Submitted by: Sonia Sheehan, HPEC Vice President Communications and Physical Education Specialist at FFCA SWE Campus
The unprecedented
end of the 2019-2020 school year with all classes finishing online, required
the need for teachers to readjust and reimagine what the 2020-2021 school year
would look like. Teaching physical education outside seemed to be a
positive direction to move forward with. However, the ability to teach
successfully outside regularly was a dilemma that required a solution.
Maintaining active participation in physical education class, while helping
students keep their 2m physical distance was part of that challenge.
Strategically placed pavement painting on the tarmac at a Calgary school
enabled a reimaging of the outdoor school space to allow for the continued
delivery of quality physical education.
The school
tarmac was a blank canvas ready to be transformed into a new thoughtfully
designed learning space. Some key elements that required consideration
during the design process included: 2m distance between movement stations for
students, appropriate elementary grade level designs, colour coordinated
features, a variety of intentional movement opportunities and home base circles
to allow students to have a safe (physically distanced) location to begin and
end each class.
Researching
painting and stencil options followed by measuring available dimensions of the
tarmac resulted in a planning strategy and design including the paint, stencils
and equipment. Approximately 40 hours were devoted to planning, designing and
painting the tarmac. The end result was a reimagined functional outdoor
learning space that was safe for everyone during the global pandemic.
The tarmac
painting features include:
·
48
numbered and colour coordinated (red, blue, green, yellow, purple, orange) home
base circles 2m apart. All colours correspond with the six equipment colours
used regularly.
·
250m
footprint loop around the perimeter of the activity space, 6 footprints = 2m
distance
·
6
colour coordinated 4 squares games each 2m apart
·
8
station fitness circuit with 2m distance between each station
·
8
different fundamental locomotor skill words spaced 2m apart
·
54
colour coordinated solid shapes (circles, squares, stars, diamonds, pentagons,
hearts) spaced 2m apart
·
2
lane 30m track with a start end, finish end and an agility ladder in the middle
of the track – 2m distance between the middle of each track lane
· 26
letters of the alphabet 2m apart to serve as a physically distanced line up
location
The tarmac
design has been a successful project and has enhanced the delivery of quality
outdoor physical education classes. The newly painted tarmac is an asset
when teaching during the current pandemic, but the value of the reimagined
outdoor learning space will be seen in many years to come. Take a tour of
the tarmac by watching the following video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAGnKcS25kc
