physical education
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Keeping the physical in physical education

Originally published Feb. 26, 2018 in the Richmond & Twickenham Times.

By Ciara Cannell, Ursuline High School

‘Intensive exercise improves the academic performance of teenagers, according to new research’ says the BBC, which is only one advantage of sport. The release of serotonin regulates mood and sleep patterns which is beneficial to a child’s life inside and outside of school.

The British Heart Foundation stated nearly a third of children in Britain are overweight or obese, yet 79 percent of parents with an overweight child do not recognise that they are. Attitudes towards sports in schools may need to change, or future generations could suffer the consequences. Read More

sport
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ACG Schools: Does sport make kids smarter?

Originally published April 11, 2018 in the New Zealand Herald.

Sport in the digital age is even more crucial for New Zealand school students, a leading Auckland secondary school educationalist believes.

Daniel Mathie, year 11 dean and a physical education teacher at ACG Parnell College, says because young people spend a lot of their time online many are less active than children were in the past.

Parents are understandably more cautious about letting their kids out to play,” he says. “They are only trying to protect them, but in earlier times when there was no internet kids were more active and outside playing tag, chasing each other on their bikes or climbing all over jungle gyms. So to me, sport is more crucial than ever before.” Read More

physical fitness
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The benefits of physical fitness for personal development

Originally published April 7, 2018 in the New Zealand Herald.

Personal development can seem like a daunting task when you think about all the improvements you want to make in every area of your life: health, money, career, relationships, education, family, travel/leisure, sports, spiritual growth and so on. So often it seems like you succeed in one area only to see another one neglected. It’s not that you’re not achieving successes, you may be wildly successful in one area and it just seems so hard to succeed across the board.

Wouldn’t it be incredible if you could simply do one thing to improve yourself and there was a ripple effect? Imagine improving one area of your life, and every other area of your life was improved as a result – kind of like the “all ships rise with the tide” phenomenon. I believe there IS such a thing, and I believe that one thing is physical fitness.

We often think of our personal fitness as being all about “workouts and nutrition” – but TRUE FITNESS is much more about PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT…

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Texas Elem. School Triples Recess Time, Sees ‘Incredible’ Results

Originally published Feb. 6, 2018 by Inspire More.

By Kimberly White

Experts recommend we get up from our desks to stretch our legs and fingers every hour or so, partly to ward off tendonitis and give our eyes a break. Taking a break, even if it’s just wandering into the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee, also gives our brains a chance to reboot, and we often return to our tasks more invigorated.

So … shouldn’t the same apply to kids in the classroom? After all, balancing work and play is always a good thing, regardless of the setting. Read More

fitness time
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In response to research, schools boost physical fitness time

Originally published Feb. 26, 2018 by Education Dive.

By Amelia Harper

Schools are paying more attention to the need to include physical fitness as experts like Charles Hillman, an advisor to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, say that evidence of the connection between fitness and brain function has mounted steadily over the years, according to the Hechinger Report.

In 2015, only 27% of high school students were getting the recommended number of minutes of daily exercise, and girls, Hispanic students, and black students received less exercise than white students, according to data from Child Trends.

Some school districts are trying new physical education approaches that are reaping results. In Fort Worth, for example, a school switched to four 15-minute periods of recess per day instead of one 20 minute session and saw a 25% to 35% decrease in off-task behaviors. And in Wisconsin, the state education department is now overseeing a program called Core 4+ (or “active kids, active classrooms) that features interventions to increase movement during the school day. Read More