart from a weekly PE class, they also participated in Cross Country Carnival and this week they started the Interschool Sport Competition. 

During our first two weeks of this term, PE classes were focused on increasing student stamina while running long distances. They learned how to pace themselves and control their energy levels through respiration and hydration. In the first classes, they took part in team relay races, sprinting activities, and a long-distance racecourse. The Newlands Cross Country event was a great opportunity for us to discuss and learn the importance of doing physical activity in a natural environment and how to use this to promote health and wellbeing within the community. 

Health is the main focus this term. We learned how to compare food labels and talk about the nutritional value. We have had the opportunity to explore how healthy food becomes energy for our bodies and the significance of this to stay physically and mentally healthy.

Currently, our students are learning different skills in baloncesto (basketball), putting more emphasis on how to work collaboratively to attack and defend as a team. They are also learning different aspects of team sport  such as effective communication, fair play and respect. 

Raul - Health and Physical Education teacher