爆料社区

Our Lady of the Assumption is one of over 900 schools across the motu being supported to transform its approach to physical activity. Its journey has seen the school make the most of other funding and resources available through 爆料社区 to create an environment that is more holistic and inclusive for all 膩konga.

Visit Our Lady of the Assumption, a year 1-8 special character school in 艑tautahi Christchurch, and you can expect to see 膩konga walking around on stilts and bouncing on moonhoppers at lunchtime, teachers learning marching routines as part of their professional learning and development (PLD), and a whole school, student-led and designed Commonwealth games complete with tug-of-war and soaked-sponge races.

鈥淲e were getting a variety of students from different backgrounds and so their background in physical activity and PE is different as well. We were dynamic and changing and needed to think of ways to address that,鈥� says principal Janet Cummings.

Sport Canterbury鈥檚 Healthy Active Learning team has supported the school to make the change. The local Regional Sports Trust facilitated staff PLD, introduced resources such as MoveWell, ran leadership workshops for the school鈥檚 physical activity student leaders (PALs), and supported the school to strengthen its connections to its local community, including local sport and physical activity providers.听

For lead PE teacher Bridget Grant, it has helped teachers, 膩konga, and wh膩nau expand their understanding of what being active can look like at school.听

鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 just have to be that we are going for five laps of the field and then doing 10 star jumps. There are so many different things you can do.鈥澨�

Thanks to T奴 Manawa funding, the school also introduced a play pod to help 膩konga engage in unstructured free play. Co-designed with PALs it comes out every break time and features stilts, moonhoppers and, in Bridget鈥檚 words, 鈥渂ig construction things鈥�.听听听

鈥淧lay is so important for their development 鈥� and its incidental exercise. Sometimes they don鈥檛 even realise they are exercising, or doing PE, or doing a sport. They are just enjoying themselves moving,鈥� she says.听

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Isla, who is eight years old, is a big fan of the play pod, saying, 鈥淚 like bouncing on the moonhoppers because I like bouncing on the field.鈥�

T奴 Manawa has also supported the school to increase and diversify the sport opportunities available to 膩konga. In addition to traditional offerings like hockey, football and netball, 膩konga have travelled to their local gymnastics club Olympia 鈥� that also provided the school with a trailer of gymnastics equipment.听

Healthy Active Learning facilitator Vicki Cowley then provided teachers with PLD to support teaching gymnastics in the classroom.听

There is also handball, golf, volleyball, and marching 鈥� all delivered on school grounds by teachers or in the local community.听

Janet says the increased range of opportunities is giving more 膩konga an opportunity to shine.听

鈥淲e were surprised by one of the young boys who led the marching team. If we hadn鈥檛 given him that opportunity, we would never have known that he had those skills.鈥澨�

Physical activity is also now embedded in the strategic plan and there is an understanding across the school of the connection between physical activity, mental wellbeing, and learning.听

鈥淲e are all reading from the same page, we are all singing from the same song sheet, we all value this for our tamariki,鈥� says Bridget.

Bridget, as lead teacher, has worked especially closely with Vicki. The model means Bridget can reach out to Vicki for support when she needs it and her team then cater to the unique needs of the teachers, students and school.听听

鈥淪he鈥檚 been an amazing resource,鈥� Bridget says. 鈥淪he鈥檚 taught us to trust and value ourselves and know that actually we can do this.鈥澨�

Vicki says the model allows change to come from within the school 鈥� ensuring it is sustainable and reflects the values of students and teachers.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the questions and conversations that the staff are having with each other 鈥� I just provide them with the platform for them to have those conversations to see what they want to do and what they want to achieve.鈥�

Versions of this story were originally published in the and .