Healthy Schools Hub News #2

Healthy Schools
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Health Breaks healthy schools hub is full of resources and tools for teachers to support the health and wellbeing of their students.

Healthy Schools 2022
#2

Theme of the Month – Colours
In working with schools early this year we heard some recurring feedback about how children have coped with the start of the school year on campus. It seems the effects of home schooling and long term lockdowns in Melbourne and Sydney have had an impact on how children behave on the school-ground. When the bell rings for lunchtime and recess, teachers are reporting that children appear a bit lost. Some are simply standing in the middle of the playground. Many have forgotten how to run, duck, weave, dodge and chase around the yard with their friends. This has prompted us at Health Breaks to create a range of fun-filled movement programs specifically for the playground.

This month the theme is Colours. Our Colours Program includes 5 ‘fitness through fun’ activities for building fitness, agility, coordination, spatial awareness, teamwork, cooperation and leadership. We have featured on of the activities below.

Colour Corners

This game is great for developing fitness, agility, speed and spatial awareness. Firstly, the play area is set up with a coloured cone in each corner of the space – red, blue, green, gold. A white marker is positioned in the centre of the space and this is where children start.

Using the Spinner on Health Breaks App, the leader calls out the colour displayed on the spun wheel. Children run to the corresponding cone and back while the wheel is spun again and the next colour is called out.

A few of the schools using the Program have trained their student Sport Captains to be Health Champs. These Champs take turns to lead the Colour Program activities with younger year levels in the school every Friday lunchtime. Schools who use student health champs are also providing opportunities to develop leadership skills in senior students and cooperation skills in younger students.
Next week we will feature another activity from the Colours Program.

Hints for Health Champs:
-Stand in a visible position, nice and tall.
-Use a loud voice to give instructions and call ut the colours.
-Use encouraging words like “well done……you are all so fast…..keep going”.
-Highlight safety – look and check before you change directions.
-Have fun!

Stretching has many benefits for children (and adults). Firstly, it helps to cool down muscles after activity and exercise and in some cases this helps to prevent delayed muscle soreness. Stretching helps keep joints mobile and this can help prevent injury. Stretching is also great to calm over-active bodies and minds. The act of stretching can slow down breathing and this in turn can slow down thinking and thoughts.

A five minute stretching routine can be a great way to transition from a chaotic playground to a quiet classroom.

Health Breaks app has several stretching routines for different parts of the body. To inspire your students, why not print out some of the stretch posters and post up in the classroom.

Here is a nice routine for the legs. Hold each stretch for about 20 seconds and keep breathing slow and calm.

Your Health and Wellbeing Calendar

This month is Kindness Month.

Encourage your students to do small acts of kindness for others. This can be as simple as letting someone else go first, telling someone you like them, helping someone carry or fetch something, or simply smiling.

Doing these things will lift the people they are kind to and, in return, will also make themselves feel good.

To encourage social interaction this month, suggest that students ‘buddy up’ and do some exercise (like a stretch) together. A great tool to encouarge this is our Spinners on Health Breaks app.

Enquire about Health Breaks @ Schools 2022

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