Recasting Recess: PHE Canada Announces New Partnership

Physical and Health Education Canada (PHE Canada) is pleased to announce a new partnership with the Recess Project as part of its commitment to supporting all children and youth living healthy, physically active lives. The United Nations High Commission for Human Rights recognizes PLAY as an essential right of every child. When one considers the length of time children spend in school, recess becomes a critical time for socializing, connecting and engaging in play. The Recess Project aims to radically revolutionize recess and promote active, inclusive and accessible recess environments for Canadian children and youth.
 
Dr. Lauren McNamara has led the delivery of the Recess Project since 2012 in response to the disturbing trends in Canadian schools: barren play areas, minimal supervision, crowded and chaotic play spaces, and, for some children what was and is a negative and unsettling experience. With initial funding from Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities and Walker Industries, Dr. McNamara initiated a pilot project in Southern Ontario, which resulted in extremely positive outcomes. A unique aspect of the pilot, and a testament to its success, is the involvement of university and elementary students to act as recess coordinators in the schools - a model adapted from Playworks.org in the US.

Today, Dr. McNamara and PHE Canada are thrilled to announce their partnership to expand the project across Canada. “PHE Canada’s network reaches into every province and territory making us a logical partner to grow this project with Dr. McNamara” says Melanie Davis, PHE Canada CEO and Executive Director. “Together we can advance our collective vision of all children and youth living healthy, physically active lives.”
 
The Recess Project has also received support from the McConnell Foundation to grow the project nationally. PHE Canada is welcoming letters of interest for a National Advisory Committee to provide guidance and oversight to the project. This expert group will help to propel the program and a national movement forward across the country. The project expects to reach 50 new school sites within the first two years.
 
For more information on the Recess Project, please contact PHE Canada at info@phecanada.ca.

Call for Abstracts: Outdoor Play & Early Learning Policy Research Invitational Symposium

The Lawson Foundation will be hosting a two day symposium to support outdoor play and early learning policy in Canada from October 24-26, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The interactive symposium will provide a forum for researchers, government officials, educators, service providers, and others interested in sharing new research in the field of outdoor play and early learning policy.

This call seeks research that addresses barriers and opportunities to increase children’s outdoor play-based early learning in regulated early childhood education and care (ECEC) or publicly-funded elementary school contexts. While the symposium is intended to serve as a catalyst to expand outdoor play early learning policy development in Canada, relevant submissions in English pertaining to outdoor play policy from all regions of the world are welcome; international exemplars may inform and enhance Canadian initiatives. Studies that expand the horizons of policy development and implementation related to early learning and outdoor play, from a variety of disciplines, are encouraged.

Learn more about the Call for Abstracts here and if interested apply by January 26, 2018.

Medavie Health Foundation 2018 Grants Program opens January 15th

The Medavie Health Foundation 2018 Grants Program opens in January! Do you know an organization making a difference in the lives of those impacted by child and youth mental health, post-traumatic stress disorder, or type 2 diabetes? They may be eligible to apply. Learn more!

Teach Resiliency Blog Launch

PHE Canada, along with their partners, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and Western University, are excited to launch a blog section of TeachResiliency.ca. Monthly blog posts on a variety of mental health topics such as healthy brains, peer support, and family engagement will provide you with an opportunity to stay informed on current trends, issues, tools and strategies to assess the resilience of students and teachers.

Check out the inaugural blog post titled The Top 5 Reasons to Visit TeachResiliency.ca…Often.

Don’t "Dis" My Ability

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Partner post by Michelle McClure, Executive Director of Ability Online

At Ability Online, we help our members - young people of ALL abilities - discover their potential and abilities and help them enhance those  abilities by building confidence and self-esteem; letting them know they are not alone and providing opportunities to develop skills that will enhance independence and open the door to inclusion. By connecting them to role models and mentors they begin to explore possibilities for community involvement (sports and recreation; friendships), volunteer work or employment opportunities or something even bigger!

On December 3rd, International Day for Persons with Disabilities,  we launched our Don’t "Dis" My Ability social media campaign. Sharing on Twitter and Facebook, people will see inspiring stories from our members. They will be  invited to share their own stories or to head to Ability Online to engage with others. The goal is to keep the conversation going.

We will keep posting stories as we build up to February 28th, National Pink Shirt Day - to show the world how we stand up to bullying. We are proud of the fact that Ability Online has been bully-free for 27 years! Check out our I AM AWESOME pink shirts which will go on sale in January. All proceeds go to our Bully Bouncer program.

Visit Ability Online for more information or send a message to Michelle McClure at michelle@abilityonline.org.

 We all have the ability to do something that others can’t do - what is your thing?