Sports & Recreation

Every year, Victorian teachers leave their classrooms, playgrounds and school sports days behind and head to a Victoria regional location for their own carnival of fun, fitness, connection and learning.

Although many schools still struggle with funding to update sports grounds, there is a shift towards harnessing technology to develop ground coverings and large indoor spaces with flooring that is easy on the body, and incredibly versatile.

The myth that sport itself is ideally suited to help disadvantaged young people develop “socially” and “psychologically” has obscured the fact that it is the teamwork within sport that helps.

External learning used to mean things like swimming lessons at the local pool. Every week, we walked two abreast (holding hands with a partner) to the local oval for sport with Mr Fuller. He was always forthcoming with training tips and schedules for his favourite sports of touch football and cricket. We didn’t mind; we got ice blocks full of preservatives and colours on Wednesday afternoons in terms one and four, and we got to wear our coloured T-shirts with only bloomers. Those were the days.

Yoga has found its way into mainstream schooling and with good reason. Stacey Nelson of Yoga Palette has been teaching yoga at a private girls school in Brisbane for the past 10 years. She said “the teachers love it, the students love it, and I loves it!” Here are her words from out there in the field.

The environmental impact of the water usage involved in the upkeep of grass playing fields is considerable. As awareness increases, schools are embracing synthetic surfaces as an alternative. Many schools struggle with a shortage of suitable water provision, both in quantity and quality, to establish and maintain natural turf to a useable level over time.

Yes, they are, and not only in alternative schools. Yoga has found its way into mainstream schooling and with good reason.

The Australian Federal Government is partnering with the Adelaide Crows AFL club to deliver the Ready Set Crow Project to help Indigenous children from remote South Australian communities attend school in Adelaide and develop pathways to further education.

Australians have always been associated with an active lifestyle and our nation is highly regarded for our success on the global sporting arena. However, almost two-thirds of Australians are overweight, including one in four children.