Sport
The Return to PE in the Junior School
Marius Ndiaye, Head of PDHPE and Director of Sports Strategy
Since returning from lockdown, it has been great to see the impact of movement and interaction among students through our PE Program. Junior School PE focuses on introducing fundamental movement skills to our girls in Prep to Year 6. Prep PE is an important introduction to our program as it exposes the girls to a more structured approach to physical literacy at a younger age. In addition, it provides more opportunities to develop self-awareness through movement.
Aquatics has also been a fixture since our girls' return, aiming to further develop their confidence in the water. Students have missed a lot of Swimming due to being in lockdown over the last two years, so it has been essential that we got the girls back in the water. An important team member in our Aquatics program is Lauren Spears. Lauren works with Tivoli Swim School, but also assists us with our Aquatics program. The relationship that we have with Lauren and Tivoli Swim School has been a big reason behind the success of our Swimming program from Junior School to Senior School.
Out of the water, our PE lessons have been focusing on fun and engaging activities, allowing students to develop strategy and tactics. Students are learning to develop spatial awareness and the manipulation of their bodies to achieve success in various games. These are just some examples of the vast opportunities that students get in Junior School PE at Kambala.
The Gold Squad Elite Athlete Program
Marius Ndiaye, Head of PDHPE and Director of Sports Strategy
The Gold Squad has been running on Zoom for the last Semester. 2Hfd have been providing the girls with an alternative strength and conditioning program that has been engaging despite being remote. Most recently, the girls have also been working on their flexibility and core strength through pilates with Laura Halls.
Another exciting fixture on the program is the addition of Sports Psychology sessions. The area of mental fitness or mental strength does not get enough attention but can have the biggest influence on an athlete’s performance. David King from Athletes Authority has been working with the girls on important topics such as goal chasing, managing anxiety and building resilience. Through these sessions, the girls shared their mantras and what drives them. In future sessions, they will continue to learn more about themselves and be exposed to useful strategies to improve their performance.
The feedback has been really positive and the girls will continue into 2022 with more exciting plans for this Elite Athlete Program.
I thought that the Sports Psychology presentation on Goal Chasing was very effective because it taught you how to deal with the mental step of achieving goals. This part is the hardest of them all and I believed that this presentation covered it extremely well.
– Laura Janes, Year 7
I really liked the Sports Psychology presentation on Managing Anxiety and Building Resilience. The inclusion of the challenges allowed me to understand myself and reflect on my personal thinking and how I approach challenges and tasks.
– Taliah Strang, Year 10
