EPISODE 1: ACTIVE RECREATION
Join our Expert Support Service staff members Samantha Barrow and Bernie Walsh as they speak with Brian McFall (Principal), Adrian Rolfe and Alicia Rolfe (Grade 5-6 teachers) from Frankston East Primary School to discuss their experience with providing Active Recreation opportunities within their school.
Within the school context active recreation can include active play and recreation before, during and after school. Active recreation opportunities include recess, lunch, outdoor learning, incursions, excursions and school camps. Unstructured, leisure-based physical activity is vital to children and young people's daily activity levels, and to develop habits that can contribute to lifelong engagement in physical activity. Schools are uniquely placed to provide students with the knowledge and understanding about the importance of active recreation while providing access to a range of developmentally appropriate, fun and non-competitive active recreation options.
EPISODE 2: SUPPORTIVE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT
Join our Expert Support Service staff members Andy Hair and Mark Wilson as they speak with Stuart Bott (Principal), Charmaine Granger (Business Manager) from Leopold Primary School to share their experience with fostering a Supportive School Environment to encourage physical activity throughout the school day!
A supportive school environment is integral to an active school, which encourages physical activity throughout the school day. The design of the school environment directly influences how active students will be during class and break time, as well as before and after school.
Fit for purpose school sporting facilities are key in activating communities, as they support the delivery of quality physical education and school sport. They also act as community hubs for sporting clubs and programs after school.
EPISODE 3: ACTIVE CLASSROOMS
Join our Expert Support Service staff members Gabrielle Smales and Monique FitzGerald as they explore practical strategies to implement Active Classrooms in your school with Natalie Lander, Senior Research Fellow - Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN), School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences at Deakin University and Jess Orr, Secondary Teacher and Educational Lead at TransformUs.
Active classrooms create active learners. Children and young people who move more often have improved concentration and are more engaged in class. Active classrooms incorporate movement into classroom learning helping students retain knowledge in a meaningful way. Small changes in the classroom can have a big impact on student learning, health and contribution to their daily activity levels. An active classroom involves: - active breaks between and within learning activities - learning activities which involve movement - working at benches, standing desks, on the floor, or in combination to create movement between work areas - learning outdoors.
EPISODE 4: ACTIVE TRAVEL
Join our Expert Support Service staff member Michelle Barry and Zoe McMaster from Merri-bek City Council as they explore practical strategies you can use to implement Active Travel into your school, a key priority area of the Active Schools Framework designed to prepare students to lead a physically active and healthy life.
Being active on the way to and from school contributes significantly to kids daily physical activity and increases social and community connectedness. It also has many other benefits including:
· increasing social interactions with family and friends
· fostering school and community connectedness
· supporting mobility independence and familiarity with the neighbourhood
· reducing road and public transport congestion and pollution.
Schools can support active travel by:
· encouraging parents to support their children to actively travel to school
· providing facilities that support active travel to and from school for students, staff and families (e.g. bike racks, bike shelters)
· offering bicycle education programs and guidance on safe routes to school
· working with families and local councils to provide safe and convenient routes to schools.
EPISODE 5: QUALITY SCHOOL SPORT
Join our Expert Support Service staff members Helen Owies and Josh Vassallo and Blair and Shaun from Altona College as they explore practical strategies you can use to implement Quality School Sport into your school, a key priority area of the Active Schools Framework designed to prepare students to lead a physically active and healthy life.
Quality school sport provides opportunities for all students to participate in a format suitable to their age, skill and ability whilst also linking students with local sporting clubs. Quality School Sport...
· is inclusive and accessible
· encourages participation over performance
· creates links with local community sports clubs
· teaches resilience, teamwork and fosters a sense of school pride
· includes a diverse range of sporting activities to cater to varying interests
There are many options for year-round school sport delivery within schools including:
· sport education programs
· intra-school sports events (e.g. extracurricular and sporting programs)
· inter-school sport
· interstate school sport opportunities.