Orford Primary School 2000

School Profile

 Orford Primary School is situated in the small coastal town of Orford, 80km North-east of Hobart.  The school, in its award winning gardens and grounds, caters for students from Orford, as well as from the surrounding areas of Spring Beach and Buckland.  Our students are generally from families involved in farming, fishing, small business and the timber industry.  Approximately one third of our students are from economically disadvantaged families.  In recent years there have been some families relocating from city suburbs seeking a “Sea change”.

This year 97 students were enrolled from K – 6.  The 4 full time and several part time teachers and support staff, have always encouraged parent participation and this has become a tradition.  At Orford a supportive school environment is practiced and valued.  Students are encouraged to become confident, independent, cooperative and self-aware and to respect the feelings and opinions of others.  All staff members and parents have been keen to promote healthy outcomes for all members of the school community.

 Getting Started 

We re-established that healthy outcomes, emotional, social and physical, should continue to be a major focus for the school and while this had been our aim for some years, we decided that we should try to better use the skills of our parents and community members to achieve our desired outcomes.

It was decided to begin a long-term physical fitness program, incorporating daily fitness, a graded fitness program, weekly PE and varied class and associated activities.  Thus, a fitness program would complement our Social Skills program implemented earlier.  This program was adopted after staff worked with our Guidance Officer who then developed a bank of ideas, activities and lesson plans, designed to target the use and development of various social skills.  These can be used on an individual group or class basis.

 The Program 

A parent who had shown a willingness to be involved in our fitness activities and who is a long distance and marathon runner, expressed an interest in assisting with planning and leading activities with staff.  She arrived at 8.45 am each day and assisted by staff, began stretches and warm-ups with students.  A group of parents usually joined in, some participating and others watching.  From this point students could join a group in which they felt comfortable, that is, one suitable for their level of fitness and also suited to his/her confidence level.  Group activities ranged from a reasonable extended activity to a walk.  All activities were designed to gradually build up fitness levels.  A program was also set up for primary students who could work through a variety of activities and levels.  ECE classes worked mainly on skill development with activities planned by teachers on specific skill areas.  These activities supplemented the normal P E lessons.

 Achievements and Outcomes

 The Twilight Athletic Carnival held early in the year saw the early result of improving fitness levels and the many parent and community helpers were very positive in their appraisal of the fitness program.

The program with activities that gradually built up fitness, but would not in any way stress students or make them feel tired or reluctant to participate, continued most successfully.  At the inter school Athletic Carnival, Orford won their division, to the delight of all involved.  This success increased the enthusiasm for the fitness program and so it continued.  When the cross-country events came around, again our school community assisted our school event and a team was sent off to the inter school carnival.  Once again the team experienced great success.  This time several Grade teams did very well and for the first time in memory, Orford received several pennants for success in age groups and came second overall.

The students certainly received rewards for their long-term efforts as did the staff and parents who assisted with this fitness program!

While the fitness program has been a main focus and has led to many students reappraising personal expectations, it has worked well because of the multi-faceted overall program, which incorporates the development of social skills and the involvement of parents and community members in many activities.  These have included:

·        A peer reading program, which was begun this year.  After training sessions, students were paired up across the grades.  This has worked particularly well from the social aspect and the benefits have been evident in the playground interaction of older and younger students.  Parents have also continued to be involved in tutoring reading and in all classrooms as parent helpers.

·        The Art, Craft and Activity Day when students chose from a variety of activities, from bush walking to scarecrow making, and which involved many visiting tutors or group leaders and was a great success.

·        Clients of the local respite and care centre, Prosser House, viewing and judging our Easter Bonnet Parade.

·        The Water Orientation program for Prep to Grade 2, which had a qualified parent instructor as well as other parent assistants.

·        The visit to Port Arthur for the arrival of the Olympic flame, which attracted a great many parents and community members who joined students to travel by bus and our own Mini Olympic event with its extraordinary events attracted many spectators and helpers.

·        A healthy foods canteen, run by a parent committee throughout the year, which operates on three days a week for the benefit of students and staff.

·        A regular ‘health and fitness walk’ that takes place on most days at lunch times for available staff.  Staff, as role models, are seen to participate regularly.

Active participation by students, staff and community members has been a feature of our program this year and the development of good relationships has been evident.  These activities have enhanced the classroom teaching at Orford and have added to the health and well being of our students.