Physical & Health Education

Year 8: parkour

by Beth Alvarez, teacher of Physical & Health Education

Parkour has, in recent years, become an urban sensation. It is about freedom and efficiency of movement. Parkour began in France and it is an activity that requires the participant to rapidly move through an area, typically in an urban environment, negotiating obstacles by running, jumping and climbing. Online videos of people performing seemingly impossible physical feats with grace and athleticism have made this ‘sport’ very popular.

Our Physical and Health Education program is constantly evolving alongside its students; aiming to introduce them to the endless opportunities and options available for a fun, active and healthy lifestyle.

This term’s Aesthetic Movement unit sees our wonderful Year 8 students move away from more traditional units such barn dances and aerobics and begin their parkour lessons. We have two highly-experienced and qualified instructors from Melbourne Parkour running these lessons during class time.  During the lesson the instructors have our students tumbling, jumping and ‘falling with control’. It is important to note at this point that the first lesson focused heavily on safety skills such as correct landing technique. The students navigate steps and obstacles around the School that conventionally we wouldn’t view as an ‘athletic challenge’.

By the end of the unit, students will have gained an awareness of their body in space and motion and enhanced their health and knowledge by utilising skills involved in the generation of momentum, power and speed. The feedback from students thus far has been that of curiosity, excitement... and some soreness of those under-utilised muscles.