A NUMBER of local primary school students have been keeping active and boosting their resilience recently through the use of pogo sticks.
Glossop Community Primary School students have been introduced to the Pogo Pulse program – created by former local Barton Williams – to keep children active in a fun way.
Year 6/7 teacher John Papametis said the program was “more than just jumping”.
“Pogo Pulse has been fantastic because it taught the students resilience and has many physiological benefits,” he said.
“Some of the benefits include proprioception, muscular endurance, cardio vascular endurance and core strength, which can all be utilised across any chosen sport.
“It also helps students mentally because they know that once they miss a jump or fall down, all they have to do is get back on again and keep trying.”
Mr Papametis said all students could participate in the program.
“We have kids from year 2 up to year 7 giving it a go, which is fantastic,” he said.
“Each of these students have different body types and different sporting backgrounds but they’ve all managed to get on and do one jump and that’s all I’m asking them for.”
Mr Papametis said the students have been keeping journals and tracking their progress.
“I didn’t know how to use a pogo stick at the beginning, I was actually taught by Barton over Zoom,” he said.
“I myself tracked my own progress and it took me a while to get the hang of it.
“I now have some students surpassing me.
“Others are still working on their form but they’re all giving it their best shot.
“Every pogo lesson we have, the students each set a goal about what they want to achieve – it could be five jumps in a row or jumping for a minute straight.
“We’re all in this big journey together and I’m very proud of them.”
Year 7 student Christa said she enjoys the Pogo Pulse lessons.
“The lessons we have a so much fun,” she said.
“Learning how to jump was difficult at first but we keep practicing and it’s my favourite thing to do in PE.”