Frank Dando Sports Academy, Ashwood, VIC

Our biggest variation from standard practice is our emphasis placed on Physical Education and the way it is taught. In fact, practical skill in Physical Education is the first consideration when recruiting a staff member. It is assumed that if they can teach a significant sport capably and with control over the class, the boys will transfer their positive attitude into their academics. This is admittedly an unusual educational approach.
When the school began in 1980 the Registered Schools Board inspectors accepted that since the school was a special school for bright underachievers some liberties could be taken with the usual academic prescriptions, They agreed that the schools rather unusual emphasis on Physical Education meant some other subjects such as Science, Music and Art could be regarded as peripheral though in practice they tend to appear and reappear with some frequency. To further add weight to the success of the method, Frank published a thesis in 1981 demonstrating a positive correlation between cognitive ability and physical activity.
?The school's current Principal, Ziad Zakharia’s conducted further research in between 2005-2007. His masters degree thesis found that, after a year of this program, the students made a positive personality change and achieved academic, physical well being and sporting success. He decided to test this by a pre-test and post-test of self-image administered by an independent psychologist.