Safety is a concern to education administrators in today’s lawsuit-happy society. It should be of particular concern around a school gymnasium because the gym is an area that generates a large number of student injuries.

Unfortunately, injuries are often the result of common but inconspicuous equipment and facility hazards.

To identify some typical injury risks, I contacted Cliff Knuff, a consultant who performs school safety checks as part of his duties with The Vinyl Doctor out of Val Caron, Ontario. Described below are some of the safety hazards Cliff often sees in the course of his safety inspections.

1. VOLLEYBALL NETS & FIXTURES
a. The welds that connect the angled supports to the bottom of volleyball posts often become broken and jagged. These can be re-welded and covered with a protective plastic covering.

b. The crank used for tightening the volleyball net is often at a student’s eye-level. They can be replaced with a collapsible handle and lowered to an area near the floor, within the angled supports where they will cause little damage.

c. The holes in the gym floor that accept the volleyball and badminton posts are often lost or left flipped up. They can trip students and break fingers if fallen upon.

2. MATS
The vinyl covering on mats often cracks and becomes worn, exposing the rough, webbed “scrim” beneath. This rough surface can cause cuts and abrasions. And the covering on old mats often flakes off. These flakes can end up in a student’s eye. The solution is to either replace these mats or to have them re-covered.

3. STORAGE AREAS
Equipment is often hastily and dangerously put away. A good example is a volleyball standard placed upright on a mat. Any student tugging on the mat is in danger of being struck by the volleyball standard. Another problem is placement of equipment on the floor, requiring students to walk on top of it to access the rest of the room.

In addition to safety hazards, improper storage may cause hundreds of dollars of damage to equipment each year. A common example is equipment left on top of mats or lying atop deflated balls. The result can be torn covers, reduced cushioning in mats and the need for frequent replacement.

A few minutes spent educating your students on proper replacement of equipment could prevent some of this damage.

4. JUNGLE GYMS AND CLIMBERS
Hazards include exposed hardware such as nuts, bolts, and worn or loose pulleys, fasteners, cables and locking devices. All hardware should be tightened and exposed fasteners can sometimes be relocated or given a protective plastic covering. Also check that mats – not just carpeting – are placed beneath such climbers.

5. Gymnasium Walls
Hazards on gym walls include fi re extinguishers and their fastening hooks, electrical panels with doors that pop open, unpadded walls and stage edges beneath basketball backboards, and storage doors beneath stages that pop open or have exposed hardware that can be bumped against.

INSPECTION TIPS
If you plan to perform a walk-around inspection yourself, Cliff has a good tip. Look at your facilities from the eye level of your students – even if it means getting down on your hands and knees. Schools were built and are maintained by adults, and it’s easy to overlook situations that are safe for us but are a hazard for people half our size.

A PROFESSIONAL INSPECTION – ADVANTAGES
You might also wish to have a professional safety inspection performed. There are several advantages to having professionals perform your inspection.
First, such companies know what hazards to look for and may identify situations you have overlooked.

Second, in the event of a lawsuit, you can use a professional inspection as evidence that you do take careful precautions to ensure a safe building.

Third, some schools have apparently received reductions in insurance premiums as a result of having an inspection performed.

And finally, you’ll know yourself that you’ve done everything possible to ensure a safe environment for your students.

Dick Moss (editor@peupdate.com) is the publisher of PE Update.com – a website that keeps physical educators and coaches up-to-date on over 40 sports, fitness and coaching topics. The website also provides a free newsletter, blog and sample articles. Check it out at: www.peUpdate.com

Several times this month, Fiona Brill and her five year old son have walked to the nearby Primary School. There they play on the monkey-bars, eat a picnic lunch and try out all the drinking taps to discover which ones work – and which ones spray water everywhere. Fiona points out the classroom Nicky will be in this year and the bench she will sit on, when it is time to collect him. In just a few weeks, Nicky will go to school for the first time. Fiona is already working to make the transition as easy and as happy as possible.

It need not be tears and traumas at the school gate at the start of the year. Given preparation and a positive attitude to school, the first day – and all the other days too – can be a time to look forward to and enjoy.

The Weeks Before

* Many schools arrange orientation days where children are shown around and perhaps have a story read to them by a ‘real’ teacher. These are a terrific introduction.

* Talk about school often, in casual conversation. (‘Yes, you can read “cat”. You’ll learn to read lots of words at school.’) Be positive and enthusiastic in your attitude, but on the other hand, don’t build it up too much -school can’t live up to the reputation of Circus Maximus.

