Health and Physical Education

Sport

Iwould like to acknowledge the outstanding contribution of Mr Damian Messer to Physical Education and sport at Trinity College. He is one of the longest serving members of the department and during his time at Trinity his dedication and commitment has been exemplary. Mr Messer and his family will not return to Trinity College in the near future as they have settled in Tasmania. The staff warmly welcomes Mr Jeremy Scott on his recent appointment as a permanent member of the department for 2005. His talents and enthusiasm for the learning area and teaching will contribute to our energetic and dynamic team. With the return of Mr Gary Malarkey and appointment of Mr Marcus Wilkinson, and Mr Dion Mepham the department has grown significantly and boasts possibly the most capable team of physical education teachers and sport coaches that the college has employed. The need for this increase is due to the overwhelming demand from students for the diverse range of courses that the learning area provides.

Trinity College Aquatic Centre

The opening of the Trinity College Aquatic Centre marked the completion of the most exciting development for the Physical & Health Education learning area since the construction of the Foley Centre twelve years ago. The vision and determination of Mr Peter Duckett and the enthusiastic support of Mr Anthony Curtis now means that the College now has the best aquatic facility in the Public Schools Association.

The heated 50m facility with the capability of Olympic size water-polo has provided our Physical Education, Aquatics, Fitness and Health and Outdoor Education programs with a tremendous boost. A comprehensive Year 4-10 Aquatics program means that students will have the opportunity to progressively improve their swimming and water-safety skills for almost the duration of their schooling at Trinity College. The addition of Mr Dion Mepham to the Physical Education and Health teaching staff has provided us with the teaching and coaching expertise that we required in this area, and I am sure that under his and Mr Duckett’s guidance Trinity College will soon be a competitive force within the swimming and water-polo competitions.

Summer ‘Specialist’ Program

The ‘specialist’ Physical Education units implemented in 2001 were developed further this year and proved again to be very popular and beneficial to students. During these programs students were given the opportunity to select a summer sport of interest and received specialist tuition over approximately a seveneight week period. Year 8 and 9 students were involved in a specialist summer sport program that provided tuition in either rowing, swimming and water-polo, cricket, tennis or volleyball. This program will continue to become more comprehensive in the future and allow students to make greater use of the outstanding coaching expertise and sport and physical activity facilities available at Trinity College.

Sports Education in Physical Education

The Sport Education in Physical Education seasons conducted during Term Two again proved to be very popular with students in Years 8, 9 & 10. Many students accepted the challenge of participating in this unit of work as Sport Board members, coaches, captains, publicity officers and umpires. These responsibilities were undertaken in addition to the role of participant. The Year 9 Sport Education season also included for the first time an Introductory Australian Football Umpiring Course that provided the twenty eight participants with the opportunity to obtain the fundamental skills required for officiating as field umpires. The course was conducted by Mr Paul Pitchers, Umpiring Development Officer for the Western Australian Football Commission. This course will be extended to a larger number of students in future as it provides an excellent opportunity for the development of interpersonal and self-management skills.

AFL Level 1 Field Umpiring Accreditation

Congratulations are extended to the Year 11 Physical Education students that participated as Australian Football umpires at the JSHAA Lightning Carnival. This also served as an opportunity for a number of the students to be assessed for the AFL Level 1 Field Umpire accreditation that is integrated into the Physical Education Studies course. The level of expertise and cooperation throughout the day from all students was simply outstanding.

Assistant Teacher Practicum

I would like to recognise the contribution of the students from Edith Cowan, Notre Dame and the University of Western Australia that completed their Assistant Teacher Practicum at Trinity College. The Physical and Health Education staff is to be commended for commitment that they make to mentoring and assisting the student teachers in their professional development and formation during the eight to ten weeks that they are with us, and our programs and students benefit significantly from the injection of energy, enthusiasm and ideas that the students bring to the learning area and sport at Trinity College. We wish Mr Dylan Chavez, Mr Stuart Denton, Mr Elliot Moore and Mr David Hankin all the very best in their teaching careers. I would like to encourage all students to continue to make the most of their great opportunities to participate in physical activity at Trinity College.

Martin Tobin

Head of Physical Education & Health