In collaboration with the Australian Institute of Sport, Nestlé’s health and physical education program, The Good Village, has been developed by teachers for primary school students to learn about health, wellbeing, fitness, nutrition, teamwork and sustainability.
The main challenge of The Good Village program is for students to design a new athlete village, undertaking engaging activities along the way. Students will be lead through the village by The Good Village Ambassadors – inspirational Australian Athletes. As well as being professional sportspeople the ambassadors are also qualified educators. A friendly face across the platform, demonstrating concepts and providing a sporting context for the activities, as well as an inspiration to kids through high performance sport. “It’s important for me to give back to the next (athletic) stars and share what has helped me,” says Cameron Girdlestone, AIS Athlete Ambassador and Olympic rower.
HEALTH AND WELLBEING IN A MODERN CLASSROOM
When it comes to the health and wellbeing of students, there’s never been a more important time to get accurate information into the classroom. Since – and even before – the implementation of the Australian Student Wellbeing Framework, teachers
have recognised that happy students are better learners. Still, the line between implicit modelling of ‘good’ wellbeing, and explicit instruction can be blurred through overuse of buzzwords, oppressive whole school policy and a lack of age-appropriate resources.
THE PROGRAM
The Good Village HPE program is the latest in holistic, flexible, project-based learning, to help teachers support students make the right choices for their bodies, minds and the world around them. Written for teachers, by teachers, and designed to be student-led, the interactive platform offers over 50 differentiated activities designed to challenge students’ thinking, promote exploration, and develop creativity. The activities in each area of The Good Village encourage students to learn by applying concepts to their own experiences in order to develop the necessary knowledge and skills to complete the main challenge – to design a new athlete village!
Linked to the Australian Health and Physical Education curriculum (with the exceptions of outcomes around gender and puberty) and with plenty of opportunities for supporting literacy, mathematics, science and visual arts outcomes and the cross curriculum priority of sustainability, The Good Village will have no trouble fitting in with your scope and sequence. The non-prescriptive nature of the resource means that the program can fit into any primary classroom across Australia and be explored within a week, term or across a year’s worth of planning. All activities in The Good Village include details of curriculum links as well as notes for teachers.
The bright and attractive platform will entice students to keep coming back, ticking off each activity as they develop their learning within the four sectors; the Canteen (nutrition), AIS Sports Oval (physical activity), the Games Room (relationships and culture), and the Community Garden (sustainability).
HOW DOES THE GOOD VILLAGE WORK?
- Work your way through each activity.
- Build up skills and understanding in each area.
- Get to know the AIS Athlete Ambassadors.
- Commence the main challenge – to design anew athlete village!
AIS PARTNERSHIP
Nestlé teamed up with the AIS back in 1999 to inspire families towards good nutrition and getting active. With the AIS’s expertise in sport and physical activity and Nestle’s experience in nutrition, The Good Village is able to fully leverage this partnership to create fantastic resources for schools.
DEVELOPMENT
The Good Village draws from the Reggio Emilia pedagogy and offers a number of avenues for students to express themselves through their learning. From creating a podcast to designing a treehouse there is something for everyone to love! The program takes project-based learning (buzzword, anyone?) to a new level with mini- collaborative challenges to develop skills in entrepreneurism, events management and historical discovery.
During the development of the program, Nestlé has not only collaborated with Australian educators to ensure the village’s curriculum value, but also leading nutritionist Tracy Hardy and sporting development designers at the AIS to ensure it presents modern and science-based information in age-appropriate ways.
“Having a resource designed by teachers was a key consideration when developing The Good Village. The links to the curriculum and activities designed around modern pedagogical thinking ensure that this program is fit for use in any Aussie classroom,” says Katey Street, Former Teacher, Learning Designer and Education Consultant.
“Consulting with educators was a key part of the development of The Good Village. It created a resource that reflects the needs of teachers and modern classrooms as well as being engaging for students across the Primary age group,” continues Street.
Providing your class with accurate and inspirational learning experiences in HPE is more important now than ever. The Good Village is a modern resource that will propel your class further, deliver your curriculum outcomes without hours of prep work, and set your class up for healthier, happier lives. It takes a village!
For further information visit, www.n4hk.com.au
This article was first published in Education Matters Primary Magazine, September 2022. To read the issue download it here.
