In May 2025, schools across Cardinia Shire, the City of Casey, and the City of Greater Dandenong participated in the Make a Move Make a Difference Physical Activity and Movement Competition, showcasing innovative strategies to encourage students to move more throughout the school day.
Building on our first post celebrating these inspiring efforts, today we’re excited to highlight three more schools leading the way: Ramlegh Park Primary School, Botanic Ridge Primary School, and Holy Family Doveton. Each has demonstrated creative and inclusive approaches to embedding physical activity into daily routines, helping students stay active, engaged, and energised.
Ramlegh Park Primary School
At Ramlegh Park Primary School, we’ve introduced Aerobics into our lunchtime clubs to promote physical activity, foster social connections, and provide students with a fun and engaging outlet during the school day. This initiative encourages students to stay active and fit, while also offering a structured environment for social interaction and teamwork.
The benefits of incorporating Aerobics into our lunchtime clubs are multifaceted. Engaging in regular physical activity has been shown to improve students’ physical health, concentration, and overall well-being. Additionally, participating in structured activities like Aerobics helps students develop essential social skills, such as communication, collaboration, and leadership. These skills are crucial for building positive relationships and fostering a sense of community within the school.
Our commitment to Aerobics extends beyond the school grounds. We proudly took two teams to an interschool Aerobics competition in May, where they performed pre-choreographed routines and achieved commendable placements of 7th and 8th. The students thoroughly enjoyed the experience, from wearing their costumes and styling their hair, to cheering on other schools backstage. This event not only showcased their dedication and teamwork, but also highlighted the positive impact of extracurricular activities on student engagement and school spirit.
Looking ahead, we are excited for our next competition in June. The enthusiasm and commitment displayed by our students reaffirm the value of incorporating Aerobics into our lunchtime clubs, and we look forward to continuing this journey of health, fun, and community.
Botanic Ridge Primary School
Our school places a strong emphasis on incorporating physical activity and movement into the daily lives of our students in a variety of ways. To begin with, we actively encourage walking, riding bikes, or using scooters as healthy and sustainable modes of transport. Several gates around the school are open during arrival and dismissal times, allowing students to enter from different directions, making active travel a more convenient option for families. To support this further, we provide secure areas where students can safely store their bikes and scooters during the school day.
Once at school, physical activity continues to be a priority through scheduled PE classes, where students engage in structured sports and fitness activities. In addition to these formal sessions, we integrate movement throughout the school day with active brain breaks, giving students short periods to stretch, move, and reset their focus between lessons. This not only supports physical health but also improves concentration and classroom engagement.
The school also organises whole-school activities that are movement-oriented, such as cross-country preparation, where students train regularly as a group to build endurance and team spirit. Another popular event is our whole-school drumming sessions, which are highly physical and involve rhythm, coordination, and full-body movement, making exercise fun and inclusive.
Through these diverse and engaging opportunities, our school fosters a culture of activity and well-being, ensuring that movement is a natural and valued part of each student’s day.
Holy Family Doveton
We have built structured movement breaks into our timetable, so it is no longer a nice to have, but a necessary part of the day. We utilise brain breaks that involve dance and movement to ensure that we increase activity. We have introduced three movement-based sessions that students can choose from based on interest, for one hour a week, with Sport, Gardening or Dance the core active choice. This provides students with the choice to be active in something they want to do, which creates greater purpose and motivation. We have also connected with Dandenong City Soccer Club and Dandenong Basketball to run soccer and basketball sessions, as most of our students’ families do not have the capacity to finance or attend outside sports.
Thank you
Thank you to Ramlegh Park Primary School, Botanic Ridge Primary School, and Holy Family Doveton for your inspiring contributions. Your commitment to incorporating movement into the school day is helping to create healthier and more engaging learning environments. Stay tuned as we continue to spotlight more schools and their creative approaches to getting students active.