Grade 5 & 6 Tabloid Sports Carnival – Proposal

Rationale
The proposed sports tabloid afternoon provides an opportunity to consolidate the Health and Physical Education lessons conducted throughout the year. Students have been engaged in health and physical movement that have enable them to acquire, apply and evaluate fundamental movement skills, concepts and strategies confidently, competently and creatively in a variety of physical activity contexts and settings (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA], 2013).

Fundamental Movement Skills (FMS) are “essential for all physical activities and when developed in school years are often maintained in later life” (Board of Studies Teaching and Educational Standards NSW [BOSTES], 2007). Hence, the tabloid afternoon focuses on three categories of FMS, locomotor skills, manipulative skills and games (BOSTES, 2007). According to Schmidt and Wrisberg (2008), increased “proficiency in motor learning is evident when performance learning is incorporated into events increases a student’s proficiency in motor learning”. Thus, the event should provide an engaging, rewarding experience that allows students to display their abilities by participation in activities involving different sequences of FMS.

The school’s PE program is underpinning the Australian Curriculum (AC) content descriptors for movement and physical activity, “Practise specialised movement skills and apply them in different movement situations” (ACPMP061), “Participate in physical activities designed to enhance fitness, and discuss the impact regular participation can have on health and wellbeing” (ACPMP064) and, “Demonstrate ethical behaviour and fair play that aligns with the rules when participating in a range of physical activities” (ACPMP069) (ACARA, 2014). Most students participating in the tabloid will be able to demonstrate consolidation or generalisation of skills for these content descriptors and from FMS observation records recorded over the year (Hands, 2002).

General Information
It is envisaged that the tabloid sports afternoon will be held on Wednesday 11th of November 2015 to coincide with the Physical Education week. The participating grades are years five and six, consisting of four classes of 22 students, 88 students in total. The event will be held at school on the grassed play area adjoining the hard surface basketball court.

Diagram 1: Tabloid Layout

There will be eight groups of eleven students, of approximately equal numbers of year five and year six students, with as near as possible gender balance. Groups will rotate through a series of eight activities every fifteen minutes throughout the afternoon, which includes a five-minute transition and demonstration, activity re-attempt, water or toilet break. The last activity for every group will incorporate a five-minute warm down activity.

Diagram 2: Groups’ Rotations

The afternoon will commence at 12.00 noon with 10 minutes of individual group warm up activities, each group then rotates through four of the eight activities, a half hour lunch break follows and after lunch the groups rotate through the final four activities for their group. The afternoon concludes with a fifteen-minute student participation reflection, thank you to parent helpers and packing away of sporting equipment. The afternoon will end at normal school finishing time. The four class teachers and the sports teacher will, assisted by parent helpers, supervise the activities to minimise disruption to other classes.

Sports Tabloid Timeline

Equipment/Resources
Coloured marking tape, AFL goals, soccer goals, AFL football, soccer ball, timer, 4 newspaper bats, newspaper balls, tennis balls, seven marker cones, 5 hoops, basket ball, 12 bean bags, 8 timers, 8 pieces of rope, horn, one tunnel, a crate of tennis balls, one soft jumping box, 4 mini first aid packs, and twelve parent helpers.

Warm up
Groups go to their first activity and play “One Behind” for five minutes. Teacher leads group by performing an exercise or stretch as students stand at attention beginning with stretches and exercise on feet and working down to the floor. Each time teacher switches to a different exercise the students’ copy previous movement (Primary Resources, 2015).

Activity 1 – Goal Kicking*
“AFL goals: Students to line up at 15 m line marked on grass area and attempt to kick as many goals as they can in 5 minutes between the goals within a five minute time frame”. Once all students have completed turn, they perform the same activity with a soccer ball. This activity focuses on FMS kicking skills and links to the content descriptor ACPM061 of the Australian Curriculum (ACARA, 2013).

Activity 2 – Captain Ball*
The group is divided into two, one higher ability team of six and a lower ability team of five. “Each team plays captain ball. Captain (first player) facing team throws the ball to each player in the line. Players catch and return the ball then squatting down. The last person in the line catches the ball and runs to the front becoming captain. The game continues until all team members have been captain. Teams repeat the game for 10 minutes”. In this activity students use repetition and linking of FMS skills of catching to ACPMP061, ACPMP064 and ACPMP069 of the Australian Curriculum. Using gross and fine motor skills the chest pass (throw and catch) combines with locomotion and body management skills (running and balance).

