QDPE WORKS!!

At Neil C. Matheson Junior Public School, physical activity is more than just a phrase. It's a way of life.

This Port Credit, Ontario school is one of more than 400 schools across Canada that have taken their commitment to physical education seriously. The school provides its students with 150 minutes of Quality Daily Physical Education (QDPE) instruction each week. As a result of its efforts, Matheson was presented with the QDPE School Recognition Award last year, from the Canadian Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (CAHPERD).

"It's our philosophy that an active body means an active mind," says school principal John Baird. "QDPE has a lot of benefits. The self-esteem it gives kids pays off in terms of academic performance."

"By offering just 30 minutes of quality physical education every day, schools have the unique opportunity to influence healthy active lifestyles for every student," says Kirk Bamford, former director of CAHPERD's Quality Daily Physical Education Program. "Years of research indicates that active students are healthier, happier, less aggressive and perform as well or better academically. In fact, if a school does not meet students' daily physical needs, it may be failing to provide optimal learning conditions.

Baird says that QDPE has already had a positive impact on all students in his school, even those with behaviour problems.

Bob Wilson of D.A. Moodie School in Nepean, Ontario believes QDPE contributes to "school spirit". "Kids get involved, they want to take part in things," he says. "If they get involved in physical activity, then they discover they can also be a part of things like the yearbook, or the chess club and they tend to get more involved with their academics."

"QDPE helps them develop as individuals," says Wilson. "They are more focused, they want to be at school. It fills a void for many of them in terms of socialization. And it's fun to do."

Wilson calls D.A. Moodie "the best equipped elementary school" in the Ottawa region. Moodie has cross country ski equipment for 50 kids, which enables students to participate in the sport even if they don't have money to buy their own equipment. The school's equipment is paid for by an annual fund-raiser in which at least two-thirds of the students participate.

"It's a sense of pride at our school," says Wilson. "People feel good about themselves and about their school and they're willing to work for it.

Richard Foot, of Coldbrook and District School, supervises the largest QDPE program in Nova Scotia. He is the only physical education instructor for the school's 660 students. He says a school doesn't need to have a large physical education department to establish a QDPE program. It just needs the will to make it happen.

"I work with 26 homeroom teachers to provide an integrated program that provides activity for children at all levels of ability," he says. "We have several physically-challenged children and I work with them and a resource person to adapt the activities to include them.

June,1992

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