ACHPER Advocate - July 2022

July 2022

Meet the New ACHPER Fellows and Life Member

Life Member - Craig Fosdike is a much admired leader who has positively influenced the teaching standards and professionalism of many of South Australia's physical educators. He has always been a dedicated activist for the cause of physical education and its associated areas in schools and the wider community. A member of ACHPER since 1999, Craig has undertaken a number of key roles including being an SA board member, Vice President and now Co-President for 17 years and became an ACHPER Fellow in 2009.

Craig has been a key member and driving force behind numerous SA delegations to meet with Ministers and Government representatives. His leadership and foresight with the Catholic Education sector with the drive and growth of SACPSSA, and a partnership with ACHPER has established a legacy which is admired by your peers and fellow educators.

Craig's continuous, high level professional commitment to ACHPER, Physical Education and associated areas is commendable. His outstanding and ongoing contributions to the promotion of active and healthy living has been exceptional and makes him most worthy of the Award of Life Membership of ACHPER.

Fellow - Glenn Amezdroz has been an enthusiastic advocate for Health, Physical Education and Recreation during a career spanning more than four decades. Through his service as an ACHPER board member at state and national levels, and Vice-President of ACHPER Australia, he has supported Health and Physical Education colleagues and encouraged them to engage in ongoing professional growth through his own example. He is tireless in his aspiration to promote quality Health and Physical Education for children and adolescents. His knowledge and expertise has been willingly shared through extensive professional learning opportunities and teaching resources which have been influential for students and teachers across Queensland and beyond. ACHPER Australia and Queensland branch members have benefited from Glenn's unwavering contribution to the teaching profession. He is an inspiration and his sustained contributions and impact at state and national levels make him a most worthy recipient of the ACHPER Fellow Award

Fellow - Carolyn Knutsen has been been a dynamic member of the ACHPER NT executive board for the past 10 years and branch president since 2015. She has shown enthusiasm and support for ACHPER as a presenter and facilitator for ACHPER NT’s professional development program in a wide range of topics. She is universally admired by her colleagues in the Health and Physical Education field. She has provided support and assistance to a number of local and national organisations and individuals, willingly sharing her knowledge and expertise of health and physical education. Through her role as ACHPER NT President she has built links with the wider community and maintained a strong network of HPE professionals in the NT. Carolyn has developed positive relationships with ACHPER National and ensured the NT is represented at the national level. Her contributions have benefitted many which makes Carolyn a most worthy recipient of the ACHPER Fellow Award

President’s Report - Dr Sue Whatman

A new government, a continuing ACHPER Board! We had our Annual General Meeting in May and I am honoured to have been re-elected as President to continue to serve ACHPER Australia for another 3 year term. Existing board members Dr John Williams, Adrian Fisher, and Vice President Russell Brown have been re-elected or retain their positions and we are looking forward to our strategic initiatives bearing fruit.

One of the immense privileges of being ACHPER President is to announce the awards of ACHPER Australia Life Members and Fellows. This year, we welcomed Craig Fosdike LMACHPER, President of ACHPER SA, as a Life Member, based on an outstanding nomination from SA's Board. ACHPER QLD nominated Glenn Amezdroz FACHPER, former Vice President of ACHPER Australia, for the National award of ACHPER Fellow, and ACHPER NT also successfully nominated Carolyn Knutsen FACHPER , current NT President, as a Fellow. You can read more about their history of service here and learn more about what outstanding members of ACHPER each successful nominee continues to be!

There is a lot of professional learning happening right now around the nation - check the calendar of events to see what's on in your state or online here.

National Health and Physical Education Day is scheduled for Wednesday, 7 September this year. Jump online to our website to register for this day of celebrating all things HPE. www.hpeday.com.au We have prizes for participants around each state - you just need to post what you put together at your school, workplace or institution to celebrate on social media and tag @achperinc and #HPEDay2022 in the post.

We hope you enjoyed your winter break!

Dr Sue Whatman

Election Results - Meet the Board

At the recent AGM, the following election results were carried:

President - 3 year term - Dr Sue Whatman (QLD)
Director - 2 year term - Dr John Williams (ACT/NSW)

Three other positions were not filled. Two existing directors, Mr Russell Brown (Vice President/ SA) and Mr Adrian Fisher (WA) are continuing in their positions.

We completely understand that the education sector is overloaded at the moment and COVID has wrought many uncertainties in our industry. We hope that members from across Australia who have experience with Board governance and/or a passion to serve the ACHPER community might consider nominating for a casual position on the Board via your State President. If this is you, please reach out to Dr Sue Whatman, the National President, and your State branch to discuss coming onto the National Board as a casual appointment.

Opportunity to have your say about the delivery of muscle-strengthening exercise in schools

Are you a secondary school teacher with experience in Physical Education? We’d love to hear from you!

We would like to make teaching muscle-strengthening exercise in secondary schools safer, easier, and more effective. We also want to reduce the burden on teachers by creating professional ‘off the shelf’ resources that can effectively support your pedagogy. Therefore, we would like to know your thoughts about teaching muscle-strengthening exercise in secondary schools. Some questions:

How familiar are you with teaching muscle-strengthening exercise?
Do you feel confident to teach muscle-strengthening exercise?
What type of support would you like?

By completing the survey, you will be included in a draw for 5 x AU$100 voucher as a thank for your time. Please share your thoughts by completing our 20-minute survey here. If you would like to hear more about this study, please contact us: angeliek.verdonschot@newcastle.edu.au

Australian school children rank among the worst in the world when it comes to their physical activity levels. To tackle this problem, they need to be taught skills and have better knowledge and understanding of how to lead active and healthy lifestyles.

That’s why National Health and Physical Education (HPE) Day has been designed to raise awareness of, and advocate for, a greater focus of HPE in our schools.

The theme of HPE Day 2022 is Good for Children, Good for Schools and Good for Communities and will be celebrated on Wednesday 7th September 2022!

If you are a teacher, why not take your class outside for a lesson or organise a PE-related excursion? Schools, why not plan a fun run or walk for your students? If you are a parent, why not walk home with the kids or take them to a nearby park for some play time after school?

When it comes to how to get involved, the only limit is imagination – so get moving, because every step counts! Register your school now!

Ordering ACHPER books and Play with purpose series e-books through ProQuest and Ebsco

The ACHPER Bookshop is moving towards a digital platform but we still have “old fashioned” hard copies available for sale – check out what is in stock here.

If your school or institution has a library subscription with ProQuest or Ebsco, you can order e-pub or e-PDF versions, either individual copies, or 3-user textbook licences, of Shane Pill's Play with Purpose series for your students. Talk to your librarian today!

ACHPER Australia is proud to partner with Tennis Australia.

ACHPER Australia recognises the Traditional Owners of the lands upon which we live and work and pays respect to their Elders, past, present and emerging. We extend that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in our ACHPER membership, our schools and HPE communities, our partners and our staff.