Activity 3 – Shoot Out*
A striker stands 3-5 metres away from fielding students who stand in a semi-circle formation. Marker cones are placed between each fielder to act as goals. A fielder gently pitches the ball to the striker who hits it back aiming at a marker cone to score a goal. Each striker gets ten attempts then rotates with a fielder. Fielders aim to catch the ball on the full. The activity involves different FMS locomotion and body management skills such as two-hand side-arm strike and link to APCMP061 (ACARA, HPE, 2013).

Activity 4 – Obstacle Run*

In turn students complete the obstacle course, running around the first two cones crawling through the tunnel, spinning the hoop around their hips, jumping over the box, picking up a ball and bouncing the ball around the final two cones. The activity involves different FMS locomotion and body management skills such as run crawl, jump, spin, dodge and object control (bounce ball) skills in a predetermined sequence. This activity uses gross (run, jump etcetera) and fine (bounce) motor skills in a predetermined sequence and links to ACPMP061, ACPMP064 and ACPMP069, that is students perform different FMS in a sequence whilst applying movement strategies (ACARA, HPE, 2013).

Activity 5 – Circle Jump Relay*
Five hoops are placed one metre apart per group. Students are divided into two subgroups. Students start in a line facing the circles. One student at a time jumps from circle to circle using a double foot take-off. After jumping out of the fifth circle, they run back to the start to tag the next student. Each student has a turn. This activity involves different FMS locomotion and body management skills such as jumping, predetermined sequence and links to ACPMP065 and ACPMP069 (ACARA, HPE, 2013).

Activity 6 – Zigzag Catch*
Students stand in a zigzag pattern facing each other on either side of two parallel lines two metres apart. The first student throws the ball to the second student, the second to the third and so on. Thus the ball zigzags back and forth until it reaches the last student. The last student catches the ball and the process is the reversed until the ball returns to the first student. Variation, dependent on skill levels, students must spin around and jump twice times after throwing the ball. This activity involves FMS, object control skills, throwing and catching, with locomotion skills, spin and jump in a sequence of movements. Links to the AC, students perform different FMS in a sequence ACPMP061, ACPMP064 and ACPMP069 (ACARA, HPE, 2013).

Activity 7 – Balancing Act*
Students line up in pairs at the end of a 50m track located on the oval. Each pair will take turns in placing a beanbag on top of their heads, walking to the end of the track without it falling off. Each pair will be joined together using a rope. This activity allows a student to perform a range of complex static and dynamic balances, rotating and/or pivoting by manipulating and modifying effort, space, time, objects and people to perform movement sequences of push and pull movements (ACARA, HPE, 2013, ACPMP065).

Activity 8 – Goal Shooting*
Students in turn bounce the ball three times walking towards the basketball hoop and then attempt to shoot a goal. This activity involves object control, throwing and bouncing skills. Students refine fundamental movement skills of striking and throwing skills to propel an object and keep it in motion (ACARA, HPE, 2013, ACPMP061).

Warm down*
At the end of each group’s final activity all groups participate in a five-minute cool down activity. Students walk slowly in a circle changing direction as instructed and finally sitting down stretching and relaxing arms and legs, and finally, sitting quietly in a relaxed position.

* Unless otherwise indicated activities have been adapted from WADE (2013); Department of Education Victoria (1996); NSW Department of Education & Communities [NSWEC] (2012).

Duty of Care, Supervision and Safety
A school risk assessment sheet will be completed for approval in accordance with the schools’ Work, Health Safe: Events and excursions (WHS) policy (NSWEC, 2013) prior to the sports tabloid afternoon. In accordance with this policy, class teachers duty of care responsibilities including minimising risk, active supervision and school accidents and first aid procedures will be in force. The sports teacher will be responsible for “ensuring safe activities, prior equipment safety checks, clear marking of activity areas, appropriate space between activity stations etcetera” (France, 2009). In accordance with the WHS policy information and permission notes will be sent home outlining the activities and requesting permission slip return and parent helpers (NSWEC, 2013).

