Kiwi golf a hit in Waiouru!

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 14, Issue 677, 11 March 1997, Page 16

Kiwi golf a hit in Waiouru!

Waiouru Primary School has adopted a 2-year physical education programme which concentrates on introducing children to a wide-range of sports and skills. By extending the length of the programme to two years, the children are now able to cover all major sports and the skills required to play them. With six years in the senior school, they will each have three opportunities to focus on a particular sport. The school will also be able to improve its quality and variety of equipment as it can targetits funds towards the particular sports being taught that year.

'The programme caters for all children by exposing them to a number of sports as well as extending those children who have a skill base already ," commented Marty Hantz, deputy principal of the school. Competitions with other local schools will be arranged where possible. The first module is golf with instructor James Malone, from Wanganui who has completed the sport and recreation programme. By reducing the size of the equipment and arranging the teaching into a programmed sequence of fun and easy steps, the children from the Year-4 to Year8 classes were taught the basics of golf. From the sideline, the teaching process seemed unusual with the children progressing from waving a flag in the air to swinging it as a golf club. However the importance of the "fun stage" was apparent when the class finally picked up the mini-sized clubs and demonstrated some profes-

sional-looking swings. When the ball was added to the teaching process, the children again started with a large ball which was easy to hit and progressed on to a tennis ball and finally the golf ball. Instructor James Malone ensured that the children were safe, learnt the skills and most importantly, had fun while they did so. Success at all stages of the learning process seems to be the key to this fun way of learning sports. A keen sportsperson, Mr Malone said he "loves having ajob that he enjoys", While the children. are getting their first lessons during school time, the teachers have to come back after hours for their own sports lessons. Mr Hantz indicated that the teachers themselves have to understand the basics of this teaching approach so that they can continue the programme once the main instructors finish their contracts.