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].

What is the value of the Welsh language in primary education?

What is the value of the Welsh language in primary education?

Hi education bloggers, I hope you’re all doing well. I’m back again for another interesting blog where we will be looking at the value of the Welsh language in Primary Education today.

So, what is the Welsh language? The welsh language is Wales’s own language which has been around for hundreds of years, and is currently still used today within the education system. The word ‘’Value’’ indicates ‘’the importance worth, or usefulness of something’’ (Oxford dictionary, 2018).

The Welsh language is a very important part of the curriculum within Wales (School run, 2018). Back the welsh government had released their Welsh-medium education strategy, which was aimed to improve the teaching and learning of the Welsh language throughout the country. The government were aiming to create a bilingual Wales (Gov,2007). All children in schools in Wales learn the Welsh language from key stage 2 all the way through to GCSE level, where the child will be 16 (School run, 2018). Around a quarter of primary school pupils today are taught predominantly through the medium of Welsh, which is believed to be very good as the Welsh language has many benefits that come along with it.

In Wales there are five main different types of primary schools which are differentiated by their approach to the welsh language (School run, 2018).

The five below indicate the differences.

Welsh-medium primary schools – this is where the main language used is Welsh and throughout the curriculum. All the foundation phase is taught in Welsh and 70% of the teaching within key stage 2 is also Welsh (Jones, M, 2016).
Dual stream primary schools – English medium teaching and Welsh medium teaching also exist and work closer to one another. These children are either placed in Welsh or English stream for the language which is chosen (Jones, M, 2016).
Transitional primary schools – in the foundation phase the language that is being used is mainly Welsh but when the children progress to key stage 2 both English and Welsh are used within the lessons, giving the children a balance in both languages (Jones, M, 2016).
Predominantly English-medium primary schools but with significant use of Welsh – both languages Welsh and English are used the English language is the one that is the predominant language. The welsh language is only used 20 to 50% of the time during the lessons (Jones, M, 2016).
Predominantly English-medium primary schools – English is the main language within the school, Welsh is only used when in a Welsh lesson and this is the only time Welsh is used to teach children (Jones, M, 2016).
There are a mix of these schools all over the country, and all depending on what the parents want for the child, and if they want the child to be bilingual and have more of a wider spectrum on both languages (School run, 2018).

There are many benefits that come alongside of the Welsh language with it being used within education. One of the main benefits of the Welsh language being used within education according to RHAG, is that the child will become more proficient in the Welsh language as they would have started it at such a young age. Another benefit that comes with a child being a fluent Welsh speaker is that they will be completely bilingual by the end of key stage 2 which from a parent’s point of view is believed to be a very large achievement (School run, 2018) There are also educational benefits when being able to learn two languages. Research shows that it helps develop cognitive skills. Children in Welsh medium schools often have superior writing skills and find it easier to learn other languages as they get older (School run, 2018).

Following the Education Reform Act 1988, Welsh was made as a compulsory subject for pupils aged 5-14 (Key Stages 1, 2 and 3) from 1990. From September 1999 onwards, the Welsh language also became compulsory at ages 14-16 (Key Stage 4). With the introduction of the Foundation Phase in 2011, Welsh or Welsh Language Development is also taught to all 3-7-year olds (Jones, M, 2016).

The National Curriculum for Wales is made up of core and foundation subjects, which are listed in the Education Act 2002

The core subjects for Key Stages 1-3 are Mathematics, Science English and Welsh first language within Welsh speaking schools as stated in the Education Act 2002) The foundation subjects are Technology Physical education, History, Geography, Art, Music and Welsh second language (if the school is not a Welsh speaking school as stated in the Education Act 2002. The core subjects at Key Stage 4 are Welsh first language, Mathematics, English and Science. The foundation subjects are Physical education; and Welsh second language (Jones, M, 2016).

Successful Futures states the ten recommendations in relation to Welsh language in the curriculum across the ages 3 – 16 years covering all current key stages and phases. These respond directly to the key recommendations of the curriculum (Lewis, H, 2015).