* Education Departments often have excellent booklets to offer ideas. Ask for them.

* Visit the school grounds several times so your child has a concrete picture of where they will be spending their time. Like Fiona, show them the classroom, the toilets, try out the drinking taps and play some chasey on the oval.

* Point out where you will sit and wait to meet your child after school. Knowing you will be at a set place at a set time makes them feel much more secure.

* Get kids involved in a fashion parade of trying on uniforms. They can write their names on painting smocks, lunch boxes and school bag in texta.

* Have picnics where you practice undoing drink lids and unravelling dried fruit and sandwiches from plastic wrap. (Or try using waxed paper instead, it’s easier for small fingers.)

* Talk often about how long the school day will be in simple terms – ‘After lunch, you’ll have some more games and stories and then I’ll be waiting to take you home.’

* Gather uniforms, art smocks and school bags well in advance. This avoids the terrible night before finding frenzy!

* Make sure everyone gets an early night!

The First Day.

* Help your child get ready in a calm and relaxed manner. Even if you have to get up earlier to avoid panics and last minute rush.

* Arrange to meet up with one of your children’s friends and their parents. That way you can all walk together and support each other.

* Don’t forget to leave extra time for a photo or two. It’s something to really treasure later.

* Understand that there will be little time for the teacher to chat to you. This can happen later, on other days. Teachers need to concentrate just on the children during those first few chaotic days!

* In the classroom, get your child involved in an activity (just like at kinder), but don’t stay too long.

* Always tell your child you are leaving, but keep it casual – five act farewells are a terrible strain on both parents and children. When you leave, do so quickly and firmly – even if tears start. Teachers are experts in comforting and distracting children – but they can only do so when parents (always the child’s first choice!) are no longer there.

* Keep reminding yourself (often) that most children who cry on the first day when parents leave are happily involved in drawing elephants and making friends before the parent has even made it home.

* Be there waiting when school ends. Even two minutes late can feel like two hours to a Prep kid.

The First Few Weeks

* Expect some deterioration in behaviour in those early days, because of tiredness. Answering back, rudeness, fighting and even bed-wetting are all signs of tension. You don’t have to accept it, but you don’t have to go racing back to the child rearing manuals just yet either. Cuddles, kindness and quiet times should see the problem out.

* Have a small snack and some quiet activity ready for when you both get home. Unwind gently, chat about the day, even get some favourite videos to watch, until energy levels return. Don’t ask five friends over to play – no matter how much they beg you!

* Don’t talk much about what you did during the day, especially if it was exciting. Imply it was business as usual at home or at work. Children hate to miss out.

* However, do actually plan something special for yourself – especially on that first day alone. Even if you have two toddlers and a baby still underfoot, a child going to school for the first time leaves a huge gap in your life. Fill it with something special. It’s a new beginning for all of you.

‘No, you can’t jump on those squares,’ Nicky Brill is telling his mother. ‘This is my school. I make the rules.’ He has already made the transition. The first day of school is something to look forward to for both of them.

(c) Jen McVeity, National Literacy Champion.

The fun Seven Steps to Writing Success program, by successful author, Jen McVeity, is in 900+ schools. Suited to the home school curriculum & gifted children, it has rapidly increased students’ writing skills and enjoyment. Visit http://www.sevenstepswriting.com for top writing tips and activities – more in the free Parent Newsletters. Click on ‘Sample’ tab for a free Story Starters Worksheet.

There is not a teacher alive who has not stood in front of a classroom of drowsy students. There is no doubt that teaching effectiveness is much reduced when students can barely keep their eyes open. Fortunately, physical activity can be used to energize such classroom lulls.

ENERGY BREAKS
A short fitness break of three to four minutes can get the blood pumping again, relieve boredom, reduce tension and increase your students’ level of alertness. The result will be better learning by students and a better teaching experience for you. While it is not time spent on-task, it will make your students more able to learn, so it is definitely worthwhile.

MUSIC
Some of the best energy breaks are performed to music, using on-the-spot aerobics movements designed to move the limbs and get the blood flowing. Be sure to have a tape full of 3-4 minute songs suitable for such a routine.
A good tempo for such songs is 20-24 beats in a 10-second time span. The exercises you select should be appropriate for a teacher and studens wearing typical classroom clothing.

OFFICE WORKER ROUTINES
This is also a good opportunity to introduce exercises your students can use once they are in the work world and stuck at a desk all day. Such exercises include wrist rotations, shoulder shrugs, heel lifts, neck movements and the soldier press, all of which can be performed while seated.

