Physical Education

All students from years one to three participate in two hours of physical activity per week as stipulated by the Department of Education. This is achieved through a specialised physical education program combined with daily fitness. The Sports and Fundamental Skills program concentrates on playground games, circuit work, field hockey, basketball, athletics, and dance. At the start of the year, students are explicitly taught playground games to support play and social skills development. Physical education programs assist students to individually develop their overall body strength, balance, coordination and self-confidence.

The Fremantle LDC promotes a healthy lifestyle by modelling and reinforcing personal care, healthy eating, safe play, and sun awareness. The school is a registered Crunch & Sip school, and all students participate in a daily crunch and sip.

Physical Activity Guidelines (Department of Health)

Movement is important in helping children to self-regulate. Motor skill development is critical for learning and general functional skill development. Being able to accurately control your body means you will more likely have success in tasks such as dressing, sitting on the mat, packing a lunchbox, or writing.  Evidence also tells us that children who engage in more physical activity, are more likely to have improved physical health and better mental wellbeing, both now and into adulthood. Increased physical activity also improves attention and concentration as well as self-confidence.

We aim to help children meet these guidelines through daily physical fitness and looking for opportunities to increase movement, such as during classroom transitions. Frequent “brain breaks” are encouraged to ensure the children are engaged and focused. We realise that families play a vital role in making sure their children get enough physical activity every day. A good source of information about the important role physical education can play in schools can be found here:

Physical Activity in Schools

Why Is Being Active So Important

Motor Skills

Heavy Work Activities

Children who have difficulties with motor skills and coordination, may avoid physical activity because it is challenging for them. To support participation in physical activity, the Fremantle LDC aims to encourage motor skill development. Two key aspects of motor development include having adequate body awareness (knowing how all of your body parts are connected) and good core strength.

Animal Fun

This evidence-based resource developed by Curtin University is designed to be facilitated by teachers in early childhood. It is a targeted movement program that focuses on basic motor skills and is especially useful when children have difficulty participating in Fundamental Movement skills and Physical Education. This is initially used as a motor-based program for kindy and pre-primary and then used as transition exercises in year one and up. You can find out more information here: Animal Fun

Animal Fun (links to Animal Fun website)

In order to develop the students motor skills, all classrooms in the Fremantle LDC engage in daily physical activity as well as core strength exercises and “brain breaks”. This helps the students achieve the recommendation set by the Australian Department of Health, which recommends 60 minutes of physical activity for children aged 5-12 years. The core strength exercises are “dead ant” and “superman”, which are demonstrated in the handout and video link here:

Core Strength (links to Animal Fun website)

Core Strength Postures