It’s easy to say that parents should take full responsibility for their child’s health, but what role can schools play in supporting this? Ann Keane, chief inspector of education and training in Wales, looks at the way schools can influence children in living healthy lifestyles
AT a time when the Welsh rugby team are the Grand Slam champions, we have a football team performing well in the Premier League and another pushing for promotion in the Championship and we have hosted some events in what is counted as the most successful Olympic games ever, success in sport is a matter of pride and enthusiasm in every playground in Wales.
Children and young people of all ages can be heard arguing over who is the fastest man in the world – is it Mo Farah or Usain Bolt? Which is the best football team? And, will the Blues beat the Ospreys this year?
As inspectors we evaluate how well schools are working to educate pupils and we also look at how well schools help our children and young people to improve their health, fitness and wellbeing.
We judge the quality of pupils’ experiences and understanding in sports and physical education. Over the past six years, we have seen schools put more emphasis on this aspect of pupils’ learning.
Children and young people tell us that most of them feel that they have enough opportunities to take part in regular exercise and that they are gaining a good understanding of the short and longer-term effects of exercise and healthy living on the body.
In the best schools, teachers have high expectations of what pupils can achieve and physical education lessons are planned to make sure that pupils of all abilities improve their knowledge and skills.
Pupils are challenged to get better and have lots of opportunities to develop their communication, leadership and problem-solving skills in physical education and to evaluate and improve their own work.
We also know that many initiatives introduced in recent years – to motivate and inspire pupils and to make them more aware of how important it is to live a healthy and active life – have succeeded.
For example, the 5 x 60 programme, which is run by Sport Wales, offers secondary school pupils opportunities to take part in a wide range of traditional team-based sports as well as new activities like Zumba, street dance and pilates.
They often do this by arranging a partnership with local clubs and this establishes links for pupils with fitness activities that they can continue with after leaving school so they can stay fit and active.
There have been many important wins although there are still things to improve.
Since 2007, there has been a steady decline in the number of young people choosing to study physical education at GCSE. We know that it is a more popular subject with boys than girls.
New initiatives such as the 5 x 60 programme are helping to close this gap by giving girls more opportunities to take part in more creative and adventurous activities.
But schools need to make sure that the activities they are offering represent a full and appropriate range.
The activities need to be fun and to fire pupils’ imaginations as well as being suitably challenging for pupils of all abilities.
We know that some schools do not have enough equipment or up-to-date facilities to support high-quality physical education programmes.
This clearly restricts pupils’ choice and their progress in these schools. We also know that, as pupils progress through secondary education, generally they get fewer opportunities to take part in physical education and develop active lifestyles and girls can become less inclined to get involved.
Schools need to get better at sharing good practice with each other. It is also important that primary schools provide information about the abilities and interests of individual pupils when they transfer to secondary education so that teachers can plan suitable learning activities that will challenge pupils individually in a way that stretches but doesn’t overwhelm them.
Offering children and young people the opportunities to live a healthy life and to take part in sport should be an integral part of their education at all stages. Not all children will excel physically, but all should have the opportunity to participate, enjoy the benefits of regular activity and develop their knowledge and understanding of sport.
After school some will gain great pleasure and reward from becoming officials, coaches or sports’ administrators. Some may eventually pursue careers in physiotherapy or sport psychology.
This year’s Olympic successes were not simply due to individual talent but the result of dedication and highly effective support teams, including coaches, nutritionists, scientists and doctors. All of these people were enthused by sport but began with a basic understanding of how regular exercise, healthy nutrition, dedication and hard work can achieve success.
There are career opportunities in leisure and sport that do not require all the people who get jobs also to have won medals. And it is at school that these people will be introduced to the world of sport and leisure activities. Not all of us will be parents to Olympic champions but we can help our children to get healthier and fitter.
The old cliché about a healthy mind in a healthy body has some truth in it. If you feel good physically, the chances are you will feel good mentally.
If children exercise regularly and eat well they will reap benefits which repay the time and energy required to get them eating well and exercising. Regular participation in sport and physical activities in general helps young people to improve their self-confidence, develop better interpersonal skills, concentrate more in lessons and enhance their social skills.
We have been witness to an amazing year. The next generation have been bitten by the sports bug and are aspiring to follow in the footsteps of champions and new role models who have achieved their dreams through years of hard work, dedication and a belief that they can win.
Isn’t it good parenting to invest time and energy in helping our children to achieve their potential by embracing sport and healthy lifestyles? Even if they don’t win a medal in Brazil, they’ll have a better chance of a brighter future and a more rewarding and rounded life.