NEWSLETTER 2- January 2012

Fellow Phys Edders, or should we say “peakphysedders”......

We hope you enjoyed reading our first newsletter – we had over 4,500 downloads and thanks for passing the link on to friends & colleagues! Many of you are already following peakphysed on twitter and facebook and thanks again for clicking on. We have had over 1600 teachers come across from the PE network Rob has facilitated over the last 8 years and register (create your own login and password - FREE) and start using the FREE resources. We encourage as many of you go to peakphysed.com.au and create your own accounts as the “old” network will be replaced by this superior method of communication and information sharing early in 2012 – can you afford to miss out?

Welcome to our second newsletter which we hope you find as interesting and engaging as our first newsletter. Enjoy......

1. Individual and School Memberships – These are now open for all to consider and will provide significant benefits to those who join. We already have many teachers who have already paid for a 12 month membership and will get instant access to the “members only” section of the website where they will access a whole range of teaching and learning resources. These members get a $50 discount to our Discovery Physical & Health Education Conference to be held at the MCG on February 17th, 2012 as well as our first Blockbuster PD for next year.Schools have started to take up memberships as well to extend benefits to both their teachers and students – with many already providing names for students they’d like to attend “Kick Start” as a reward. Your feedback indicated that this choice was important and we’ve provided it to schools.

2. Kick Start for students. Member schools have the opportunity of hosting student sessions and this provides another win:win opportunity – please contact Rob () for further details. These sessions provide students with a flying start to their Unit 3 & 4 PE studies and please provide them with details- simply get them to log onto peakphysed.com.au to download the flyer.

3. “Discovery - Victorian Physical & Health Education Conference” promises to be our biggest conference and the line up of sessions and presenters speak for themselves. Details and registrations available by clicking this link. Get inspired from the start of 2012 and then use all of the resources throughout the year within your setting for the benefit of all. Teachers are coming over from WA and NZ because this stands out as being something special - click this link for more information

4. Blockbuster I has been locked in for Wednesday 29th February @ Balwyn High. This jam packed session with leaders in their fields including Professor John Hawley, Associate Professor Noel Lythgo from RMIT University and Rob Malpeli and this should not be missed. Lock in the date, download the registration form and be part of a big night.Information and registration details available by clicking here.

5. Dr Amanda Benson (Dr ACB) has put together a brilliant ICT exposé and her monthly reports will be something to look out for. In her first presentation Amanda’s reports generated great discussions, heaps of further contacts and wet the appetite of many practitioners who sought out and used many of the strategies she wrote about.

Click here to view her second report.

6. Interesting articles :

  • Drug tests at new levels for Games (courtesy Michael Nelson)
  • BMC lactate testing (courtesy James Stevens)
  • Too much screentime eating into playtime
  • Programs promoting healthy food and exercise do help children stop becoming overweight or obese.
  • The US first lady’s mission to get Americans active, but who are Australia's health role models?

7. Worth a Look from the AIS How many times have you thought or been asked “What’s the best type of recovery following...... ” or “How does this recovery modality assist recovery” The AIS website has a some great information at :

You will find a great summary table of some recentpublished papers on recovery and most can be accessed through the NSIC.

8. Send in your student recommendations for those who “are doing it tough” and would benefit by having complimentary & supported entry to any of our student sessions. Phys Ed students often lead their schools as captains, prefects, etc. given their high levels of connectedness, drive and sense of community. We would love to hear about students who are doing great things within their own schools and/or broader communities. Here are some examples:

We’d love to hear aboutand share your student led programs making a difference in your schools More information availableby clicking here.

9. We are committed to best servicing our profession and encourage practitioners to email us with any suggestions, requests, etc..... to assist their efforts in delivering programs that are innovative, excellent and meaningful to the whole school community.Never think “ Nah, they’ll never get back to me”. We have already assisted schools with iPad proposals made before school councillors; helped a faculty make a decision about the most suitable GPS units they should be investing in; consulted on how to increase participation rates in PE programs; designed new resources to fill a void we were made aware of and linked schools seeking to form partnerships to best use resources and deliver high end programs. Contact us at peakphysed.com.au by clicking this contact us link.

10. Congratulations to Prof. John Hawley (those of you who have come to Blockbuster PD previously know how good this guy is!) on securing a $520,000 grant to examine the role of dairy-rich products in weight loss. Read more about this at register to attend our first Blockbuster PD for 2012 which John is presenting at by clicking this link.

11.Professor Carolyn Finch at Monash is offering a PhD scholarship to undertake research into the legal and injury risk management aspects of the Australian Fitness industry related to its delivery of physical activity and exercise opportunities for all. The direct URL for the ad is

Candidates must be Australian/NZ residents or citizens and will need toenrol for full-time postgraduate study at Monash University. Please note the end of January closing date & if interested contact Carolyn directly about this scholarship opportunity.
Professor Caroline Finch
NHMRC Principal Research Fellow
Australian Centre for Research into Sports Injury and its Prevention (ACRISP)

Ph: +61 3 9905 1388
Mobile: +61 419 464 350

12.60 Second “Wish List”- Your opinions and ideas are valued! Take a minute out of your day to complete the following 10 items– simply copy, cut and paste your thoughts in the “Contact Us” section at peakphysed by clicking this link.

  • I would like to see more newsletter articles on......
  • As a new individual member, it would benefit my teachingto have access to the following......
  • My students would benefit from having more information on......
  • Our faculty would love more informationon......
  • It would be great to have free access to......
  • Member rewards could include......
  • Professional learning that addresses the following area(s) would be very useful to me......
  • Please provide IT ideas related to the following area(s)......
  • The following area(s) could make a big difference to supporting student learning......
  • The hardest part of my teaching is......

Best Wishes

Rob Malpeli & Amanda Telford