The Super Site Award recognises the outstanding contribution made by schools and out of school hour care service in the coordination and delivery of the Active After-school Communities program. Congratulations to the 2009 winners and all nominees.

State Winners

ACT/NSW - St Francis of Assisi Before and After School Care
NSW - Dubbo West Public School
NT -  St Paul's Primary School Combined Out of School Hours Care Service
Qld - St Francis Xavier After School Care
SA - Wallaroo Primary School
Tas - Swansea Primary School
Vic - Lake Boga Primary School
WA - Quinns Baptist College

Tas - Swansea Primary School 

Swansea in Tasmania, which has a population of just over 500, now has 11 trained AASC coaches, thanks to a major recruitment drive that has seen the program grow significantly.

AASC students at the Swansea Primary School site have benefited from this surge in community commitment, enjoying activities ranging from yoga and netball to AFL and kayaking. Many participants have now joined local clubs in Triabunna, 44 kilometres south of Swansea, including eight girls who go to the local netball club and five boys who go to the junior football club.

Such is the community passion for swimming in Swansea that this AASC activity has been made available free of charge at a private pool twice a week. Most students participating in the AASC swim sessions also made the team for the local inter-school carnival and had great success.

One of the driving forces behind the increased interest in the AASC program is coordinator and swim coach Melissa Quinn. Tasmania South 3 AASC regional coordinator Aaron Roberts said, without Melissa and others like her, the AASC program would not have the impact it does in so many rural communities across Australia. ‘Swansea Primary School together with the local community has created many wonderful sporting and physical activity opportunities for children at this small school. It’s a great example of how to engage the local community in the AASC program,’ he said.

ACT/NSW - St Francis of Assisi Before and After School Care

St Francis of Assisi Before and After School Care in Canberra is setting a new standard for what it means to be an AASC site by actively promoting its children’s activities throughout the school community and building a strong network with community coaches.

More than this though, the site has had exceptional experience participating in many national initiatives, such as the Turning to Sport for Good Health campaign and the ‘1.5 million sporting passes’ challenge. This initiative captured media interest and resulted in the children being featured in an AASC instructional DVD and the chance to perform a dance at an event attended by the Minister for Sport Kate Ellis and other dignitaries.

ACT AASC regional coordinator Kristy Giteau credited the success of the St Francis of Assisi BASCA program to the site’s coordinator and her staff. ‘This site has gone above and beyond what is required of a site in our AASC program,’ Kirsty said. ‘They not only have a quality AASC program but they have assisted our national team in conducting  two highly successful campaigns.’

St Francis of Assisi BASCA has taken all of the AASC values on board. Activities are well supervised, staff are great role models, SunSmart messages and hydration are priorities at every session, and the site offers afternoon teas with nutritious options, such as soups, salad platters and fruit salad skewers, to cater for the children’s diverse dietary requirements.

The site also continually promotes AASC activities to staff, the school and other community members through a newsletter that highlights the activities the children will be engaged in for the term. A display board has been set up that features the children participating in their AASC sessions, along with other media showcasing their involvement in the national campaigns. The site coordinator has used this media, as well as external community coaches’ involvement in national campaigns, as a means of encouraging, maintaining and attracting new interest in the AASC program.

NSW - Dubbo West public School

By going to extraordinary lengths to target children who have not had the opportunity to participate in sport, Dubbo West Public School’s AASC program, now in its fifth year of operation, continues to have a far-reaching positive impact on those involved.

Western 3 NSW regional coordinator Tracey Quayle even went so far as to say, ‘No-one could possibly imagine the positive effect that the AASC program has on the lifestyles of the children of Dubbo West Primary School’. The majority of children enrolled in the school have limited opportunities to participate in community sport.

The program’s school community liaison officer, Simone Gray, puts in extra effort to reach out to the those children. She speaks at school assemblies, writes articles, delivers flyers, speaks at orientation addresses, calls families and even makes home visits.

Children participating in the program are exposed to an exciting range of activities thanks to strong partnerships formed with local facilities and sporting organisations, such as the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme, the local TAFE, Dubbo PCYC, Dubbo Aquatic and Leisure Centre, Dubbo Golf Club and Taronga Western Plains Zoo.

Through a partnership with the local IGA supermarket, a variety of fresh fruit is provided for afternoon tea, which the children find a real treat. At the end of each term the children take part in a cooking class where they plan, prepare and make their own healthy afternoon tea.

AASC children also reap the benefits from having the 2009 national 5 Star Community Coach winner, Katrina Hausia, deliver the program. Katrina who has designed and delivered activities that have included iKi Magic, dance, circus skills, traditional Indigenous games, indoor soccer, hockey, archery, aquatics, golf, and even cycling through the zoo. Dubbo West Public School teacher Vicki Coffin also gives up three of her afternoons a week to supervise activities because of her recognition of the benefits of the AASC program to the children.

NT -  St Paul's primary School Combined Out of School Hours Care Service 

Motivation is the key to the success of St Paul’s OSHC in Darwin as an AASC super site. The children are motivated to participate consistently in the AASC program by the wide variety of activities on offer. Seeing the children participate and have fun in turn, motivates the staff members who have started regularly participating in activities and have enthusiastically undertaken AASC training. In the past 18 months, the site has run two Community Coach Training Program sessions for AASC staff members and school staff.

