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About the school
Arncliffe Public School is located south of the Cooks River overlooking Sydney International Airport. The school has enrolments of approximately 400 students, 75% from non-English speaking backgrounds. The school has been established for over 140 years and has a large number of older historic buildings on site.
Context
Our school applied for funding for a fundamental movement skills grant through the School Sport Foundation. Our successful application enabled us to participate in the Gold Medal Healthy Lifestyle Program. This professional development program allowed us to focus on physical activity and fundamental movement skills from Kindergarten through to Year 6.
Project outline
The project involved our school team attending three professional learning workshops in which we received training and development around the PDHPE syllabus, teaching fundamental movement skills and initiating change in PDHPE at our school. The professional learning activities provided us with time to reflect on current practices in PDHPE and develop an action plan for improving outcomes for students, providing professional development for staff and developing strategies for involving our school community. Our prime goal was to improve the quality and structure of physical education lessons and activities for K-6 with a focus on the explicit teaching of fundamental movement skills. Our school will evaluate the effectiveness of this program at the end of the 2006 school year.
What worked well?
We received excellent consultancy support from the PDHPE unit, Curriculum K-12 Directorate. The project allowed us to have the time to network with other schools to share ideas, resources and experiences. The project was received very positively by our school staff. Teacher enthusiasm for physical education increased and our project ensured that physical activity has become more structured and a permanent part of the weekly school timetable.
What would you do differently?
In the future, we are planning to ensure that all Stages within the school have prioritised and timetabled fundamental movement skills lessons during physical education at least three times per week.
Where to now?
We plan to continue to support the teaching of fundamental movement skills as a core component of the school’s weekly physical education program.
Summary
We would recommend schools to be involved in this project and apply for funding through the School Sport Foundation Grants. It is important to have Principal and executive support throughout the program. This has helped to guide and drive staff. It is important to allocate time to reflect on and review physical and human resources in the school and to monitor the progress of the planned change process.
Author: Pam Ladd, Assistant Principal, Arncliffe Public School
