Personal development, health and physical education (PDHPE) is mandatory from Kindergarten to Year 10.

According to the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA), students are expected to participate in PDHPE for between 1.5 and 2.5 hours per week in Kindergarten to Year 6.

PDHPE provides students with opportunities to explore issues that are likely to impact on the health, safety and wellbeing of themselves and others – now and in the future. Students also participate in challenging and enjoyable physical activity, improving their capacity to move with skill and confidence.

Sports & physical activity

We have physical activity programs for children from Kindergarten to Year 6, with a focus on fundamental movement skills.

Sport and physical activity is a valued and accepted part of our school's curriculum, contributing to the development of the whole child. It provides a vehicle for social, physical, emotional and moral learning and is an important expression of our culture.

The participation, enjoyment and skill development of our students is the corner-stone of the school sport/ physical activity program. All our students take part in this program.

There are also opportunities to represent our school at inter-school sports competitions. As a NSW public school we benefit from the opportunities for shared activities and competitions with other schools, coordinated by school sport associations. See the School Sport Unit website for details.

PD/H/PE: The NSW curriculum outlines that physical fitness and sport must be offered to students for no less than 2 hours per week. We offer many opportunities to our students to build their sporting skills, increase their fitness and compete outside of school.

In K-2 our Physical Education (PE) programs develop students' Fundamental Movement Skills eg catching, throwing, running, jumping and striking, through to gross motor activities as well as the social skills of team work. Kindergarten students participate in weekly whole-grade aerobics session in the hall, where they learn choreographed moves to dances including The Wiggles - Do the Monkey!, The Macarena and YMCA.  Each session finishes with gentle stretching and a cool down. 

Years 1 and 2 have weekly sport lessons where fundamental gross motor and fine motor skills are taught. They are also involved in a fitness program 3 days a week which includes learning a) ball games such as Captain Ball and Tunnel Ball b) an endurance circuit which involves running, skipping, walking and jogging and c) aerobics where aerobic steps and movements set to music are learnt.

The K-2 Athletics Carnival in September, gives students an introduction to what a school sports carnival is all about.  In addition to age races (running and skipping), students take part in a round robin of activities including long jump, parachute games and relays and novelty events. Parents, carers and toddlers are encouraged to join in the fun with a running race.  In the lead-up to the carnival, teachers explicitly teach relay and race skills.

The NRL Program for K-2 students is scheduled for Term 4.  Combining literacy and fitness, through the telling of a story about the game, this program enables students to practise and further develop their Fundamental Movement Skills.  Students take part in a weekly class lesson over 3 weeks.

In 3-6, PE lessons are about getting the students moving and active, while teaching skills. Depending on the time of year, the focus might be on ball skills, games, cross country training and athletics and field events training. Across the school part of PE is also the teaching of gymnastics and dance. As a school we will employ a professional organisation to teach gymnastics. This enables the students to learn from coaches with professional qualifications.  All students in K-6 will be participating in gymnastic lessons in Term 3. A dance group is also available during lunchtimes and interested students try out early Term 1 for selection.

Aerobics: Denistone East PS has a long history of being involved in a state and national aerobics competition each year. Try outs are held at the end of the year for the following year for both boys and girls teams drawing from students in Years 3-6. There are weekly training sessions and as the competition draws closer there may be some extra weekend and holiday rehearsals. There is a financial commitment attached to this activity.

Swimming Lessons: Swimming lessons are offered - 10 lessons over a two week block in Term 4. Years 2, 3 and 4 have the option of being involved in the departmental program called School Swimming Scheme. Costs associated cover pool entry and bus transfers.

PSSA: PSSA (Public School Sports Association) is an inter-school competition where students in Years 3-6 are selected to represent Denistone East Public School and play on a weekly basis at various locations. We participate in the Friday Ryde PSSA competition. Students are able to trial for summer and winter PSSA teams. Trials are held in Term 1. Teachers select their students on their performance during trials and the skills they demonstrate. Each sport has a particular number of students playing on the field/court plus reserves. This limits the number of students who may be selected into a PSSA team. Successful students are offered a position within a team. Depending on coaching availability, we participate in the following sports:

Summer

Winter

Girls T-Ball (Years 3 & 4)

Mixed Junior AFL  (2 teams)

Mixed T-Ball ( Years 3 & 4)

Mixed Senior AFL  (1 team)

Girls Softball (Years 5 & 6)

Junior Netball (2 teams)

Boys Softball (Years 5 & 6)

Senior Netball (2 teams)

Junior Cricket (Years 3 & 4)

Girls Tiger Tag (Years 4-6)

Senior Cricket (Years 5 & 6)

Boys Tiger Tag (Years 4-6)

Junior Newcombe Ball (Years 3 & 4)

Girls Soccer (2 teams)

Senior Newcombe Ball  & Volleyball (Years 5 & 6)

Junior Boys (2 teams)

Senior Boys (1 team)

Summer PSSA runs in Term 1, end of Term 3 and Term 4. Winter PSSA runs in Term 2 and 3. This is a cost incurring activity to cover registration and transportation. Students must commit to attending a training session each week, generally held before school.

School Sport: As an alternative to PSSA, students are offered a range of activities during school sport. School sport encourages the development of skills, where a variety of sports are available. In conjunction with school sport, students are also offered the opportunity to partake in tennis lessons held at Kings Park, a short walk from the school. Costs are associated with tennis due to court hire and coaching, which is provided by qualified tennis coaches. Students nominate to participate in tennis each term and the first 30 – 35 students to return their permission notes each term, are given a place in the group.

Gala Days: Gala Days are one off day competitions, where we compete against schools in the neighbouring area. Teams are made up of a mixture PSSA team members and/or additional students who express an interest and have demonstrated appropriate skills in the sport. Denistone East PS will be involved in the following Gala Days this year: Basketball and Milo Cricket. The dates of the Gala Days determine our school participation as other school events such as Athletics Carnivals etc. take precedence.

Representative Sport: Denistone East Public School is officially part of the Ryde Zone PSSA. We compete in 3 annual zone carnivals: swimming, cross country and athletics. Students who represent our school at these carnivals are selected based on the results of our school carnivals and may be required to meet qualifying times or distances. Students from the 16 schools in the zone carnival may gain a place to Sydney North Area and potentially through to State and National carnivals.

Individual Representative Sport Trials: Students who play at a representative level or Division 1, outside of school may be given opportunity to represent the school at Ryde Zone or Area level. These are held outside of our school. Often Year 5 and Year 6 are only allowed to attend, as the trials are open aged. We are often limited to 3 students from our school for each trial and need to make a decision based on the potential of highest selection. Trials include for boys and girls: Basketball, Cricket, Diving, Golf, Hockey, Netball (girls only), Rugby League and Rugby Union (boys only), Soccer, Softball, Tennis, Touch Football and AFL (boys only).

Carnivals:

K-2: K-2 Athletics Carnival

3-6: Cross Country, Swimming Carnival, Athletics Carnival

Students who are in Year 2 turning 8 are entitled to attend Year 3 – 6 carnivals.