« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
The Report of the Review Group on Physical Education
Recommendations
Increasing Participation in Physical Education
- All schools and education authorities should actively increase participation levels in and opportunities for quality physical education across all the stages from 3-18.
- All schools and education authorities should be working towards meeting the recommendations of the Physical Activity Strategy and the Sport 21 Strategy of providing two hours quality physical education for each child every week.
- Those with responsibility for taking forward the recommendations in this Report should take account of the need to ensure that disabled pupils have access to an appropriate experience of quality physical education whether they are in pre-school, primary, secondary or special schools.
Physical education is about "learning to move" and also about "moving to learn". The former is perhaps the area most commonly understood but the latter involves a range of important educational outcomes, such as social skills, team working, problem solving, and so on.
As a subject therefore, physical education should be made up of a rich variety of physical activities of different types and is well placed to cater for the aspirations of all pupils. Many pupils take full advantage of school physical education, but schools and departments face the challenge of including young people with a variety of needs and interests and engaging those who are currently not taking part in physical activity. It is important that the subject caters effectively for all, including those with disabilities and with talents and interests in particular activities.
Schools and local authorities should actively consider how they can improve the activity levels of pupils and students in their care, putting in place strategies which can increase the amount of time spent on good quality physical education and ensure all their pupils can participate in a progressive and inclusive, good quality physical education programme.
While the number of pupils who opt for the study of physical education for national qualifications is very healthy and steadily increasing, the number of pupils involved in non-certificated or "core" physical education in secondary schools is declining. Many pupils in the post-14 school environment opt out of physical education, and some schools no longer provide this option for the senior students, unless they are pursuing the subject for a national qualification.
As part of this review, some specific issues have been raised as being of particular concern, including: a drop in participation of teenage girls; a greater proportion of young people who are overweight and obese ( ref: Clinical Outcome Indicators Report, NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, November 2003); and questions about whether young pupils are developing the movement skills they will need to participate in physical education and lifelong physical activity. Research evidence supports a looming health crisis in our population, not only in Scotland, but across the world.
Physical education should be an element of educational provision for all pupils aged 3-18, including those in the post-14 age range, whether it has been chosen as a subject for specific study or not. Strategies for improving participation must include this entire range of pupils, i.e. physical education for all.
The time allocated to physical education is an issue that has been the subject of considerable debate in the Group and beyond. While the Group supports the principle of providing two hours per week of quality physical education for all pupils, it recognises that the need for greater autonomy in schools to provide a flexible curriculum aimed at supporting individual needs does not lend itself to rigid impositions of time for any subject. However, the Group would encourage all schools to consider how they might increase the amount of time available for physical education with this target in mind, and when reporting progress on meeting the National Priority measure on physical activity.
Improving the Curriculum
- The review of the curriculum should affirm the entitlement of all pupils to quality physical education experiences as a core part of their curriculum. As part of the curriculum review process, a review of guidelines for physical education at all stages should be considered a priority area. This should also consider the place of physical education within the curriculum and its current placing within Expressive Arts.
It is important that the provision of physical education should be a central element of a young person's education throughout every stage of schooling. Quality experiences in physical education lay the foundations for active lifestyles, sporting and dancing excellence, and provide routes for talented young people who will be the sporting and dancing role models of the future. Sport and dance can provide important vocational outlets for pupils. The physical education curriculum should offer opportunities for participation, performance and the development of excellence.
The Group considers that school is the only place where equity of access and opportunity to good quality physical education can be achieved. It is the only place where there is a "captive audience" providing the opportunity to develop and improve the physical skills of young people, inform them of the benefits of leading physically active lives, and give practical illustrations of the enjoyment of being "physical". Therefore, the Group reached the conclusion that the greatest impact in terms of potential outcomes was to be gained through improvements in the curriculum. Support will be required for the national implementation of that curriculum and the infrastructure to ensure all schools have the capacity to make the necessary changes that will equip all children with the physical skills, positive attitudes, knowledge and understanding to engage in lifelong active lifestyles.
The Group takes the view that early education, in pre-school and primary school should focus on the development and enhancement of skills, as well as an exploration of the connection between physical activity, health and wellbeing. Secondary provision should build on that, promoting more independent involvement in physical activity and widening the range of activities to provide more choice. Without the basic movement skills, pupils will be excluded from participation in many activities, or may find their enjoyment compromised. Therefore, the development of skills is fundamental to continuing involvement and full participation in physical education.
