How does physical activity promote wellbeing in primary education?

It is argued by many that the introduction of physical education (PE) in a child’s early years, in particular during their time at primary school, is extremely beneficial. Griggs (2012) believes that this engagement during the primary education period helps to develop the vital skills that children need in order to participate in any physical activity during their future lives. Jess, Keay, & Carse (2016) further support this idea, agreeing that the PE that children take part in during their childhood sets them up for any sport and other physical activity that they are likely to engage with in the future.

As well as ensuring that children have a ‘physical education foundation’ which will provide them with skills that they can develop and practice based on personal interest as they grow older, PE also has many obvious physical and mental benefits. For example, the obligation for children to engage in regular exercise as part of their educational curriculum helps to minimise childhood obesity to an extent. Childhood obesity is an increasingly large issue in the UK today, possibly due to the increase in use of technology in society. Furthermore, children who do suffer with obesity are also very likely to remain this way when they grow up, resulting in them being at further risk of more complicated health issues, such as diabetes (Hanson, Mullins, & Modi, 2017).

During my time volunteering at the summer club at a local primary school, I noticed some first-hand examples of how beneficial PPE really is for a child’s physical health. One particular example that stood out was seeing a parent work alongside with the practitioners in order to improve their child’s health. The pupil in question had recently been diagnosed with obesity, and so the leaders of the summer club had spent time working with the parents to understand the condition and how they could help. They then worked to incorporate more PPE based activities into the planning of the summer club, in order to help the child with his weight loss.

As well as physically, the regular exercise involved in primary physical education (PPE) can seriously benefit children’s mental health too. A study in 2015 found that female students who participate in extra-curricular sports throughout secondary school tend to have far more positive opinions of themselves than those who do not (Verdisco, 2015). It must be noted that this study is not based on primary education however, as mentioned previously, children participating in PPE are more likely to continue with sports upon leaving primary school – therefore increasing the relevance of Verdisco’s (2015) study (Griggs, 2012).

The results from Verdisco’s (2015) study and the general ideas around the impact that physical activity has on a child’s mental health can be supported by other studies. For example, a study that took place in over 1,000 high schools involving over 22,000 high school students as participants gave many results, including that pupils actively involved in sports had far less problems in school and achieved more highly than less involved pupils (Fejgin, 1994).

In Wales today, we are seeing an increase in the focus on PE in primary education. Donaldson’s (2015) Report recommends that the Welsh Government treat PPE as though it is a core subject to allow practitioners to tackle ‘…the pivotal and deep-seated concerns around levels of physical activity and the health of our young people in Wales’. The new curriculum in Wales puts this recommendation into place through one of the six ‘areas of learning and experience (AOLE)’; ‘Health and Well-being’. The purpose of this AOLE is to extend how schools approach health and well-being to a much bigger picture than simply physical activity. The aim is to enhance pupils’ knowledge in other areas, such as healthy eating and sexual health. (Donaldson, 2015)

      Despite the huge focus on PE in the education system today, it is concerning to see the lack of focus it is given in teacher training. A study by Sullivan (2008) found that many student teachers felt that they did need ‘further training’ on how to teach physical activities in preparation for when they are qualified.

To try and eliminate this issue, in a recent session at university we learnt how to successfully teach a physical education lesson to primary school students. The session involved a dance student from the university teaching us a simple dance routine, before leaving us to extend the routine further within smaller groups before performing the final dances. This session helped us to see a PE lesson be taught from the learners point of view.

References

Donaldson, G. (2015). Successful futures: Independent review of curriculum and assessment arrangements in Wales. Welsh Government.

Fejgin, N. (1994). Participation in high school competitive sports: A subversion of school mission or contribution to academic goals?. Sociology of sport journal, 11(3), 211-230.

Griggs, G. (Ed.). (2012). An introduction to primary physical education. Routledge.

Hanson, M., Mullins, E., & Modi, N. (2017). Time for the UK to commit to tackling child obesity. BMJ: British Medical Journal (Online), 356.

Jess, M., Keay, J., & Carse, N. (2016). Primary physical education: A complex learning journey for children and teachers. Sport, education and society, 21(7), 1018-1035.

Verdisco, A. (2015). IDB Briefly Noted: No. 16: May 2012: Fit Kids Learn Better.