Irish schools are leading the fight against childhood obesity
The obesity epidemic is a serious problem but inactivity is a far bigger killer, according to Fergal Lyons, President of the Physical Education Association of Ireland. He’s not alone in his opinion. The manager of Ireland’s international athletics team, Patsy McGonagle, has accused the Government of doing nothing to improve physical activity amongst children. He says we need daily physical education in all schools, primary and secondary.
So how far from that are we? What is the state of PE in Irish primary and post primary schools?
PRIMARY SCHOOLS
There has been an increased awareness of the importance of PE at secondary school level in recent years but primary school PE is still more ad hoc.
Enter Fine Gael Senator and Olympian Eamonn Coghlan and his Points for Life Programme which has run as a pilot project in the South East. The initiative is about building a strong foundation for ‘physical literacy and motor skills’ in children from a young age.
“It focuses on the ABCs of physical activity: agility, balance and co-ordination. By teaching children the basics of how to run, jump, throw and perform the fundamentals of physical activity we will increase their confidence and competence, so that they are more likely to participate in sport further into life”.
But he admits a pilot project alone won’t solve the health problems facing the country. Points for Life needs “100% buy-in from the Department of Education; teachers; parents and the community” across the country.
“We did a pilot study in north Wicklow last year which showed a drastic improvement in the activity levels of children who had taken part. We would like to be able to roll this out in all schools as well as at teacher training colleges. We also want PE to be a core subject at primary level in the way numeracy and literacy skills are.”
For his part, Patsy McGonagle wants mentors or PE coaches to be hired to look after groups of eight to 10 primary schools so that their quality of PE soars. But Fergal Lyons, a PE teacher at Ardscoil Ris, Limerick, argues that mentors are not the answer as they are not educational specialists. “The best bet is to spend some money in up-skilling primary school teachers to deliver a broad curriculum with an underpinned focus on movement,” he argues. Just like Eamon Coghlan, she says “the prime period to develop movement skills is from four to eight years-old.”
POST PRIMARY:
Fergal Lyons believes Ireland could be on the brink of change if the renewed emphasis on PE at junior and senior level is taken seriously by school principals. According to the Department of Education, it wants PE to be viewed through the lens of wellbeing for the first time.
“Yes, a renewed emphasis is being put on PE under the Junior Cycle reforms,” Fergal Lyons says. “PE is scheduled to form part of a 400-hour compulsory programme of wellbeing that incorporates Civic, Social and Political Education (CSPE) and Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE).
“This is a step forward - a 2013 study from the EU’s Eurydice Network found that Ireland’s provision of PE was third from the bottom of 36 European countries surveyed,” Lyons says. “However, with the new programme comes autonomy for schools to carve out whatever hours they please. The danger is that we could be looking at one school allocating four classes of PE per week and another two and nothing can be done.”
The HSE and the Department of Education and Skills recommends two hours of PE per student per week. Meanwhile, The National Council For Curriculum and Assessment has developed a new Leaving Cert PE exam course and a new senior cycle framework for PE as a non-exam subject course. This curriculum will not only cover activities but nutrition, healthy lifestyles and personal wellbeing, Lyons says. “At present, the time dedicated to PE and its quality varies from school to school and depends on teachers and principals.
“Most PE teachers are delivering wide-ranging programmes that have improved hugely over the past 10 years, with the introduction of Junior Cert PE in 2003 having acted as a catalyst to professionalise the subject. But the key to a successful PE programme today is the allocation of sufficient time by school principals,” Lyons maintains.
And so it seems that a school principal’s attitude to PE is central to whether your child will be encouraged to get out and move, to find a sport that they might carry into adulthood. The Department is trying to professionalise PE and wellbeing at post primary level, but there is a lot more to be done in primary schools and also regulation of the subject is not as it should be. PE provision is monitored through subject inspection, and, through a lesser extent through Whole-School Evaluation (WSE) or incidental inspections, according to the Department of Education. But there isn’t enough of these inspectors.
“We are currently experiencing a temporary staff reduction in PE, and have just one senior inspector in the area at post-primary level. The inspectorate will be pressing for the restoration of its cohort of inspectors as a priority.”
Gaelcholaiste Mhuire (AG) An Mhainister Thuaidh, Cork, counts Jack Lynch; Donal O’Grady; Tomas Mulcahy; Eanna Falvey, the Irish rugby and Lions team doctor; and Setanta, Aisake and Sean Og O Hailpin among its past pupils. More recently, Munster strength and conditioning coach Adam Sheehan and Boston University basketballer, Clodagh Scannell went through the school, and continue to maintain close links, supporting its PE and sports programmes.
All this acts as a big motivator for pupils, according to Des Golden, one of the school’s PE teachers. “Role models are important. That said, we distinguish between sport and physical activity in that while sport may not be for everyone, physical activity is - it’s for life. We see too often in Ireland when sport stops, physical activity stops. This, is due to a lack of physical education,” he says.
“In the Irish context, we are lucky, in that each student from first to sixth year gets a minimum of a double class of PE - one hour, 20 minutes - weekly. Transition years get three periods and first years get four classes for a spell of eight weeks,” he outlines. The programme at AG which was awarded the active school flag in 2013, includes athletics; Gaelic games; lacrosse; gymnastics; dance; yoga; wheelchair basketball; sports science; games from around the world; surfing; weight training; ultimate frisbee and skiing.
Rathmore, Co Kerry is an area steeped in Gaelic football tradition. A double PE class is provided every week in first year at Scoil Phobail Sliabh Luachra, with a 40 minute period over the following years. Transition year students get additional time. “A 40 minute period is a bit of a drawback, by the time students get in and change. With the best will in the world you are looking at a maximum of 30 useable minutes and that could be 20 if you are setting up gymnastics equipment,” says Catherine Kiely, one of the school’s PE teachers.
“There are a couple of issues. One is the balance between PE and other subjects, particularly during exam years, and academics tend to win out every time. We offer 11 subjects whereas some schools offer 10. The new Junior Cert programme offers huge improvement but I would prefer to see PE offered as a full, rather than short course,” Kiely says.
The community school aims to offer a broad range of activities, including gymnastics; adventure activities; health-related education; athletics; dance; football; rugby; and basketball. High profile past pupils include Paul Murphy and Aidan O’Mahony of the Kerry senior team and minor player Darren Brosnan.
“The root of the problem needs to be solved at government level. We live a half an hour’s drive from the nearest swimming pool, so it is just transition year students that get to go swimming,” Kiely says.
The Irish government needs to invest in facilities, timetabling and staffing. “And Ireland has an over-supply of PE teachers. It would be logical to put their expertise to use in primary schools.”
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