Keeping Active During Remote Learning

During online learning it is essential that students try to remain active throughout the day. When we are at school, students are normally physically active during their PE lessons, involved in community sport/training or being part of our SEGAP and/or SCSA ompetitions. Unfortunately, none of these activities are occurring at the moment. Students also move through incidental activity at school by walking to classes for different periods, going up and down the stairs and also walking around/playing games/sport etc at recess and lunchtimes. It is important that students make time throughout their day to have a break from screens, to get up and stretch and find ways to keep being active for many aspects of their own health and wellbeing.

The Program Manager of Non-Communicable Diseases at the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Fiona Bull, called for students to be less sedentary and more physically active during these times. Regular physical activity and brain breaks will help students work more productively and helps reduce students’ stress and anxiety levels. Active breaks help to recharge the body and the brain for learning. Active breaks can be as simple as putting on some music to allow our bodies to move, heading into the backyard to throw a ball around, going for a short walk or a structured online workout.

The KC Active document on the KOOL website has many different links for students to participate in with minimal equipment. This document is being updated regularly with top workouts for the week.

Here are this week's workouts:

This week we also celebrated National HEPE day on Wednesday 2nd of September. This is a Nationally recognised day to celebrate activity within our daily lives. To honour this, we organised a live session with one of our staff members, Joanne Camilleri who is also a strength and conditioning coach. All students were encouraged to go partake in this live structured fitness class. A huge thanks to all the students who participated in this activity and also to Ms Camilleri who ran the session.

Students have been active in many ways not only on National HEPE day, but each day. Included in this newsletter are articles showing how students are keeping active during online learning. I have been impressed by the variety of their activities.

Please email me, esadler@killester.vic.edu.au with your staying active ideas as I would love to include as many ideas as possible each week. Also, eating healthy and staying hydrated are important for optimal body functioning. Please find attached some recipes you might like to try with your families.

Keep being active!

Ms Sadler (Yr 10-12 HEPE Health Learning Leader)

Students Keeping Active

During this time of online learning, keeping active has been a surprisingly therapeutic thing for me in my daily routine. My workout routine usually varies daily because I adjust the activity to how I’m feeling, what the weather is like and how much time I have, for example, if I had more free time than usual and the day was particularly sunny I would play tennis with my dad and brother and do some weights after but if I was feeling a bit lazy that day and it was raining I would do some at home workouts(my favourites are by Madfit on YouTube) in my bedroom or outside on a yoga mat. I particularly enjoy jogging as I feel good after it and it also helps keep my fitness up since I can’t train at soccer. I also love that it wakes me up after looking at my screen all day doing work and eating fruit after gives me a nice energy boost to continue my work. Having a fitness app is also really useful (I use Runkeeper) as it reminds you of goals you made and measures any kind of activity you do. Staying active, even just for a few minutes a day will allow you to take a break from screens, stay healthy and give your mind a rest which I 100% recommend to anyone and everyone!

Staying active tips:

Walk, even in small places or on the spot, but outside is great as you also get some fresh air!
Try something new everyday like yoga, cardio, or even follow a virtual fitness class!
You don't need equipment to exercise, you can substitute weights out for water bottles or something else that has a similar desired weight in your home.
Set realistic goals and start small, build up the time, intensity or distance just a little bit each time so you can see the progress you've made each time.

by Katarina Kabadias, Year 10

Over the isolation period I have been trying to keep active and spending time everyday doing physical activity. It can be hard to keep motivated but some really good ways to keep active is making it fun for yourself. I personally really like going for bike rides because it is enjoyable for me. I have also been walking my dog everyday. One other thing I like to do in isolation is use ‘The Netball Coach’ to keep up my netball skills and fitness.

Some great ways of getting in at least 30 minutes of exercise each day is as simple as going for a walk or even going for a run. If you are missing your friends you can all call or facetime each other and do a group workout together. There are so many ways to keep active during isolation so give it a go.

by Charlotte Fox, Year 9

Over the course of lockdown, I have tried to keep a rotation of physical activities to maintain fitness and make up for the absence of our regular PE classes. I walk my dog around the block when the weather is permitting and having a pet allows for motivation to go out, get some exercise and some sun as it isn’t just for your own benefit. On top of that, my dad and I do weights, boxing and shoot some hoops in the front yard. Although it is hard to get motivated to keep active, I have managed to get some exercise by encouragement from my parents as well as knowing that it will have a good benefit towards my overall health and fitness.

Thank you,

by Tayla Cornell, Year 10

Now that the sun is coming out and the weather is getting warmer, it's important to go outside and be active everyday. It's really important that you go outside in order to get fresh air as well as vitamin D. Remember to wear Sunscreen! It's recommended that everyone should get at least 30 minutes of exercise daily, whether it's: playing a sport, skipping, going on a walk or run or even searching up “just dance” and doing a few of them. One way of tracking how active you are being is tracking how many steps you do everyday. You can set a daily step goal and try to achieve it every day. Another fun way of being active indoors or outdoors is putting on some music and having a jam! Hopefully I gave you some ideas on how to be active!!

by Meruna Mayooran, Year 7

Welcome to Steptember

The PE team have decided to run our very own KILLESTER STEPTEMBER - where students track their individual steps over a four week period (until the end of September).

Prizes will be awarded for Year Level Champions, as well as Individual House Step Champions in each year level.

All you need to do is record your total steps for each week (starting today) and record these in the google sheets below. That means you need to keep track of your daily totals over a seven day period.

There is a sheet for each year level which are divided into houses so you can see who has the most steps so far for your year level and your house! The sheet also specifies the dates for each week. Please refer to this when recording your steps for the week.

Mr Kelleher has kindly linked these documents into the KOOL website for your easy access - please go to KOOL - click on staying active - then click on Steptember to easily find these sheets.

Any questions please email me at rroberts@killester.vic.edu.au.

Good luck ladies and get stepping!

The PE team

Prayer