The PD opportunity gave teachers a variety of learnings with key insights from guest speakers before practical sessions in the afternoon got them seeing drills and activities from a student’s perspective.
Over 50 educators attended looking to find new approaches to teaching AFL in their schools, some being very familiar with Aussie Rules whilst others having never taught it in their schools previously.
AFLW Head Coach Daisy Pearce talked through some of her techniques from a coaching perspective, as AFL players Harvey Johnston, Harry Barnett, Callum Jameson and Coen Livingstone joined in for the Freestyle Footy activity.
West Coast Eagles staff put a heavy focus on the club’s growth within the education space with brand-new and some recently retooled programs for both primary and secondary students, whilst highlighting the launch of the club’s new online education portal, Eagles Active.
The newly launched e-learning platform is free and will provide teachers in both the metropolitan area and across regional WA with access to education resources, with the Eagles PD day offering an in-person opportunity for teachers to learn what’s on offer and how to best implement it into their schools.
Secondary Schools Manager, Hannah Ashe, highlighted how successful the day was in connecting teachers and schools to the club.
“We had a lot of good feedback from the teachers with a mixture of being inside learning about Eagles Active or hearing from WA Football regarding their involvement in the education space, or going outside and actually participating in the activities that their students will be doing,” Ashe said.
“We had a few teachers come up from Bunbury and Mandurah which showed there was a lot of interest around this PD Day.”
“This opportunity for teachers to further develop gives them access to new ideas and different ways they can do the same activities or the same part of their curriculum whilst giving it a slight refresh with the help of some resources we’re able to offer to them.”’
The club alongside WA Football will continue to facilitate these professional development opportunities for both primary and secondary teachers in the future.
