Health and Physical Education
The Health and Physical Education program at Cathedral College Wangaratta plays a vital role in trying to motivate and inspire our students to lead healthy and active lifestyles in our ever-changing world.
Health and Physical Education are core subjects taught from Prep to Year Ten. In the early years, time is allocated for students to master their Fundamental Motor Skills (FMS). FMS are the basic motor skills needed to perform successfully in more complex sports later in life. FMS includes the overarm throw, jump, catch, leap, run and strike.
In the Middle School, students are exposed to more specialised sports-specific skills and complex movement strategies in a wide range of different sports.
Our main aim with our Senior School students continues to be based on promoting lifelong physical activities which give students the skills and knowledge needed to participate in physical activity for the rest of their lives.
Our focus for all Prep to Year Ten Health classes is to develop students knowledge, understanding and skills to help build resilience and to develop a strong sense of self. Through theory and practical based activities, students worked on building and maintaining satisfying relationships as well as making health-enhancing decisions in order to enhance their own and others’ health and wellbeing.
Its exciting to see the Physical Education program continue to expand and build upon the already outstanding facilities at the school. We recently completed a new state of the art synthetic hockey pitch which is located beside our football oval. The new facility also has twelve tennis courts marked out and has given our Department the ability to further motivate and expose students to a wider range of sports without having to travel long distances off campus.
In addition, students in Year Seven and Eight complete a semester of a Physical Wellbeing elective. In these electives, students learn how to create, conduct, monitor and evaluate their own personalised fitness programs. They are introduced to different fitness training methods and look at the many mental and physical benefits of regular physical activity. The elective covers different strategies aimed to improve lifelong physical wellbeing including meditation, progressive muscle relaxation and mindfulness exercises.
At Year Ten and Eleven we offer VCE VET Sport & Recreation. This subject provides students with the skills and knowledge to work in the Sport and Recreation industries. Over the two-year program, students will have the opportunity to gain their Level 2 First Aid Certificate, Level 1 Sports Trainers Certificate and Certificate III in Sport and Recreation.
Outdoor Education provides an opportunity for the students to challenge and develop positive experiences and relationships with the natural environment, their fellow class members and the staff at Cathedral College Wangaratta. Our ever-burgeoning Outdoor Education program at Cathedral College continues to challenge, inspire and enable students to experience our magnificent, local surroundings. Students, who have been involved in Outdoor Education this year during either the first or second semester, have all encountered many different obstacles in a variety of environments.
Some of the experiences range from catching their first wave to crawling through water-filled caves, abseiling down steep slopes, to rock climbing overhanging cliffs and adrenaline mountain bike trails.
Thorough preparation is required before embarking on many Outdoor Education expeditions. To ensure students have developed extensive survival skills to successfully navigate through a variety of environments, we spend our time in the classroom learning about mapping, first aid, tying knots, cooking different foods on a Trangia and a variety of other tasks pertaining to camp preparation. Key themes focused on developing leadership skills, teamwork and initiatives while we explored ways in which we can explore the natural environment with minimal impact and support fragile ecosystems.
To allow our students to test and extend their specific sporting skills, our Four to Twelve students belong to the Upper Hume Division, which partners with Wodonga, Wangaratta and Myrtleford private and State schools. Our Junior School belongs to the Wangaratta divisions and regularly competes against local Wangaratta schools. These groups provide opportunities and clear pathways for our students to progress from Division, to Region, to State finals. Our students have competed in State and National finals in Athletics, Table Tennis, Badminton and Swimming. Any sport played at Cathedral College Wangaratta is an opportunity for students to advance to a State or National stage.
In many sports, students combine to form teams that train during lunchtime to compete as a cohesive group ready for the competition.
Hockey
Table Tennis
Badminton
AFL
Tennis
Swimming
Athletics
Cross Country
As well as Inter-school sports, students participate in House sports throughout the year.
While participation and commitment to their House is the primary aim, competition for the coveted 'House Shield’ is fierce amongst all six Houses.
Cathedral College Wangaratta has enviable sporting facilities including a full-size football oval, state of the art hockey field, tennis courts, cricket nets, a sports stadium, an undercover basketball court and more. In 2023 a soccer pitch will be installed.