Indooroopilly State School:
HPE: Health and Physical Education:
There are three physical education teachers and all of them are new to Indooroopilly State School. Their longtime physical education teacher retired.
PE with Leonard:
I observed Leonard for several Prep (Kindergarten) classes. It is his first time teaching at the primary level - he has only taught high school physical education before and wanted a change. He teaches Prep and Year 5 and 6 students only. What a contrast. I did not get to speak too much with Leonard, as we only had time between class transitions to chat. He said that the program before was very skill and assessment driven, and the new team of physical education teachers are trying to move it in the direction of skills within games with less emphasis on the assessment even though students will still be assessed on skills. The purpose is to make it more play oriented at the younger levels and more fun at the older levels with game type experiences so students can pick activities they might like to pursue more in the sports programs held after school. He is only six weeks into teaching at the primary level, so he is still getting oriented to the curriculum and has not yet explored assessment much at this age level. He is not even sure what exactly he will need to report on to parents for physical education yet. He thinks at the Prep level he does not report out, but he might at the year 5 and 6 level.
Swimming with Lulu:
I observed two swim classes with Lulu. This was really cool for me since I have an extensive swimming background. All students getting swim instruction once a week for 30 minutes in Term 1 and 4 (which is their summer and spring terms). Although it was funny to hear that in the winter, their temperature is in the upper 60's to low 70's F and the pool is heating, so they could probably swim all year long when you think of it that way. The swim program used to be stroke technique oriented and they are changing it to a safety concepts (help yourself, help you friend) type of program and kids who want to develop swim strokes can do the swim club after school. She spoke of the difficulty transitioning programs for both students and parents, which was interesting to as I have dealt with those type of program difficulties myself in the past.
I asked her about the certifications for teaching swimming, as in the United States, you need to be certified as a Water Safety Instructor (through The American Red Cross or other equivalent program), and she said that it part of their license as a physical education teacher, that you can teach swimming in the physical education program. She also stated that she did not take any courses in her training around swimming, which I also found interesting. Seems a little too relaxed for me. In the United States, all physical education majors have to take at least one swim class as part of their schooling.
Politics and Swimming: I had mentioned that the physical education teacher at Chapel Hill State School spoke of some kind of politically push from the Governor to increase the amount of swimming time in physical education classes, but that I did not know what the politics behind this push was. Lulu enlightened me on this information. She said that Queensland is the only State in Australia that swimming in not compulsatory (mandatory) at this time. However, Queensland is required to make it mandatory to the extend described in the AC by that 2020 deadline, so that is why it is being pushed to increase the amount of swim time students receive in physical education class.
Lulu and I talked about HPE (health and physical education) in the Australian Curriculum at lunch.
She said that the curriculum splits them into Personal, Social and Community Health and Movement and Physical Activity. They are using the Content Descriptors and Achievement Standards to plan their instruction, but are not using the assessment samples from the AC (Australian Curriculum) as that are not that well written for their age groupings. They are in the process of creating their own assessments where they will be able to look at skill in games and other learning activities.
As for health, I did not meet or observe the health teacher during my visit, as he was not teaching health those days. He is the only physical education teacher who also teaches health and as Leonard and Lulu said "it is not a health day for him". Lulu and Leonard were not able to talk knowledgeable about how health works at Indooroopilly State School as they do not teach health education.
HPE: Health and Physical Education:
PE with Leonard:
I observed Leonard for several Prep (Kindergarten) classes. It is his first time teaching at the primary level - he has only taught high school physical education before and wanted a change. He teaches Prep and Year 5 and 6 students only. What a contrast. I did not get to speak too much with Leonard, as we only had time between class transitions to chat. He said that the program before was very skill and assessment driven, and the new team of physical education teachers are trying to move it in the direction of skills within games with less emphasis on the assessment even though students will still be assessed on skills. The purpose is to make it more play oriented at the younger levels and more fun at the older levels with game type experiences so students can pick activities they might like to pursue more in the sports programs held after school. He is only six weeks into teaching at the primary level, so he is still getting oriented to the curriculum and has not yet explored assessment much at this age level. He is not even sure what exactly he will need to report on to parents for physical education yet. He thinks at the Prep level he does not report out, but he might at the year 5 and 6 level.
Swimming with Lulu:
I asked her about the certifications for teaching swimming, as in the United States, you need to be certified as a Water Safety Instructor (through The American Red Cross or other equivalent program), and she said that it part of their license as a physical education teacher, that you can teach swimming in the physical education program. She also stated that she did not take any courses in her training around swimming, which I also found interesting. Seems a little too relaxed for me. In the United States, all physical education majors have to take at least one swim class as part of their schooling.
Politics and Swimming: I had mentioned that the physical education teacher at Chapel Hill State School spoke of some kind of politically push from the Governor to increase the amount of swimming time in physical education classes, but that I did not know what the politics behind this push was. Lulu enlightened me on this information. She said that Queensland is the only State in Australia that swimming in not compulsatory (mandatory) at this time. However, Queensland is required to make it mandatory to the extend described in the AC by that 2020 deadline, so that is why it is being pushed to increase the amount of swim time students receive in physical education class.
Lulu and I talked about HPE (health and physical education) in the Australian Curriculum at lunch.
As for health, I did not meet or observe the health teacher during my visit, as he was not teaching health those days. He is the only physical education teacher who also teaches health and as Leonard and Lulu said "it is not a health day for him". Lulu and Leonard were not able to talk knowledgeable about how health works at Indooroopilly State School as they do not teach health education.
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