The place of physical education in the curriculum was also an issue debated among the Group. This centred on discussion about the validity of placing physical education within the Expressive Arts curriculum, with strong arguments to support both the positive and negative perspectives of this. The Group considers that this is an issue which would merit further examination with the aim of providing a clear statement and rationale for the status of physical education in the future curriculum arrangements.
Improving School Programmes
- Schools should widen the range of experiences and activities available to pupils, in consultation with the pupils.
HMIE evidence has consistently identified improvements in curricular provision as a key element of making improvements in pupil achievement. "Improving programmes and initiatives to maximise opportunities" was identified within the areas for improvement in Improving Physical Education in Schools. Schools which "offered a range of relevant activities which reflected society at large, met the needs of all pupils and encouraged maximum participation, enjoyment and success" were cited in Effective Learning and Teaching in Physical Education as examples of best practice.
Schools are best placed to make improvements for their own pupils. They have the ability to make changes which have maximum impact and minimum lead-in time. They also have the best connections with their individual pupils, through school council arrangements and through sustained daily contact with them. Pupils themselves often choose the level of their involvement in activities through non-attendance, non-selection or non-participation when in class. This self-selection of participation levels is more apparent at the secondary stages than the primary, and it is at this stage of life that activity levels decrease sharply. Of the known reasons for non-participation, a lack of interest in what is being offered in schools leads to a lack of interest in physical education. It is crucial therefore, that schools engage with their pupils and students in auditing current provision and making plans for improving programmes. The Group hopes that this would lead to young people making a positive choice to participate in physical education.
Pupils want more choice and they want more say in what is offered to them. Compulsion does not work - those who are disengaged from physical education will not participate, whether they attend the physical education session or not. The Group is convinced that levels of participation would increase if pupils were more involved in the process of planning activities and developing programmes. Schools should ensure that all pupils, including those with additional support needs, have developmentally appropriate opportunities for participation, performance and the development of excellence.
Pupils are aware of, and interested in, a wider range of physical activities and sports than ever before. This has been enhanced through greater media coverage and better connections with the wider world. The traditional activities offered by schools are becoming less relevant to many pupils and students. The Group is convinced that extending beyond the traditional sports and games to provide more contemporary activities such as martial arts, yoga, dance, skateboarding and flag football, could do much to increase participation in physical education, attract those who have previously been unmotivated by what has been on offer, and expand that participation beyond the school day. While this alone may not improve participation rates, it can make an important contribution to encouraging greater uptake.
This is not entirely uncharted territory. There are schools which are responsive to the wider range of needs and interests of their pupils and are finding ways to accommodate these. Using community resources, coaching and staff development they are broadening the range of activities available through physical education and are seeing encouraging signs of improved participation and improved perceptions of physical education. The work of these schools should be profiled in the case study work recommended by the Group.
While taking account of, and endeavouring to provide for pupils needs, schools should also recognise that key features should be the progressive development of pupils' practical knowledge, skills, techniques and attitudes. Pupils need to experience good quality direct teaching and opportunities to practice, play, perform and learn through trial and error.
Support for Teachers
Providing Specialist Support to Primary Schools
- Every primary school in each primary cluster should have adequate access to support from a physical education specialist.
HMIE evidence supports the positive impact of specialist support in the primary sector. The visiting specialist often provides good support to class teachers in the planning and delivery of physical education. The specialist teacher has a dual role: the deliverer, teaching children using an appropriate range of styles and strategies to include all children, and demonstrating good practice; and working alongside the classroom teacher offering continuous staff development to the class teacher. This ongoing staff development is important as the levels of confidence, skills and knowledge of class teachers vary considerably.
This is a key recommendation of the Group. While support is already in place for many schools, the provision of support is inconsistent across the country. However, consistency across schools is only achievable in the longer term. In order to provide some more immediate support to schools, the following interim measure should be more achievable in the shorter term:
- Additional resources should be allocated, equivalent to 1 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) per secondary school physical education department, to:
Provide primary support
Accommodate flexible class sizes in secondary
Support Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for primary teachers.
This model of additional staffing to secondary school would help support primary and secondary provision.
