2 September 2022

When I found myself needing my ankle x-rayed after the 'serious lockdown' due to going over on it once too often when I was walking.... walking..... and for something different.... walking....., the radiologist told me that she had to x-ray many similar injuries due to different styles or amounts of exercise over that period.

The community was walking. Many of our Worser Bay children had possibly never done so much exercise in their lives! We came back to school with the intent of keeping our children moving more. This has meant that we are asking that children come 'layered up' with a coat to be able to still go outside and get fresh air, join in PE and move. This has been even more important than ever for our teachers and children in masks all day.

The Physical Education 'Move Well' resource has been embraced by the team and children have been enjoying being introduced to a wide repertoire of physical/cooperative games. This doesn't stop on abhorrent weather days either. Teachers have built up a resource bank of indoor PE games to keep things fresh and, dare I say it...., moving! When you ask your child what they learned at school today and they say "tiddlywinks" - rest assured, it's a type of indoor PE game!

Just like teaching the 3 Rs (Reading, Writing and Maths), our Physical Education programme is a serious business. It's also the thing that can fall off (historically) if the weather isn't so friendly. Now, we also have the benefit of an outside classroom on top.

No more! So please check that your child comes prepared to get outside every day - unless it's a Mary Poppins fly away type of day.

Anyway, it's officially SPRING! YAY!

So, a great time to get moving more than before..... and when we look at the impact of too much screen time on our children's physical bodies and brain development - it's even more reason. Here are just a couple of the links you can find everywhere:

Are devices affecting Kiwi kids' sporting abilities?

Tamariki & technology: insights from the research

"Move it or lose it!" is no longer a phrase only associated with our elders.