The Tokyo Olympic Games are here. The Games are one the best sporting spectacles in the world, and many of us will be watching day and night. 

The Games embody many aspects of physical activity, health, achievement and personal growth. For schools, it presents a great opportunity for reinforcing the learning that has been happening in PDHPE throughout the year. The Olympics provide a great opportunity to reinforce learning about fair play, dedication and perseverance, training principles and methods, focus on particular sports and the movement skills and strategies associated with those sports, historical and cultural significance of sport to Australia and other cultures around the world.

Over and above that, the Games are a chance to have fun and get behind our Australian athletes.

The essentials

Ideas for engaging your students

Talk about it

The Games are full of inspiring moments and stories – where sportsmanship, teamwork, resilience, courage, friendship, being your best, respect and many other themes come alive.  These are all great for daily discussion with students and a way to bring the curriculum to life. 

Try these prompts to get your students talking about the Olympics

• Imagine that you could interview your favourite Olympic athlete. What questions would you ask them?
• Imagine that you are a competitor at the Olympics. What do you think your daily routine in the athlete’s village and competing would look like? How do you think it is different at these Olympics to other Olympics as a result of COVID restrictions?
• Present an argument for the inclusion of a sport that isn’t currently part of the Olympics competition
• Debate as a class whether professional athletes should be able to compete at the Olympics or should it only be a competition for amateur athletes.
• Debate whether all athletes are competing on a level playing field at the Olympics. Topics discussed could include performance enhancing drugs, use of technologically advanced equipment, access to advanced training facilities and techniques, access to sponsorship.

Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) school resources

The AOC website has great ideas and resources for schools. https://www.olympics.com.au/community-and-schools/

This includes:

Educator resources

Curriculum aligned lessons and activities for primary and secondary schools.

https://www.olympics.com.au/community-and-schools/educator-resources/

Green and Gold Day 

30 July 2021 – a day for us all to get behind the Australian team.

https://www.olympics.com.au/games/tokyo-2020/green-and-gold-day/

Changemaker program

Nominate students by 31 July 2021.

https://www.olympics.com.au/australian-olympic-change-maker/

Village art

Send artwork to Australian athletes. 

https://www.olympics.com.au/games/tokyo-2020/village-art/

Olympic stats

Stas and facts on Australians at the Games.

https://www.olympics.com.au/olympians/australian-olympic-team-statisticstrivia/

#haveago

Encourage participation in an Olympic sport.

https://www.olympics.com.au/have-a-go/