SAMPLE ENERGY BREAK MOVEMENTS
Here are some sample movements you could use in your routine:

1. High knee marching.
2. Jogging lightly on the spot.
3. Race walking on the spot.
4. Arm rotations, forward and back.
5. Skip rope movements and variations such as crossovers, and backwards arm rotations.
6. Swimming movements with the arms, mimicking different strokes.
7. Throwing movements.
8. Jump shot movements.
9. Various dance step variations: sideways steps, forward steps, backwards steps, etc.
10. Touching various body parts: head, shoulders, hips, knees, shins, toes (i.e. playing Simon Says while marching).
11. Various weight training movements: bench press, pull-downs, arm curls, triceps extensions, bent arm raises, squats, hamstring curls, soldier press, adductions and abductions, lunges.

OPTIONS
1. A nice touch is to use music that matches the theme of upcoming holidays. For example, Christmas music with a good aerobics beat and with Christmas-related movements such as trimming the tree, making Christmas bread (kneading the dough, rolling it out), chopping the firewood, etc.

2. After you have performed some sample energy breaks, you could assign students the task of leading a class. It will be their job to select the music and matching movements. Preparing for their leadership role can be an assignment.

Reference: Jenni Coombs (Strathern Elementary/Junior High School, Edmonton, Alberta), Energy breaks. Teaching Health-PE in the Early Childhood Classroom, Health and Physical Education Council of the Alberta Teachers Assn.

Dick Moss (editor@peupdate.com) is the publisher of PE Update.com – a website that keeps physical educators and coaches up-to-date on over 40 sports, fitness and coaching topics. The website also provides a free newsletter, blog and sample articles. Check it out at: www.peUpdate.com

Newsflash: Runescape Introduces Charting

One of the most exciting features post Grand-Exchange has got to be the new price and charting database.

For the parents reading this article, Runescape is a multiplayer adventure game played by millions of children worldwide, with at least 100,000 online at any time of the day or night. A tiny part of that game is an automated item trading system started in January 2008, something like a hybrid of the stock market and Ebay. Runescape has recently introduced stock-market like graphs and this article explains how to use them.

Firstly to find an item on the exchange there are a few tips you need to know. Maybe this will change once it’s out of Beta but let’s go.

If you search on an item like Dragon Boots, every item with the word Dragon AND every item with the word boots
will be listed. The solution to narrow your search is to enclose your search query in quotes “Dragon Boots” – like that. Then your item will come up.

The charts dont show prices. They show averages. So if 10 items sold for 20k and 10 more sold for 21k then the average would be (10*20k + 10*21k) / 20. ie average 20.5k

Runescape has 3 ways of working out the average. First is the daily average. They take all the sales of the one day add them up and divide by the number of sales. This is the bright yellow line.

The second average is taken over 5 days. So all of the sales over the past 5 days are added together and divided by the number of sales. Each day, the previous days sales are dropped off and the new days sales added.

The final average is a 20 day average. All of the sales for the last 20 days are averaged out.

For some items I trade, I have noticed that the short term price follows my trading precicesly. This means that I am the biggest trader in the market and effectively I am setting the price. For other items, however, my trading does not appear to affect the price at all. These are the heavily traded items.

To explain the graphs further, let’s assume that you are in a market with many players and your trades don’t change the price too much, what should you be looking for? Let me use an analogy of two people who are runners. One is a sprinter and the other is a marathon runner. The two runners leave the starting blocks at the same time. The sprinter runs ahead and leads the way. After a while though, the sprinter starts running out of breath and slowing down.

Finally, the marathon runner catches up to the sprinter. One of two things then happens.
Either(1) the sprinter has had a rest and takes off again, leaving the marathon runner behind
or (2) the marathon runner passes the sprinter.
When the two come together, however, it is unlikely for them to stay together if they have not been staying together before.

In the Runescape charts, the yellow line is the sprinter and the dark yellow and orange lines are like the marathon runners. When the dark yellow or orange line catches the yellow line, there will be a change in direction. This is because the yellow line has run out of steam. It’s going to change direction. That’s what you should be looking for on these graphs.

On real world trading these trends are often referred to as Oscillators. The oscilators are good indicators for buy, sell, oversold and over bought. Learn it and it will help you make money in future!

Glen Smith runs a web site http://TheGrandExchange.com encouraging teen’s to learn the art of trading on Runescape.
Visit http://itemdb-rs.runescape.com/frontpage.ws to see the market in action.