Mr. Van Sluys MTS

We had another great week in Physical Education! Students continued to demonstrate excellent effort, sportsmanship, and a willingness to challenge themselves as they developed their movement skills through a variety of activities. It has been wonderful to see students staying active, supporting their classmates, and having fun while learning. Looking ahead to next week, PE classes will be taking place outdoors as we continue our Alien In-Line skating residency, which was interrupted last October. We are excited to welcome the instructors back and provide students with the opportunity to continue building their skating skills. Students in Grades 3, 4, and EES will be participating in skating sessions. Please refer to the attached schedule to see when your child will be skating. A reminder that all students must wear a CSA-approved bicycle helmet during their skating sessions. Please ensure that your child brings their helmet to school on their scheduled skating days. If a student does n...

What a fantastic week in PE! Grade 1 and 2 students continued building their skills, confidence, and teamwork in soccer, and grade 3 and 4 wrapped up an exciting swimming unit this week as well. A huge congratulations goes out to all of our swimmers! Throughout the swimming sessions, students showed tremendous growth in the water. We saw students become more confident, improve their strokes, practice water safety skills, and challenge themselves to try new things. For some students, this meant swimming farther than before, while for others it meant putting their face in the water or jumping in with confidence for the first time. No matter the goal, we are proud of the effort, courage, and perseverance students demonstrated each week. Thank you as well to families for helping students come prepared and ready to swim! In our Grade 1 and 2 soccer lessons, students focused on using the sidekick to both pass and shoot the ball with greater control. We practiced proper foot placement, accura...

This week in Physical Education has been full of activity and learning! Our Grade 1 and 2 students have been developing their soccer skills, with a strong focus on dribbling, control, and moving safely with the ball. Today, students had the opportunity to put their new skills into action by playing soccer games outside. It was great to see their enthusiasm, teamwork, and growing confidence on the field! Meanwhile, our Grade 3 and 4 students enjoyed their first week of swimming lessons at the Brookfield Residential YMCA at Seton . Students are participating in the Swim to Survive program and have already done a fantastic job listening, learning, and building water safety skills. Lessons will continue next week. A reminder for swimming days: Students are encouraged to wear their swimsuits underneath their clothing to help us stay on schedule, as bus times are very tight. Please remember to pack a towel and underwear in a separate swim bag. Thank you for your continued support!

This week in Physical Education, students began a new unit focused on paddle and racket sports. We started by learning about the different types of paddles and rackets, and how they are used in games like badminton and pickleball. Students practiced holding their equipment properly and learned how to stay in control while moving and striking an object. As the week progressed, we worked on two important skills: the backhand serve and the underhand serve. Using paddles and wiffleballs helped students slow the game down, giving them more time to focus on technique, accuracy, and control. Students learned how to position their bodies and make solid contact with the ball. To reinforce these skills, we played a variety of fun games and partner activities that encouraged repetition and improvement.  Our overall goal for this unit is to build confidence and skill so that students can eventually play a modified version of badminton or pickleball. It was a great week of learning, and stud...

This week in PE, we wrapped up our basketball unit with lots of exciting game play and a chance for students to show off everything they have learned! Over the past few weeks, we have been working hard on important basketball skills like dribbling with control, passing to teammates, moving to open space, and taking good shots. It has been great to see students improving their confidence and teamwork as the unit progressed. To finish things off, we played lots of basketball games, but the games looked a little different depending on the grade level. Our grade 3 and 4 students learned how to play 3 on 3 half court basketball. This is a great format because it allows students to get more touches on the ball, more opportunities to pass and shoot, and more chances to be involved in the game. With fewer players on the court, everyone stays active and engaged, and it really helps students practice their skills in a real game setting. Our grade 1 and 2 students played full court basketball...

This week in PE, we continued to build on our basketball unit by expanding our skill set and getting more comfortable with the basics of the game. Students spent lots of time practicing dribbling and improving their control. We worked on keeping our eyes up, using our fingertips, and staying balanced while moving. We also continued to develop our shooting skills, focusing on proper form and follow-through while building confidence around the hoop. A big new skill we introduced this week was the bounce pass. Students learned how to step toward their target, aim for the floor about three quarters of the way to their partner, and use two hands to make an accurate, controlled pass. We practiced this skill in a variety of drills and games, which helped students understand when and why a bounce pass is useful during a real game. We also played lots of fun basketball games that encouraged passing, teamwork, and moving without the ball. Students worked on finding open space, supporting team...