Physical & Health Education Term Highlights

12/9/2021

By Ms. Gillian Wright, Head of PE, Junior School

In the Junior School, we are fortunate to have the opportunity for students to participate daily in physical education classes. Throughout the year, students participate in a variety of physical activities and games, with the goal of developing fundamental movement skills, teamwork, sportsmanship, and activities that promote physical health and mental wellness.

Over the past few months, student-athletes have been busy developing their physical literacy and movement skills on the field, around the trail and in the gym:

Junior Kindergarten & Kindergarten: Students have been exploring personal space, locomotion skills, and cooperative activities. They have also enjoyed expressing themselves through music and dance.
Grade 1: Students have enjoyed tag games and relays, which have helped them learn about spatial awareness and rule following. They have also been practicing their underhand throwing and catching skills.
Grade 2: Students have been learning about fair play through a series of partner and group games, learning how to congratulate the winners while encouraging one another and applauding everyone’s efforts in a respectful manner. Favourite games include Sink the Ship, Monster Ball and Boom City, which helped them develop throwing and catching skills.
Grade 3: Students participated in a soccer unit during the first term where they practiced their dribbling, passing and trapping skills. They have also been learning a variety of new games to develop their throwing, catching and cooperation skills.
Grade 4: Students have enjoyed developing their hand-eye coordination, patterning, and reaction time in the game of Speed Stacking. They have also developed self-awareness and pacing in our cross country/fitness lessons.
Grade 5: Students have been developing their personal awareness and social responsibility in a variety of games, practicing their teamwork, fair play and leadership skills.
Grade 6: Through a scientific lens, students learned about changes associated with puberty in a series of class lectures/discussions as part of our health education program with Ms. Scaligine, school counsellor.
Grade 7: Students were keen participants in the return of Term 1 Athletics, working hard in soccer and volleyball to advance their personal skills and tactical understanding of the games.

Reminders:

As PE classes take place outdoors throughout the winter months, please ensure your child is prepared with warm layers, a rain jacket, and a toque and gloves.
Indoor shoes, kept at school, are essential for safe participation in indoor activities.

Athletics Recap
By Mr. Mark Wong, Athletic Director, Junior School

This fall we enthusiastically welcomed back our athletics teams: grades 3-7 cross country, grades 5-7 boys soccer and grades 5-7 girls volleyball (we look forward to offering grades 5-7 boys volleyball in PE classes in the spring term). Congratulations to our grade 7 girls, who placed 1st overall in ISEA volleyball league play, and to our cross country team who finished 2nd overall at the ISEA Cross Country Championships (with numerous top 10 individual performances).

We look forward to the term ahead, which includes grades 5-7 basketball and grade 7 swimming. Please check your WolfNet team pages for updated schedule and team information for the season.

Note on Athletic Teams: At the provincial ISEA (elementary school) level, athletic teams and seasons for boys and girls are impacted by the availability of interschool leagues, the number of students competing in various sports, and competing/conflicting sports during certain seasons. For this reason, some sports are coed, some are gender-specific with designated seasons (e.g. boys soccer plays in the fall and girls soccer in the spring), and some may be offered at a PE/club level rather than a competitive team level (e.g. volleyball).

Another consideration is gym availability; in the fall and winter, specifically, indoor practice space is at a premium, and so we endeavour to offer the most populated sports in early fall and spring for maximum participation. If you have any questions about the structure of interschool sport currently, please connect with Mr. Wong.

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Physical & Health Education Term Highlights

West Point Grey Academy