Building confidence to teach health and physical education

“Healthy Active Learning has given me a more meaningful way to incorporate games and for it to be seen as health and physical education.” – Kaiako

Tori, a kaiako in the Bay of Plenty, says the support of Healthy Active Learning has transformed the way she delivers health and physical education and prioritises physical activity for her class.

Her experience of PE as a student had a lasting impact on her teaching. Having disliked PE herself, and concerned about replicating negative experiences for her ākonga, she was cautious about placing too much emphasis on it in her own classroom. As a result, physical activity was not something she actively prioritised or felt confident delivering.

Through her engagement with Healthy Active Learning, Tori’s understanding of what quality physical education looks like began to shift. She reframed PE as more than learning specific sports skills. Instead, she came to see it as an opportunity to enhance wellbeing, inclusion and learning.

Tori also began integrating physical activity across other learning areas. Movement became a tool to enhance engagement and learning, rather than a separate subject competing for time. She says she now feels more capable of adapting activities, meeting diverse needs and creating positive experiences for all her ākonga.

“One of the first meetings we sat down and thought of different ways we could adapt one game. You can do it as a warm-up in your writing, a warm-up in your math. I hadn't really thought about that.” – Kaiako