RSC Update - Term 1, Week 9

The new COVID-19 environment we've managed throughout Term 1 has thrown up a number of challenges.  With staff and students away due to isolation and close contact rules, we've all had to be flexible to adapt to changing timetables, class responsibilities and learning at home.  

Following on from the activities suggested in the last RSC Update, below is a selection of wellbeing, motor skills, brain breaks and incidental physical activities that can be incorporated in the classroom, playground, backyard and in the home.  They are a great way to break up the school day and help energise or calm children as needed.

1. Sticky Starfish

Sticky Starfish is a fine motor skills movement that...

• Develops finger isolation
• Strengthens finger extensor muscles

Tip:

• Use Sticky Starfish as a transition activity before handwriting or fine motor tasks.  It will prime the intrinsic muscles of the hand, which will help improve handwriting and fine motor task performance.  

The Sticky Starfish student handout provides an explanation on how to perform the exercise correctly.  

Sticky Starfish - Student Handout

Sticky Starfish - Student Handout 386.67 KB

2. Banana Rama

A "high energy" exercise (perfect for egg-cited little bunnies in the lead-up to Easter)!

Banana Ram is great for...

• Strengthening legs and abdominals
• Bilateral coordination.  Bilateral coordination movements engage both hemispheres of the brain, which helps prepare the brain for complex tasks and learning.
• Posture.  This movement helps to optimise our posture, particularly before or after prolonged sitting. 

The Banana Rama student handout provides an explanation on how to perform the exercise correctly. 

Banana Rama - Student Handout

Banana Rama - Student Handout 89.15 KB

Schools who sign up to GymZOONasium get access to videos, handouts and extension tasks for a huge selection of brain breaks, meditations, yoga poses and other classroom-based physical activities.  

GymZOOnasium has been 100% designed and made in Australia by a passionate team of Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Exercise Physiologists, Yoga Instructors, Teachers, Parents and Amazing Kids.

The result is a fun and engaging program that is inclusive for all abilities.

Your school can sign up for a free trial to review the activities and program before making any financial commitment.

3. Outdoor Sensory Scavenger Hunt

Sensory play includes activities that engage young children’s senses. Typically we think of the senses as being sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch, but vestibular (movement and balance) and proprioception (body position) are senses too. Yes, there are seven senses! Sensory play encourages children to use all their senses, perhaps not at the same time, but it usually targets a few.  During COVID-19 isolation and confinement, it can be challenging for families to get enough hours of physical activity each day.

When young kids engage their senses through play, they learn a host of important skills such as cognitive skills (developing knowledge), fine motor skills (grasping small items), gross motor skills (balancing and walking), language skills (learning words), problem-solving skills (reasoning), memory skills (remembering experiences), social skills (collaborating), and emotional regulation skills (managing and expression emotions). 

Active for Life has an easy solution for encouraging outdoor sensory play during the upcoming Term 1 holiidays that you can stick on your fridge or pin to your family bulletin board - the Recipe for an Active Day.

This fun activity weaves together all seven of your child’s senses. Look for things outdoors to smell, hear, see, touch, and taste and playfully move around to find them.  Skip around your yard, run along a beach or jump through a park. Most importantly, have fun together!

The featured article "Twenty Outdoor Sensory Play Activities" has numerous other ideas that can be adopted in the school, home and community environments.  

Visit the Active for Life website for more physical activity ideas.

Guilford Young College are conducting a Snorkel Instructor course on the last two days of this term. 

With such a short turnaround, please make contact with Tom ASAP to indicate your intent to attend.

Course plan will consist of the following (TBC upon enrolment numbers):

 Wednesday 13 April

• 9.00am start – Guilford Young College, Hobart Campus
• Theory component and assessment (Tea, Coffee and snacks provided)
• Sharing lesson ideas, venues or resources (please bring ideas to share if you currently run sessions)
• Basic swim test and pool skills session
• Aiming to finish approximately 2.30pm

 Thursday 14 April

• 9.00am start
• Ocean session
• Final paperwork wrap up
• Aiming to finish around midday

 The assessed competencies will be:

• SISCAQU002 Perform basic water rescues
• SISOSNK001 Snorkel
• SISOSNK002 Lead Snorkelling activities

Please bring your snorkel, mask, fins, swimmers, wetsuit, food, water, warm clothes and a pen. If you need borrow any snorkelling equipment or a wetsuit, just let Tom know and this can easily be arranged.

