Health and physical education teachers held their annual state conference on Friday at the University of Tasmania Newnham campus, discussing both the present and the future of their profession.

Discussions at the Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation Tasmania conference highlighted the critical impacts of physical education and activity on mental health and education results.

ACHPER Tasmania outgoing president Anthony Coe and incoming president Vaughan Cruickshank both said there was a need to bring health and physical education back into the discussion that tends to center on literacy and numeracy test results.

Dr Cruickshank said having a strong physical education course in the school curriculum had a “flow on effect” on literacy and numeracy results and school results in general.

Further, the question of whether we are testing “the right things” was something both educators agreed needed to be discussed further.

“Are we measuring wellbeing, for instance?” Mr Coe said.

“How do you measure that?”

Titled Bringing it all together: mind and body, the state conference had a keynote address by Mick Walsh, a leading international educator who spoke about the need for more attention on wellness in schools.

The conference had about 130 participants, including organisations involved in physical education, the Hawthorn football club;s Looking after Me program, and several keynote speakers. 

With 15 trade stalls, Dr Cruickshank said it was smaller than the last few years but brought together some leading practitioners and teachers together from all sectors – government, independent, primary and high schools – removing barriers from an often isolated profession.

The conference also welcomed 20 Year 11 and 12 students from Hobart who had indicated an interest in physical education as a career, giving them the chance to learn more about the options for study and future careers.