In respect of both recommendations, the Active Schools Programme has much to offer in terms of support for primary and secondary schools. Everyone associated with schools is seen as having a potential role in enhancing physical activity opportunities for children either through the design, organisation and provision of physical education, or as a role model. This includes staff, parents, the school board, young people themselves and the wider community. The first objective in seeking to develop an Active School will require schools to provide quality physical activity opportunities within the formal and informal curriculum. Other objectives relate to the promotion of physical activity and meeting individual potential. These clearly link with the aim of this Report and the Active Schools programme has a major role to play in implementing the changes envisaged by the Group.
Sharing Good Practice and Developing Research
- HM Inspectors of Education should be asked to identify good practice in learning, teaching and assessment which will provide a benchmark of high quality in all aspects of physical education and to work with Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS) to disseminate their findings locally and nationally.
Many pre-school centres and primary and secondary schools are offering high quality physical education programmes and experiences for their pupils and students. The sharing of good practices is a central element of supporting improvements in schools and it is a well-known method of influencing change.
Identifying effective good practice and disseminating it through schools can increase standards of learning and teaching, and enhance the confidence of staff. It can also provide essential support in implementing revised curricular guidance which should be developed as a result of this Report.
Research
- The Scottish Executive should promote and support research in physical education to inform learning and teaching developments.
As in all other areas of education, the physical education profession needs to be informed by, and make decisions based on, the best available evidence. There is therefore a need for long-term research which will underpin good practice in learning and teaching and provide an evidence-base for effecting change. Good quality research data will provide clear indications of whether the intended improvements behind the recommendations made in this Report have impacted as intended.
As indicated earlier in the Report, the potential contribution of Out of School Hours Learning in increasing participation in school sport has been recognised by the Group. This is an issue which would merit some research to explore how that potential can better be achieved.
Teacher Training and CPD
- Initial Teacher Education (ITE) providers should take account of the content of their programmes in line with this Report.
- Education authorities and schools should extend CPD opportunities for pre-school, primary and secondary teachers to develop their understanding, skill and expertise in areas of physical education.
- The Scottish Executive should review the entry requirements for ITE in Physical Education to make them more flexible ensuring that a wider range of backgrounds and qualifications are acceptable.
A key implication of the other recommendations in this Report is that more teachers of physical education will be required.
The extension and expansion of the physical education curriculum will necessitate greater diversity, background and range of experiences and skills required by physical education specialists. For example, appropriately qualified and experienced individuals from sport and exercise science, coaching health and physical activity could, with appropriate Initial Teacher Education, become valuable members of the physical education profession.
The demography of the teaching profession means that Scotland will need to replace a significant number of experienced teachers in the near future. A graduate route into teaching physical education is an attractive solution in this instance as it creates the possibility to replace experience with experience. The shorter time frame is likely to be more attractive to suitably qualified and experienced candidates.
In making a recommendation for the availability of specialist support for primary schools, and by extending the range of activities available in schools, the implementation of these recommendations will provide coherence between improvements being made in training for budding teachers, using Continuing Professional Development to improve and enhance the skills of primary and secondary teachers. This will enable all teachers to meet the wider activity agenda being proposed.
Improving Facilities
- Planning for school estates should take account of how to deliver appropriate physical education services for schools and the wider community. The School Estate Strategy and the guidance for primary and secondary schools developed by Sportscotland provide relevant guidance.
Appropriate facilities are significant contributors to schools' capacity to deliver good quality physical education. Local authorities should ensure that facilities for physical education, physical activity and sport are available and accessible at suitable times to meet the diversity of needs. This should include recognition of the importance of suitable changing and showering facilities which provide areas for individual use. These facilities should be appropriate to the school size and the maximum level of use at any given time.
In planning future refurbishment or new accommodation, schools and local authorities should ensure that they have taken account of the wide range of needs in school and the wider community by consulting with stakeholders and involving them in the decision-making process.
National Implementation of the Recommendations
- Learning and Teaching Scotland should be commissioned to organise and support regional seminars for launching this Report, followed up by an annual National Conference to review progress and share good practice.
This will support the implementation of the recommendations made by the Group, and align the various contributors to a single aim. To assist monitoring, local authorities should report on progress as part of their National Priorities improvement reports. HMIE should monitor the quality of provision as part of its ongoing inspection work and should be commissioned to conduct a national task to provide a progress report in three to five years' time.
Sportscotland, Health Scotland and the Health Promoting Schools Unit should be partners in organising and hosting the conference to ensure that there is coherence between the implementation of this Report and other health education activity underway in schools.
« Previous | Contents | Next »