To enrol, please complete the enrolment form below and return it to Tom Calderwood ASAP. If you want your employer to pay then please write this somewhere on the enrolment form as an invoice for the course will be raised after your enrolment arrives and can be addressed specifically to your workplace.

The TOPS Coaching qualification is designed to educate in regards to the basic skills of table tennis, as well as the concepts of group management, organisation, activity safety and creating an enjoyable training environment.

The main emphasis is to promote fun and enjoyment of the sport at a very basic level. 

The course is directed towards teachers, parents and new coaches who are involved in entry-level programs such as Sporting Schools. Promotes teacher delivery especially for remote Tasmanian schools. 

No previous background in table tennis is necessary, all training takes one day and afterwards there is ongoing support through Table Tennis Tasmanian accredited coaches and administration. 

Currently the cost of the course is $150.00 per participant, this cost includes:

• Accreditation fee

• Indemnity insurance when conducting a Table Tennis Australia (table tennis national peak body) approved table tennis sessions which includes teacher delivered and/or sporting organisations Sporting Schools delivered Programs

• Required reading material & written assessments (additional support material may be made available in PDF format after the course)

• Ongoing support through Table Tennis Tasmania after course

The next course is due to be delivered:

Sunday 8th May 2022
Northern Suburbs Table Tennis League (NSTTL)
Glenorchy YMCA
8a Constance Avenue, Glenorchy, Hobart

For more information or to sign-up see the flyer below or please contact the State Development Officer, Dave Carpenter.

The Tasmanian Institute of Sport Coaching Centre (TCC) has launched a new scholarship program with the goal of increasing and developing coaches within Tasmania.

The purpose of the TCC is to deliver high-quality coach development learning and leadership opportunities supporting Tasmanian coaches.  The scholarship aims to assist successful candidates to further their development and progression within the High-Performance sporting landscape.

Each successful candidate will be offered support and development opportunities including:

• Opportunities to enhance existing coaching knowledge, experience, and capability.
• Opportunities for networking and mentoring.
• Development and implementation of an individual coach development plan (this will include activities targeted to specific goals and identified gaps).
• Exposure to current trends in coaching science and practice.
• Access to intra and interstate activities including training camps and competitions, professional development, observation of coaching.

Each scholarship is valued at $4,000 over a 12 month period.

Applications close on Monday 11 April 2022.  

For more information please visit the TIS website or contact Stewart Pither using the details below.  

The Ultimate Outdoor Classromm is a two-day Immersive Nature PL opportunity, pitched to teachers, teacher aides and early learning educators.   

Workshops will be led by Child Psychologist, Lisa Ford (The Resilience Co.) and Nature School Expert, Kara Spence (Nature. Be in it.).

Hosted by Launceston Church Grammar and delivered at the Hoo Hoo Hut in the Trevallyn Nature Reserve, this is a rare opportunity to learn from both Kara and Lisa who have extensive experience in child development and Nature school leadership. 

• Linked to the Australian Curriculum through inquiry-based models 
• You will build independent learners and resilient students
• Event to be staged on Fri April 29 and Sat April 30 (last week of school holidays)

Please view the attached flyer for more information about the upcoming event.

Entries are open to The 49th RACT City To Casino Fun Run and Walk coming up on Sunday May 15.

Win $500 for your school by entering and running for your pirmary school. 

There are events and distances for all ages and abilities, so the whole family can get involved!

Good Luck!

The Swissher Hoops Academy are offering a range of basketball Day Camps, Fun Days and Clinics for juniors over the upcoming school holidays.

For details of all opportunities and to register visit the Swisherr Website.

Players from the North West Thunder team will be holding a junior basketball clinic for students aged 7-14 in the upcoming Term 1 holidays.

The clinic will be staged at the Ulverstone Sports & Leisure Centre (Stadium 1) on Tuesday April 19, from 10am - 1pm.

