physical education and well-being

Hello Education Bloggers, it’s me again I’m back with a new topic to talk to you about. Today’s blog post will be looking and talking about ‘’How Physical Education be used to promote well-being in primary education?’’.  Does anybody have any idea how it can be promoted? If not I’m sure you’ll have a good idea at the end of this blog post.

So, what is Physical Education and what is Well-being?

So according to (Merriam, 2018) Physical Education is an instruction in the development of the body ranging from simple callisthenic exercises to a course of study providing training in hygiene, gymnastics and the performance and management of athletic games.

In the Oxford Dictionary it says that ‘Well-being’ is the state of being comfortable, healthy or happy (Oxford Dictionary, 2018).

Physical Education plays a big part in a child’s education, as it helps to tackle obesity, proves mental health and boosts achievement (The Guardian, 2015). In the UK one in three children leave primary school either obese or overweight and only one in five manage to reach the minimum guidelines for physical activity (The Guardian, 2015). It is stated that the benefits of exercise have been very well documented and not just for the child’s physical health but also for their academic performance and well-being. An online article states ‘’there have been suggestions that physical education should be given the same status as Maths, English and Science to tackle any sort of obesity’’ (Marsh, S, 2018).

While undertaking some research I managed to come across an interesting article that talks about pupil health and wellbeing and attainment. Four of their main key points that help them understand the child well-being are: -

1. Pupils with better health and wellbeing are likely to achieve better academically.

2. Effective social and emotional competencies are associated with greater health and wellbeing, and better achievement.

3. The culture, ethos and environment of a school influences the health and wellbeing of pupils and their readiness to learn.

4. A positive association exists between academic attainment and physical activity levels of pupils (NAHT, 2014).

There are many approaches to physical education within schools today. Each school main goal is for them to develop the child’s cognitive capacity in the sense of learning knowledge in an academic way. Physical education within the education system provides an opportunity for all young children to learn about physical movement and for them to engage with any sort of physical activity.(NASPE,2004).

‘’Good health and well-being is essential for successful learning and happy lives for children and young people’’ (GOV, 2018) within schools they should promote a caring environment that enables young learners to develop confidence and positive relationships based on mutual respect and to gain knowledge to make healthy lifestyle choices. Learning through health and wellbeing promotes confidence, independent thinking and positive attitudes and dispositions and this is something that sticks with them for a very long period of time.

During one of our AOLE seminar sessions we were able to take part in a physical activity which included a dance routine which we had to follow from a 3^rd year student. This was a fun activity to take part in as a lot of the people who took part had not done any physical activity since being in secondary school, apart from attending the gym every now and then. Also within this seminar we had to go off into groups and create our own dance routine to perform in front of our peers. It was a laugh that’s all I can say!

This again uses team building skills and of course communication, which again are both essential skills to have from a young age. Creating a dance links in with physical education and the creative arts sections of Donaldson’s successful futures report (Donaldson, 2015)

Stated by Donaldson, creativity in primary education is a key element to success for children’s learning, as it encourages the children to keep fit by taking control of any activity.

I hope you’ve all enjoyed reading this blog and I hope that you’ll keep coming back to read more of my blogs.

Hope to hear from you all soon bloggers.

References

Merriam-webster.com. (2018). Definition of PHYSICAL EDUCATION. [online] Available at: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/physical%20education [Accessed 1^st April 2018].

Oxford Dictionary (2018) ‘Well-being’, Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/well-being [Accessed 1^st April 2018]

Marsh, S. (2018). How can PE and sport improve student health and wellbeing? – live chat. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2015/feb/06/pe-and-sport-student-health-wellbeing [Accessed 1 Apr. 2018].

ssets.publishing.service.gov.uk. (2018). [online] Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/370686/HT_briefing_layoutvFINALvii.pdf [Accessed 1 Apr. 2018].