A massive shout out to St Joseph's School who have embraced opportunities to get their tamariki moving, playing and having fun.

St Joseph’s School put student wellbeing at the heart of all they do. With this in mind, a lot of awesome mahi has taken place relating to Physical Education, curriculum integration, physical activity and play. 

Vic Sheehy is one of the teachers who has taken on the challenge of trying new approaches for the benefit of her tamariki. Vic was looking to engage all her learners and found integration with physical activity was a great way to support students with their understanding of classroom learning. Physical activity also allowed Vic to cater for a range of learning styles and ensure the learning was meaningful for students. See the attached video to see how Vic used movement to support her students learning place value concepts. Vic has also impressed with her willingness to ‘let go’ during Physical Education lessons to allow students to explore and build their own understanding, while being ably supported by her strategic questioning. 

St Joseph’s school have found that there are many benefits to tamariki having opportunities to Play. The school has explored what Play looks like in their school and what opportunities exist to expand Play opportunities in their school. The Active Southland Playler has been put to good use, with tamariki clambering to get their item of choice at break times. As well as the physical activity and social benefits, duty staff noted that behaviour issues were almost non-existent at break times when students had access to the Playler. 

St Joseph’s have successfully applied for funding through Tu Manawa Active Aoeteroa and will soon receive shiny multi use (basketball and netball) hoops in school to promote even more physical activity and Play. But St Joseph’s aren’t stopping there, some of their next steps include; getting a Play Shed to store loose part of play items, using stencils to create play activities, and continuing their mahi learning about Te Ao Māori and cultural movement.  

The tamariki are at the centre of the wonderful work St Joseph’s are doing and they are hoping that it won’t be long before tamariki are bringing their whānau to St Joseph’s school for activities and play too. 

Thanks to Pam, Vanessa, Vic and all the staff at St Joseph’s for allowing the Healthy Active Learning team to support the marvellous mahi at St Joseph’s School.  

Article added: Tuesday 05 December 2023