With Donaldson’s new curriculum coming in, there are a number of actions that will be needed to take forward either in accordance with the Welsh-medium Education Strategy, through the implementation of ‘’Successful Futures’’ (Donaldson, 2015).

The curriculum states that they will: -

·         continue to strengthen school-to-school support through the regional consortia and in partnership with other stakeholders with the requisite expertise.

·         continue to deliver intensive Welsh-language training to practitioners through the Sabbatical Scheme.

·         work with Estyn and the regional consortia to identify best practice in the teaching and learning of Welsh second language and determine how schools are performing at key stages 2 and 3.

·         work with the Education Workforce Council to determine the Welsh-language skills of the current workforce.

·         promote Welsh as a subject and as a skill for the workplace (Lewis, H, 2015).

Welsh is believed to be a very important language within education and it’s going to be used a lot more within the future especially with the new curriculum coming in.

I hope you’ve all learned some new information on the Welsh language and why it’s important within the primary school setting. I’ll be back soon with another blog, so make sure keep up to date with the posts.

Talk to you all soon Bloggers!!

References

Cardiff.gov.uk. (2018). Cardiff Council. [online] Available at: https://www.cardiff.gov.uk/ENG/resident/Schools-and-learning/Schools/welsh-medium-education/Pages/default.aspx [Accessed 29 Mar. 2018].

Cs.ox.ac.uk. (2015). History and Status of the Welsh Language. [online] Available at: http://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/people/geraint.jones/rhydychen.org/about.welsh/#what [Accessed 29^th March 2018]

Donaldson (2015) ‘Successful Futures’’ [Accessed 29^th March 2018]

Jones, M (2016) Welsh medium education and Welsh as a subject [Accessed 29^th March 2018]

Legislation.gov.uk. (2018). Education Act 2002. [online] Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/32/contents [Accessed 29 Mar. 2018].

Lewis, H (2015) Welsh Second Language within our new curriculum [Accessed 29^th March 2018]

Oxford Dictionary (2018) ‘Value’, Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/value [Accessed 29^th March 2018].

How can physical education be used to promote well-being in primary education?

Hello Bloggers! In today’s post I will be discussing how physical education can be used to promote well-being in education. 

To start off my blog, I’m going to talk about what well-being actually is. According to the Mental Health Foundation (2015), well-being is “the state of being comfortable, healthy, or happy”. Physical activity can be described as “anything we do, that involves our bodies” (Mind, 2015).

Oliver (no date), discussed the report from 2020 Health and Nuffield Health, who stated that Secondary School children find making most of their education difficult because they are now, “bombarded by social media, destabilised by family breakdown, and stressed by academic targets”. Even though these were issues addressed by Secondary School pupils, most of the issues (especially social media), relate to the Primary School pupils also. All of these issues result in weight problems, poor diet, and children not wanting to take part in physical activity. Educators should be majorly concerned in finding a solution to support these pupils.

There are many benefits of PE in schools other than actually improving your physique and keeping you fit. School sport has been proven to boost your mental wellbeing, builds resilience, lifts academic achievement and creates active habits for life (Oliver, no date). For children in Primary Schools, as well as improving all of these aspects, it also “instils the core values of creativity, aspirations, resilience, and empathy which in turn, contribute to wellbeing and achievement” (Oliver, no date).

According to Mind (2015), the mental health benefits of physical activity are:

·         Reduced anxiety and happier moods

·         Reduced feelings of stress

·         Clearer thinking

·         Increased self-esteem

·         Reduced risk of depression

I know, you’re probably reading that and thinking “depression in children? really?” Depression can actually affect children as young as 3 years old! However, it is a lot more than just feeling, sad, blue or low. It is a serious illness within children and can affect them physically, mentally, and will definitely affect the way they learn (Raising Children Network, 2018).

