HKIS MS Grade 7 Physical Education & Health Class Update

Dear 7th Grade Parents,

During quarter 3 our 7^th Grade students have been engaged in a series of fitness lessons focusing mainly on cardio-respiratory endurance. Many students demonstrated a marked improvement in their 1 mile run times which bodes well for the final fitness challenge of the year in quarter 4. Some students are now aware that they need to put in some additional effort to improve their cardio-respiratory endurance in order to see an improvement.

Since our last update, other activities have included encouraging our students to step out of their comfort zones and challenge themselves in the high element activities of our Adventure Learning unit. We revisited our motor skills and team support strategies during our Sports unit with a focus on Soccer and we also explored a selection of fitness games that proved to be great activities for engaging students in interval training without them realizing that they were getting a work out. The same cannot be said for our introduction of circuit training, which was just plain good old fashioned hard work!

All students’ performance and work habit assessments have been updated and are available on the new PowerSchool system. Please have your child guide you through the system and use this as an opportunity to hear about their areas of growth and the areas they need to pay more attention to.

All students have the opportunity to ‘redo’ an assessment (time permitting) in any component of a standard where their overall level of proficiency is below ‘Meets Expectation’. In order to take this opportunity:

• Students must reflect on the comment/strategies offered on PowerSchool.
• Students must take the time to work on improving their performance.
• Students must arrange a time (outside of class and within two weeks of receiving their assessed level of proficiency) to demonstrate their conceptual understanding and improved performance.

Following the Spring break students will be encouraged to select an elective activity from Self-Defense, Ultimate-Frisbee/Gaelic Football, Dance or Triathlon. Assessment in these ‘electives’ is focused on interpersonal skills (Standard 5) rather than performance skills, as students are encouraged to take a risk and try an activity that they may have little previous experience of, assured that their performance in a new/unfamiliar skill will not reflect negatively on their grade.

As summer approaches and temperatures begin to rise our program continues with more indoor activities.  Students will participate in the Water Adventure component and experience the final Health Unit  –  Puberty & Relationships.  I will send out an email to parents two weeks before the commencement of this series of lessons, detailing the content and providing a reminder of the opportunity for you as a family to engage in dialogue about healthy relationship issues.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me via email.

Kind regards,

Fiona White

Middle School Physical Education Department