The activity stations will be maned by the four class teachers and assisted by the parent volunteers (NSWEC, 2013). Activity instruction sheets and demonstrations prior to the event will be given to the teachers and parent helpers. The overall supervisor will be the sports teacher who will assisting when necessary, ensure smooth flow transitions, provide demonstrations, assist with any problems and oversee safety (France, 2009). All teachers will wear playground mini first aid packs, if necessary students will be sent to the office for medical assistance and any accidents will be reported in the accident reporting books as per usual school policy (NSWEC, 2013). The tabloid lunch will coincide with normal school lunchtime and will be supervised by the four class teachers. To minimise disruption to the tabloid set up the grass play area will be out of bounds to the rest of the school community.

Students are to bring their own lunch and water bottle that should be placed in the shaded area near the activities and students will be allowed, after asking permission, to take water breaks as required. Toilet breaks will be similarly catered for and as the activities are conducted within close proximity to the amenities block no additional supervision will be necessary (see Diagram 1 above). Students are to wear the sports uniform, including their hat as per the schools’ “NO HAT NO PLAY” policy. SPF15 sunscreen will be provided. In the even of wet weather, on or the grass area is perceived to be too wet and the safety of the children is in question, then the event will be postponed for a later date (France, 2009).

Inclusivity
The tabloid caters for all diverse levels of achievement, and ensures all students have an equal chance of participation. Groups will be gender mixed to elevate task bias for example, “boys often perform better in overhand catch whereas girls perform better in balance activities” (Hands, 2002). AC achievement standards indicate that most upper primary students have perfected and combine FMS sequences by stage three (ACARA, 2014) but acknowledge that at the same time students may be at different developmental stages and have differing levels of achievement.

Under Australian law, all students with a disability are free to participate in Physical Education in accordance to the discrimination act which states that education must be “free from discrimination and on the same basis as [any] other student” (Australian Government, 2005, para. 1). Taking this into account, adaptations and modifications must be made to support equity for all students with disabilities. Modifications are generally made in accordance with the student’s individual education plan with consultations between specialist teachers and families; adaptations vary depending on the specific student (Australian Disability Clearing House on Education and Training [ADCET], 2014). Adaptations for students with vision impairments for example, could include advance demonstrations and trials to ensure successful tabloid participation. Adaptation examples are Activity 4, verbal instructions, bright-coloured team jackets, cones with flashing lights, brightly coloured tunnel, balls that rattle can be utilised for vision impaired students. Similarly Activity 6 can be modified so a rattling ball can be rolled in lieu of a toss.

Reference List

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (2013). Health and Physical Education. Retrieved from: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/health-and-physical-education/rationale

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (2013) Health and physical education curriculum: Level 5-6. Retrieved from: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/health-and-physical-education/curriculum/f-10?layout=1#level5-6

Australian Disability Clearing House on Education and Training (2014). Teaching and Assessing. Retrieved from: http://www.adcet.edu.au/inclusive-teaching/teaching-assessment/

Australian Government. (2005), Disability standards for education 2005 [Fact Sheet]. Retrieved from: https://www.ag.gov.au/RightsAndProtections/HumanRights/DisabilityStandards/Pages/Disabilitystandardsforeducation.aspx

Board of Studies Teaching and Educational Standards, NSW. (2007). NSW Syllabuses for the Australian curriculum: Personal development, health and physical education (PDHPE). Retrieved from: http://syllabus.bos.nsw.edu.au/pdhpe/

Department of Education, Victoria (1998). Fundamental motor skills: an activities resource for classroom teachers. Retrieved from: http://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/teachlearn/student/fmsteachermanual09.pdf

France, R. C. (2009). Introduction to physical education and sport science. Canada: Delmar Cengage Learning.

Hands, B. (2002). How can we best measure fundamental movement skills. Paper presented at the ACHPER 23rd Biennial National/International Conference: Interactive Health & Physical Education, Launceston: Tasmania. Retrieved from: http://researchonline.nd.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=health_conference

New South Wales Government (2013). Work health Safety Policy Retrieved from: https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/policies/staff/WorkHealthSafety/PD20130454.shtml?level=Schools&categories=Schools|school+administration+%26+management|work+health+%26+safety