Representatives from PISE, Craigflower Elementary School and The Cridge Centre for the Family recently presented the Victoria Foundation and Rotary Club of Victoria with a gift from the many children who participated in five years of PISE physical literacy enriched programs at Craigflower School and The Cridge Centre.
Hundreds of children left their fingerprints in the form of a dandelion in framed images, as a thank you for their opportunity to learn movement skills through fun games and play. The images were presented to Sandra Richardson, CEO of the Victoria Foundation, and Janet Power and Kim McGowan of the Rotary Club of Victoria.
“Each child’s physical literacy journey is as unique as a fingerprint. It has been a joy for our PISE Team to work with these children and see their skills, confidence and motivation for movement grow over the five years. We are so grateful to The Victoria Foundation and Rotary Club of Victoria for supporting these valued programs at the schools,” said Chris Wright, physical literacy co-ordinator at PISE.
The Victoria Foundation’s Vital Signs report provided inspiration for the PISE physical literacy enriched programs at these locations that have run from 2012 to 2017. It became clear that there was a need to provide programming to children who did not have the same opportunity to access quality physical activity. The Victoria Foundation’s Smart and Caring Fund, which supports these programs, was officially launched in 2012 by Governor General David Johnson at a special event at PISE. The Rotary Club of Victoria also provided funding to support the programs at Craigflower Elementary School.
“What amazes me is that this program which began as a means to improve physical skills, has proven to provide so much more benefit to these children,” said Richardson. “Both parents and teachers have talked about improvements in social skills, attitude, cooperation… key building blocks for a sense of belonging and for future success.”