During the year, St Paul’s helped launch the Turning to Sport for Good Health campaign and scored the highest number of sporting passes in the Northern Territory, completing almost 200 000 in the two-week period.

Darwin AASC regional coordinator Lee Wilson said it was always a pleasure to see such a motivated group of staff and children. ‘It is very rewarding to see the hard work being done by the staff and this is reflected in the smiling faces of the children,’ he said.

Qld - St Francis Xavier After School Care

On top of providing a stimulating and inspiring AASC program, staff at St Francis Xavier After School Care in Mackay have developed special expertise for including children in their activities who have special health needs.

Currently in its fourth year of operation, the St Francis Xavier program’s focus is always on getting the best outcome for AASC participants. The site works hard to promote the message of healthy eating and the importance of physical activity in maximising each child’s potential. Staff constantly seek out and implement innovative ways of engaging traditionally inactive children to ensure maximum participation at every AASC session.

All staff have attended the AASC Community Coach Training Program and activities delivered by these staff are the result of collaboration with students, physical education teachers from the adjoining school and parents.

Mackay’s AASC regional coordinator Tracey Belbin said St Francis Xavier After School Care fully embraced the AASC program as a means of providing children with fun, safe and inclusive activities. ‘Innovative activities and sessions are continually providing incentives for children to partake in regular physical activity,’ she said. Several students have even joined circus and dance clubs in their own time thanks to strong links forged with community clubs.

When one of the centre’s children was recently diagnosed with diabetes, the staff fully embraced the joint Australian Sports Commission and Diabetes Australia Turning to Sport for Good Health campaign. Staff also worked to educate other students about the difficulties a diabetic person faces each day and, for the Mackay media launch, they devised games — such as hyperglycaemic and hypoglycaemic races — to raise further awareness of the effects of diabetes.

SA - Wallaroo Primary School

Wallaroo Primary School, on the Yorke Peninsula, has developed many partnerships with local sporting clubs keen to be involved in the AASC program by emphasising the opportunity to create sporting pathways for the region’s young children. As a result, the children are experiencing a program that is firmly community based, has high levels of staff and local support, and prides itself on offering activities that are fun and follow the playing for life philosophy.

‘Wallaroo Primary School does a fantastic job in recruiting local clubs, creating long-term sporting pathways and encouraging students to be involved in the AASC program,’ said Emily Donnell, AASC regional coordinator for the Mid North and Yorke Peninsula. ‘We are very excited about the award and see it as an acknowledgement of all the hard work that has been done by staff to make the program such a success.’

The site continuously emphasises the playing for life philosophy, particularly with local clubs who have embraced the concept of giving students a fun ‘taste’ of their sport.

Wallaroo Primary School program coordinator John Sofia has also proven a true role model for children by taking part in all AASC sessions and encouraging all students to ‘give it a go’.

Vic - Lake Boga Primary School

Drought may have robbed locals of water and a top sports facility in the currently empty Lake Boga, but it hasn’t taken away their innovation or enthusiasm for sport and the AASC program.

The AASC’s diverse activities have taken on an even greater importance to the Lake Boga school and local community in the face of the empty lake, the effect of drought on outdoor facilities such as ovals, and the tough economic times. The program is providing a means for resources to be shared across the community as a whole. AASC grant funding has been used to provide sports equipment resources shared between the school and the local community.

Both the Lake Boga Primary School principal and physical education coordinator have undertaken the Community Coach Training Program and provide top role models for the children by participating in most activities. Of the 80 children at Lake Boga Primary School, 72 are enrolled in the AASC program.

The site has also gone to great lengths to set up partnerships and provide pathways for students who participate in the AASC program. Already this is producing results with the Lake Boga tennis club reforming because eight children joined the club. The Lake Boga golf club also had five children and their families join and the local football club had been struggling to field a side but now has adequate numbers to play again in the local league.

Loddon 4 Mildura AASC regional coordinator Sam Muscatello said children had a tremendous amount of pride in the AASC program. ‘They genuinely love participating themselves and seeing their parents watch, help and participate in activities too,’ he said. ‘The amount of community spirit this has created is fantastic.’

WA - Quinns Baptist College

Up to 200 students from Years 1 to 7 enthusiastically attend each AASC session at Quinns Baptist College north of Perth. Now in its fifth year, the AASC program is one of the first things that new students join when enrolling, as it is considered the school’s ‘number one program’.

During a typical session, children are separated into small groups and given a variety of fruit, vegetables, wholemeal breads and drinks. Then, once sunscreen has been applied and hats donned, stretches take place and children move through sports circuits and activities based around at least six different sports. The sessions are usually finished off with a whole-of-group game, questions and answers, or fun songs.

The AASC program has become an integral part of the school community and is a whole-of-school program so there is regular promotion to parents through newsletters, assemblies and parent meetings. The program is also set up in publicly visible parts of the school so that the community can view the action as they go past.

Much of the delivery is internal with a large percentage of primary school staff having been trained through the Community Coach Training Program. A recent partnership with the physical education department of the local high school has also seen physical education students training to take on AASC coaching roles. These same students are working with AASC coordinators to map local clubs and organisations within the region that can promote links and generate further interest in the program.

West Coast North AASC regional coordinator Ben Mollett said the site’s support of the AASC program and promotion of the benefits of sport and community links was to be applauded.