However, not all students enjoyed home-based learning and couldn’t wait to come back to school!! Since we have been back on campus the boys have been engaging in many interesting health discussions and fun practical activities. Some classes have taken the opportunity during good weather to sit outside to do theory lessons.
The focus for Terms 3 and 4 for all Years 7-10 PDHPE and the Physical Activity and Sport Studies (PASS) classes has been more on engagement and participation rather than completing formal assessment tasks. Examples of some of the tasks they have produced include:
Year 7: Safe and Sound – Drugs and Water Safety
Year 8: Bullying
Year 9: Risk Taking
Year 10: Careers Vision Boards
Year 10 Physical Activity and Sport Studies (PASS) have had a taste of golf, while the Year 12 Sport, Lifestyle and Recreation (SLR) classes have been taking ‘master classes’ with Mr Ellis and Mr Carpenter. The Year 12 Sport, Lifestyle and Recreation (SLR) class participated in The 2021 St Edward’s Invitational on The Royal St Edward’s Ovals. It is pleasing to see the improvement in their technique and accuracy, a lot of them had a lot of room for improvement.
Healthy4Life
Year 9 completed another Health4Life survey as a follow up to the online course they completed in Year 7. The study, run by Sydney University, tracks students yearly to gauge the level of understanding students gain after taking part in the course and PDHPE lessons. The main focus is ‘The Big 6’ Health behaviours for young people: alcohol, smoking, exercise, sleep, screen time and diet. There is also an ‘app’ linked to the study.
Thirsty? Choose water!
The Environment, Sport and Wellbeing portfolio lobbied for and were successful in acquiring a new refill station which was installed next to the old one. The first station was a gift to the school after Year 7 students participated in the Thirsty? Choose Water! initiative. The activities from this initiative have been incorporated into our school program and the boys have learned a great deal about the benefits to their health by choosing water over sweetened drinks. The water station records the number of refills that are made which demonstrates how many plastic bottles are avoided by refilling your own bottle. It also shows how many boys choose water over sweetened drinks.
HSC – PDHPE
The boys sat their PDHPE HSC exam last week and by all accounts it seemed to be a fair test. Home based learning gave them more time to study or more time to become disengaged! It will be interesting to see the results and we wish the boys all the best with their future endeavours. At least 10 students have gained early entry into PDHPE related courses.
Year 11 2022 – Outdoor Recreation Course
Mr Gentle, Mrs Dignam and Mrs Henderson are busy preparing the new Outdoor Recreation VET course that has been introduced for 2022. It sounds like a fun way to spend your school time: surfing, mountain biking, hiking, paddling kayaks and canoes, camping and doing work placement at our Year 7 and 9 camps.
