2. Important facts:
• According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) children and youth
between the ages of 5-17 must do at least 60 minutes of moderateintense physical activity each day.
• Engaging in physical activity allows for the improvement of
cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness, bone health, and cardiovascular
and metabolic health biomarkers.
• Globally there is an estimated 42 million children under the age of five
that are obese.
• Obese children are more likely to stay obese into adulthood causing
further difficulties like non-communicable diseases such as diabetes
and cardio-vascular disease.
3. Play
The wellbeing of children can be further developed through play. The
social, physical, mental and emotional aspects are enhanced by
engaging in play.
4. Not just about sport!
PDHPE is sometimes thought of as a subject that is focused on sport. This
is not true. As well as physical activity students will learn the skills they
need to make better choices which they can use throughout their lives.
These life learning skills will be developed through the PDHPE KLA’s (Key
learning areas):
Interpersonal relationships
Personal health choices
Safe living
Growth & development
Active lifestyle
Dance
Games and sports
5. Benefits
Learning how to interact in games can help strengthen the social skills we
all need to interact with our families, friends and the rest of society.
Acquiring the knowledge of healthy living encourages the development of
positive attitudes towards a healthy lifestyle.
Working with students to understand safe living is essential for their
wellbeing as well as others. Students understand what is appropriate and
what is not, as well as what action to take if any issues arise.
Understanding how our bodies grow and develop helps students better
prepared for the changes that are and will occur to their body (both
physical, mental and emotional).
6. Partnership
There is usually little emphasis given to PDHPE as a valuable subject
compared to Math, English and Science. However, it’s important to
understand that the key learning areas for these subjects are embedded
into the PDHPE program. It is also important to note the crucial life
learning skills that is at the core of PDHPE.
For the reason above I hope that you as parents can see the importance of
PDHPE. I encourage active participation on your behalf in decisions
involving the PDHPE program. This enables a reciprocal relationship
between teachers, students, parents and community to establish a
program that is meaningful to students.