Advocacy

ACHPER's role in advocacy involves:

  • Promoting ACHPER membership as means of career enhancement and employability
  • Professional benefits of membership
  • Advocating for HPE entitlement for all students
  • Seeking a quality Victorian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education
  • Supporting quality pre-service preparation of teachers
  • Uptake of National Professional Standards for Teachers and school leaders 
Why are Health & Physical Education Teachers so important?

A quality health and physical education (HPE) program will enable students to develop the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to make decisions and take action that leads to a healthy and physically active lifestyle for themselves and the community in which they live.

It takes a quality health and physical education professional to provide:

  • A developmentally appropriate and meaningful program that enhances the physical, cognitive, and affective development of all students
  • Inclusive instruction that maximises engagement by all students in class activitiesOngoing assessment and feedback to all students that is used to guide student learningA program that supports lifelong learning toward leading a healthy and physically active life
How much time does your school allocate to HPE?

If your physical education program does not meet the recommended time mandate (see below), or is under threat from the crowded curriculum remind your peers that:

  • Evidence suggests that time in physical education and physical activity* may actually improve academic learning. Research conducted has found no negative effect on academic performance when physical education and physical activity time has been increased during the school day.
  • A major barrier to increasing physical education time in schools is the perception that time spent in activities such as physical education, physical activity and recess will undermine academic learning but nothing could be further from the truth.

*Physical education and physical activity ARE NOT the same but there is evidence that when classroom teachers use activity breaks this can result in an improvement in cognitive function and classroom behaviour.

Victorian Time Mandates for Physical and Sport Education: 

Years P - 3: 20 – 30 minutes of physical education a day
Years 4 - 6: 3 hours a week of physical education and sport with a minimum of 90 minutes for physical education
Years 7 - 10: 100 minutes per week each for physical education and sport

Questions to ask about your school:
  • Has our school developed an up to date written Health and Physical Education policy?
  • Do we currently meet or surpass the minimum time mandates for Sport & Physical Education?
  • Do we have a planned and sequential program that addresses key content descriptors and elaborations of the Victorian Curriculum?
  • Does our HPE program provide learning experiences that are inclusive of all students and are safe, enjoyable and promote an active and healthy lifestyle?
  • Does our HPE program include ongoing, authentic assessment as an integrated part of learning?

Download our advocacy piece in PDF format >>

If you answered 'No' or 'Maybe' to any of these questions and would like support in further developing your program, please get in touch with a member of our Professional Learning team.