Health and physical education teachers taught keys to happiness

The Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation Tasmania conference took place at the University of Tasmania’s Newnham campus on Friday.

ACHPER Tasmania president and UTAS health and physical education course coordinator Vaughan Cruickshank said it was a really good day, with the keynote address the biggest highlight.

“We had Dale Sidebottom come down from Melbourne for the keynote, and he’s just a very energetic presenter,” he said.

“He’s very engaging and a lot of fun. He talked about four key ways he keeps himself happy.”

Dr Cruickshank said this included play, exercise, gratitude, and giving.

“He described them as four pieces of the happiness jigsaw puzzle,” he said.

“We all have ups and downs, but he found those four things have certainly really helped him out.

“I think a lot of people took a lot away from that.”

Dr Cruickshank said about 200 people from all over the state attended on the day. 

This included about 20 year 11 and 12 students from Elizabeth College and Rosny College in Hobart who attended to learn more about the UTAS health and physical education course.

“We had our [UTAS] students in a panel talking to them about their experiences at uni, and then they ran practical sessions in the gym,” he said.

“It’s a lot better than having lecturers and staff. It resonates more when you’ve got younger people actually saying it.”

Dr Cruickshank said organisers were very impressed with how the conference ran.