All participants are required to bring their own drink bottle.  Lunch will be provided.

The clinic cost is $50 per child, which includes a Junior Thunder membership (or $35 if your child is already a member).

Come along and join the fun!

Grab your friends and have a blast with the most colourful cricket ever!  Take part in fun "cricket flavoured" games and activities, with a splash of colour and water.

The Hurricanes Girls Colour Blast Program is available to all girls aged 5-10.  The program will be conducted on April 28 and 29 at Acton Recreation Ground.  The cost is $20, which includes a participant pack.

Participant packs include a white shirt, sunglasses, headband, Cricket Blast bat, ball, cap and drink bottle.  All equipment is provided on the day.  

The program kicks off with a "Colour Powder Run" to get those white t-shirts looking colourful.  We will run through a variety of activities such as Water Balloon Bowling, Sponge Runs and many other cricket related skills and activities in a new and exciting way.  

SPEAK UP! Stay ChatTY has announced the arrival of their new Junior Sports Program. The Program will run alongside the Senior Sports Program which has been delivering mental health education sessions in sporting clubs since 2018.

Founder Mitch McPherson says providing mental health education to younger audiences had been recognised as a priority of the organisation for some time. “We are excited to connect with clubs and help spark these supportive conversations and build environments that prioritise the mental health of athletes alongside physical health and sports performance.” McPherson said.

The Junior Sports Program will offer a free 45-minute presentation to young athletes and will explore topics including identifying stress, how this presents in the body and the mind of young people, whilst also exploring practical strategies to manage stress in sport and in everyday life.

The Program will also offer a free 60-minute presentation to junior parents and coaches. Stay ChatTY Junior Sports Project Officer Brooke Hepburn said including parents and coaches in the conversations was a key component to the Junior Sports Program.

Get your Ticket to Play and join in!

Ticket to Play provides two vouchers up to $100 each towards club membership or registration for children aged 5-18 years who are listed on a Centrelink Health Care or Pensioner Concession card or in Out of Home Care.

What can the vouchers be used for?

• Vouchers can be used towards the cost of sporting club membership, as well as for Learn to Swim, Scouts, Guides and Cadets.
• Vouchers can be used at two different activity providers or both can be used at one activity provider. 

Ticket to Play voucher applications are open until 31 May 2022.

Vouchers must be given to an Approved Activity Provider by 6 June 2022.

School entries for the upcoming Water Polo Tasmania College, Secondary & Primary Schools competition are due 11-April.

The ten week competition for all divisions will be conducted at the Doone Kennedy Aquatics Centre on Friday evenings during Term 2, commencing Friday 6-May.

FREE player skills and coaching clinics are schedueld for Friday 8 April and Tuesday 12 April (pending adequate attendance numbers) - please register your teams intent to attend by TUESDAY 5 APRIL to waterpolotasmania@gmail.com.

Download all the details by clicking the link below, or contact Rachel at Water Polo Tasmania with any queries.

STEAMDANCE uses a dance-education approach to learning about STEAM subjects; Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths. The FREE program is aligned with the Australian Curriculum and delivered by The Australian Ballet Dance Education Team who are specialist educators and professional dancers. Each visit can include a series of workshops and a performance in your school.

This year's first visits are earmarked for the North West region from May 2 to 6, with workshops and performances suitable for primary and secondary students.  

HOW IT WORKS

During the workshops, students learn practical dance and choreographic skills based on the chosen theme. Included in the visit is a 30-minute performance of The Story of Pomi & Gobba in your school, with professional dancers from The Australian Ballet Education and Outreach team. Workshops are conducted for a maximum of 30 students at a time, but the whole school is invited to view the performance.

WORKSHOPS

• Up to 6 x 1 hour workshops (conducted in one or two spaces at a time)
• Maximum 30 students per workshop (depending on space)
• Each workshop is usually delivered by a male and a female dance presenter
• A venue with a wooden floor, carpet or lino is required for the workshops and performance.  

For more information or bookings please email learning@australianballet.com.au or call (03) 9669 2525.  

Note: The STEAMDANCE team will return and offer the program to schools in the Northern and Southern regions from July 25-29, 2022.  More information will be provided in Term 2.