All elementary students, including students with special needs, must have a minimum of twenty minutes of sustained moderate to vigorous physical activity each school day during instructional time. The goal of daily physical activity is to enable all elementary students to improve or maintain their physical fitness and their overall health and wellness, and to enhance their learning opportunities. Daily physical activity may include walking, active games, dance, aquatics, sports, and fitness and recreational activities (where facilities permit). (Ministry of Education P/PM 138 – Daily Physical Activity in Elementary Schools).

Finding the appropriate amount of time for DPA requires planning and coordination at the classroom, school, and board level. Planning and organizing DPA time within a school, and more specifically within a class, can be challenging and there are many different ways to meet the new time requirement. When planning for DPA, it is important to remember that the DPA requirements must be during instructional time. It is also important for teachers to be aware of all existing areas that are available for physical activity (e.g., the gymnasium, outdoor spaces, activity rooms, multipurpose rooms, and classrooms) and the different approaches that can be used to implement daily physical activity. There will be days when the gymnasium, multipurpose room, and outdoor spaces are not available, and in those cases a minimum of 20 minutes of physical activity time can be scheduled in alternative locations. The classroom may be used as an active area as well. Each classroom teacher and school administrator will have different challenges in making the spaces available and a reality. Each DPA session should include moderate to vigorous physical activity that raises the heart rate and maintains this increase for a sustained period of time.

The Ontario Curriculum H&PEhas three strands: Healthy Living, Fundamental Movement Skills, and Active Participation. These strands provide the organizational framework for program planning and provide a balanced instructional program and now also need to include daily physical activity as a component of the Active Participation strand. Daily physical activity should provide a broad selection of activities that meet a diversity of needs in order to ensure that all students are given every opportunity to learn and perform to their full potential. The knowledge and skills development through the health and physical education curriculum are often related to learning in other subjects. When teachers are planning programs, they can emphasize cross-curricular relationships by matching related expectations. For example, while students are completing a fitness circuit for their daily physical activity, they could count by multiples to review the multiplication, addition, etc. Additionally, students could spell out words from the vocabulary that they are learning for their current units while they are completing fitness tasks. An example for science might include the game “Oh Deer” found in the resource “Ontario H&PE Curriculum Support Document, Grades 4, 5 and 6, Appendix B”. This activity combines science specific expectations and also meets some of the needs that allow students to be moderately to vigorously active.

When planning for Health and Physical Education and Daily Physical Activity, it is important to plan for the diverse needs of students, including students with special needs. Planning considerations should include:

• accessibility of facilities;
• types of activities planned;
• type of equipment used;
• the organization of the learning environment;
• the grouping and interaction of students;

By providing a balanced program, the needs of all students will be accommodated. Additionally when planning for Health and Physical Education and Daily Physical Activity, talk to colleagues and maximize physical activity opportunities through the sharing of gymnasium space and equipment. Initially, additional time may need to be spent deciding when and what equipment will be used. For example, if gymnastics is going to be taught there may need to be planning to coordinate and maximize the use of the gymnasium space and equipment with other classes.

Reminders for Daily Physical Activity

• DPA must consist of at least 20 minutes of sustained moderate to vigorous physical activity daily.
• DPA must be scheduled during instructional time.
• DPA can occur in a variety of locations, including classrooms, the outdoors, the gymnasium, and multipurpose rooms.
• When planning to implement daily physical activity, teachers should be aware of any school-wide plans that provide support and coordination with respect to facilities, implementation models, and resources.
• Review the Ontario Safety Guidelines to ensure that safe procedures are being followed.
• Check to see what equipment is available and what the need is for sharing or scheduling of equipment.
• Consider the needs of every student including those with special needs.

Students who participate in safe, inclusive and fun opportunities for physical activity can benefit socially, academically and through improved health. In order to make DPA a reality in your school, Ophea is committed to providing supports for the implementation of daily physical activity in Ontario’s elementary schools. Some of the resources that support DPA are the H&PE Curriculum Support Documents, the Ontario Elementary Curricular Safety Guidelines, activ8, and PlaySport. Ophea also offers a full complement of training sessions available to school boards that provide necessary supports for teachers, administrators, and/or school boards.