It has been an active and productive year thus far in the Health and Physical Education Department (HPE) at Trinity College School. The name of the game continues to be flexibility in how course content is delivered based on provincial health guidelines around COVID-19. Teachers in the HPE department (consisting of Angie Collins, Erin McGee, Luke O’Connell, Jen Powles, Taylor Herrington and me), are thankful for previous experience teaching online and bridging models, so this year has not been all new. As restrictions have eased, it has become easier to deliver the health and physical education curriculum, particularly active classes in the gyms and workout facilities.
In staffing news, the department was sad to see the departure of Jacqui Priolo after the Christmas Break but was excited to acquire a familiar face in Taylor Herrington ’13 to take over teaching a section of Grade 11 HPE.
HPE course highlights
There have been many exciting happenings in HPE courses recently. The Grade 9 students are actively engaged through the Teaching Games for Understanding (TGFU) model of teaching sport. The students learn the main skills and strategies of a sport, practice the skills over a number of classes, and conclude by having a professional day where they are assessed when putting all of the movements together. Most recently, the Grade 9 students have been participating in net/wall games including, badminton, volleyball, pickle ball and table tennis. Grade 11 (PPL3O) classes have also been working on their net/wall development over the last few weeks.
The Grade 12 Leadership course (PLF4M) continues to shape students into more effective leaders and allow them to work on their personal leadership style. Most recently, students have been completing their fitness mentorship unit. Each student has developed a fitness plan for another member of the class and helped to guide them through the plan and attain their fitness-related goals. The Grade 10 HPE (PPL2O) and Grade 12 Kinesiology students (PSK4U) have also been frequenting the workout facility in their fitness units with the overarching goal of counteracting a sedentary lifestyle.
The Outdoor Education class (PAD3O) managed to get several fabulous days of winter activities given all of the snow and cold weather over the past few months, with activities such as snowshoeing, skating and ice soccer. It was a particular highlight to have regular use of the outdoor arena, with many thanks to our property department for some pristine skating conditions. The hope for these students is to have the first spring camping trip we have been able to undertake for a couple of years, which is scheduled to happen at the beginning of May.
- By Mr. Tom Tansley, head of health & physical education
