Helping to Keep DPA on the Agenda
It has been three years since the Ministry of Education introduced Daily Physical Activity (DPA) to elementary schools as a part of the government’s Healthy Schools Program and Ophea has been involved every step of the way.
Over this period, Ophea has provided valuable and practical DPA supports to teachers, principals and school board administrators. With its continued commitment to supporting the implementation of DPA, Ophea offers its fourth year of the DPA Training & Support Services subscription to school boards across Ontario.
Revitalize DPA in your school board with these new subscription services which provide schools and educators with:
• New Integrated DPA Activity Cards
• New Instructional DVD Resource
• New Music
• And more
For complete details please click here:
2009/2010 DPA Training & Support Services Subscription
Twenty minutes of Daily Physical Activity is critical to making schools healthier places to learn and to improving student achievement. Not only will Ophea’s innovative 2009/10 services ensure that the Ministry of Education’s requirements are easily achieved, but they will also allow elementary students to participate in moderate to vigorous physical activity each school day.
Daily Physical Activity Quick Facts:
- DPA must consist of at least 20 minutes of sustained moderate to vigorous physical activity daily.
- DPA must be scheduled during instructional time (not during lunch, recess, or breaks).
- DPA can occur in a variety of locations, including classrooms, the outdoors, the gymnasium, and multipurpose rooms.20 minutes of Daily Physical Activity is only onecomponent of a quality health and physical education program and should not replace existing physical education programs.
- The 20 minutes is for Grades 1-8 however Kindergarten teachers are encouraged to implement this initiative as well.
- All activities must be adapted, as appropriate, to ensure that studentswith special needs can participate. Such adaptations must beconsistent with the accommodations and/or modifications that are typically found ina student's Individual Education Plan.
- Since individual classes may be at different stages of implementation, daily physical activity may initially occur in several short sessions (a minimum of ten minutes each) over the course of the school day.
- Elementary school principals should make their best effort to ensure that students are receiving at least twenty minutes of sustained moderate to vigorous daily physical activity during instructional time as soon as possible, and will meet this objective by the end of the 2005–2006 school year.