Sibley & Etnier (2003), have evidently proven that physical activity is linked to better cognitive functioning. Physical Education provides a holistic approach to human development. They state that the ‘whole child’ comes to school to be educated both mentally and physically. School administrators believe that “non-academic” subjects should be cut, so that more time can be spent in the classroom to focus on the academic ones. However, there are many educators who believe that physical education has a great impact on the child’s concentration, learning, and academic success. Four-large scale studies were carried out to examine the effects of increased physical education had on academic achievement. There was no significant difference between the performances, and this is so important because it helps educators to identify that cutting PE hours, does not have an effect on the child’s academic achievement at all. If anything, there were either improvements or no change in their academic performance. However, Dollman et al (2006), carried out a study and found that physical activity has no impact on attainment. This is argued by Ericsson (2008), who supports Sibley & Etnier (2003), by stating that an increase in physical activity has a significant effect on primary pupils’ academic achievement in Maths, reading, and writing.

In addition to this; Piaget (1968), strongly believes that skills and relationships learned during physical activity, have a large impact on the “learning of other relationships and concepts”, suggesting that the movement taken place within physical activity is more important than the actual physical exertion.

Wechsler et al (2000), discusses how break time (otherwise known as Play Time), has an influence on the amount of physical activity that children undertake within the school day, and how much of an impact it actually has on their well-being. They mention how Pellegrini & Smith [32] describe recess as “practise for adult life”, and then further go on to discuss how it is an opportunity for the children to interact, and develop social skills with their peers. Such as; negotiating, and cooperating, involving problem solving, and turn-taking, all whilst learning important resolution skills.

All of these skills were demonstrated within one of our AOLE sessions, where we attended a physical education activity involving Dance. We were put into small groups where we had to come up with a dance to then later perform in front of the rest of our peers. We negotiated, and cooperated which song we would like to use, and how many sets/bars would be used alongside the timing of the song. We then took it in turns to show off our dance moves to choose which ones should be put into our routine. Some of our peers didn’t want to perform in front of the whole group, and so we needed to problem solve as a team. We re-organised the dance so that would be performed with 3 peers rather than 4. Overall, we had a lot of fun, it boosted our energy, and for a moment I think we forgot we were 19/20 years of age, and not actually primary school children!  

Reference List

Dollman. J, Boshoff. K, and Dodd. G, (2006) ‘The relationship between curriculum time for physical education and literacy and numeracy standards in South Australian primary schools’. European Physical Education Review 12(2) pp: 151–163.

Ericsson I. (2008). ‘Motor skills, attention and academic achievements: an intervention study in school years 1-3’. British Educational Research Journal 34(3) pp: 301–313

Mental Health Foundation (2015) ‘What is wellbeing, how can we measure it and how can we support people to improve it?’ Available at: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/blog/what-wellbeing-how-can-we-measure-it-and-how-can-we-support-people-improve-it (Accessed: 10^th April 2018).

Mind (2015) ‘How to improve your wellbeing through physical activity and sport’ Available at: https://www.mind.org.uk/media/2976123/how-to-improve-your-wellbeing-through-physical-activity-and-sport.pdf (Accessed on: 10^th April 2018).

Oliver. A, (no date) ‘PE and school sport should be a core part of the solution to wellbeing in our schools’ Available at: https://www.youthsporttrust.org/pe-and-school-sport-should-be-core-part-solution-wellbeing-our-schools (Accessed on: 10^th April).

Piaget. J, (1968) The Psychology of Intelligence. Totowa, NJ: Littlefield Adams.

Raising Children Network (2018) ‘Depression: children 3-8 years’ Available at: http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/depression_children.html (Accessed on: 10^th April 2018).

Sibley. B.A, and Etnier. J, (2003) ‘The relationship between physical activity and cognition in children: a meta-analysis’ Paediatric Exercise Science 15, pp: 243-256.

Wechsler et al (2000) ‘Using the School Environment to Promote Physical Activity and Healthy Eating’ Preventive Medicine, 31(2), pp: 121-137, DOI:10.1006/pmed.2000.0649