5.3.9 Physical Education

5.3.9 Physical Education

There have been significant curriculum developments in post-primary Physical Education

During the period to which this report refers, considerable changes occurred in the Physical Education (PE) curriculum at Senior Cycle and Junior Cycle. The Leaving Certificate PE specification (examination) and the Senior Cycle PE Framework (non-examination) were introduced in a small number of schools from September 2018, with both the specification and framework available to all schools from September 2020.

Physical Education is one of the main pillars of Wellbeing at Junior Cycle

The Framework for Junior Cycle (2015) provides for a new area of learning at Junior Cycle called Wellbeing, with Physical Education (PE) as one of the main pillars. Wellbeing forms part of each year of Junior Cycle, and makes the school’s culture, ethos and commitment to wellbeing central to the students’ experiences. This includes learning opportunities to enhance the physical, mental, emotional and social wellbeing of students. It enables students to build life skills and to develop a strong sense of connectedness to their peers and to their community. The Junior Cycle Wellbeing programme began with 300 hours of timetabled engagement in 2017 and it will increase to 400 hours by 2022 as the Junior Cycle is implemented fully in schools (Junior Cycle Wellbeing Guidelines 2021).

Currently, four options are available to inform the provision of PE in Junior Cycle: the NCCA short course in PE (100 hours), a school-designed short course (100 hours), other units of PE developed by the school, or the Junior Cycle PE Syllabus (2003). In June 2020, data began to emerge which indicated that the options for Junior Cycle PE were causing confusion, the reporting mechanisms were not clear and there was very poor uptake of the NCCA short course. The NCCA published the Background Paper and Brief for the Review of Junior Cycle Physical Education (2021) to address these problems. The paper presented an overview of the experience of PE from a wide range of stakeholders and recommended the development of a new Junior Cycle PE programme (135 hours). A Junior Cycle PE development group was convened by the NCCA and a draft Junior Cycle PE specification was created.

Students enjoy their learning in Physical Education

Findings from the PE lessons observed in subject inspections between September 2016 and December 2020 showed that high levels of student enjoyment and motivation were evident in 89% of cases. Subject inspection reports in PE indicate that active learning, high levels of motivation and well-designed lesson tasks, supported by good classroom routines, were observed regularly by inspectors. In most instances, a formative assessment culture was evident in the lessons. Some reports highlighted the lack of provision of learning experiences for students in the physical activity areas of adventure activities and land-based or water-based aquatics. This aligns with the Children’s Sport Participation and Physical Activity Study 2018 (CSPPA, 2018) findings in relation to swimming ability.

The use of digital learning technologies, a required component of the Leaving Certificate PE specification, was noted as an area for improvement. Where digital technologies were not utilised to support student learning, it was often due to the fact that the PE facilities were not equipped with Wi-Fi, mobile devices, a projector or a laptop. Other recommendations emerging frequently from PE inspection reports referenced the need for the recruitment of appropriately-qualified PE teachers, the appropriate timetabling of PE in line with the relevant Department circulars, access to public swimming facilities and the development of on-site PE facilities.

Plans are in place for the continued development of physical education facilities in post-primary schools

There are plans in place for the continued development of teaching and learning facilities for PE. The government is committed to a PE hall build and modernisation programme, starting in the second half of the National Development Plan (2021 – 2030) period. This will support an increased focus on the upgrade and refurbishment of the existing school stock to ensure that students in all post-primary schools have access to appropriate facilities to support PE learning experiences.

A new room layout86, which provides a student-centred learning environment, was introduced in January 2021 to replace the Fitness Suite, a less flexible space with fixed exercise equipment. This new room layout was designed to support teachers in the implementation of the new PE specifications. The Physical Education Equipment List for post-primary PE, including provision for outdoor equipment and facilities, was reviewed and updated in April 2021, with the intention of supporting the delivery of PE and providing enhanced equipment specifications. Work is ongoing on the development of a specialist PE equipment list for special schools, and it is expected that this will be ready in early 2022.

Physical activity in post-primary schools is being supported by national research and initiatives

The Children’s Sport Participation and Physical Activity Study 2018 (CSPPA) provided rich insights into the experiences of children and adolescents around their participation in physical activity, sport and physical education. The study involved some 6,600 students from 115 schools across the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Findings indicated that eighty-nine minutes per week was the average time allocated to physical education lessons in Irish post-primary schools. However, it is concerning that 12% of postprimary students reported being unable to swim; this aligns with data gathered by inspectors in PE subject inspections. The research carried out in relation to physical activity levels among post-primary students indicates the importance of high-quality physical education in equipping students with the knowledge, skills and understanding to be physically active in their daily lives.

Two national initiatives/programmes aimed at promoting physical activity are having a positive impact: the Active School Flag and I-PARC. Schools that are involved in these initiatives are promoting physical activity across the whole school community.

The Active School Flag is a Department of Education initiative supported by Healthy Ireland, and is part of the National Physical Activity Plan. The Active School Flag initiative provides schools with a framework to guide and support them towards achieving a physically active school community. Since 2018, six postprimary schools have been working with the Department and the University of Limerick to co-design a new

86 Department of Education (2020) Post-primary Room Layouts. Available at: https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/99dfd-postprimary-room-layouts/

whole-school programme, with student voice and student leadership at its core. This programme aligns with the Wellbeing Policy Statement and Framework for Practice 2018–2023, the Junior Cycle Wellbeing Guidelines and the School Self-Evaluation Guidelines 2016-2020 Post-Primary. The programme encourages school leaders, teachers and students to work together to collect data on physical activity levels in the school and to develop a school-specific action plan that focuses on inclusive whole-school physical activity events.

Established in 2018, I-PARC involves multiple stakeholders, including the Department, working together to apply insight, intelligence, and innovation to the challenge of getting more people to become more active. The challenge of how to increase the physical activity levels of the population of Ireland needs a unified approach, both in Ireland and internationally. The I-PARC team is engaging with schools to develop evaluation tools for physical activity that are based on the existing I-PARC Evaluation Toolkit and are customised to meet the interests and needs of schools.

Physical Education and physical activity were impacted negatively by the COVID-19 pandemic

The provision of PE was impacted deeply by the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020, due to school closures and the requirement for physical distancing. The Department advice suggested that, where practical, PE lessons should take place outdoors. In relation to contact and invasion games on the curriculum, schools were advised to avoid the contact elements as much as possible and to focus on the development of sport-specific skills.

The results of a parental survey, conducted in April 202087 during the first period of school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, were reassuring; almost four-fifths (79%) of parents who responded reported that their child took regular opportunities to exercise. However, the situation was not as positive during the second period of school closures in January and February 2021. In surveys conducted during this period88, almost one-third (30%) of post-primary parents indicated that their child did not exercise regularly. Over a quarter (27%) of post-primary students also indicated in surveys at this time89 that they only exercised sometimes; 12% of students indicated that they did not exercise regularly.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that young people engage in at least sixty minutes a day of moderate to vigorous physical activity. Data from the WHO90 indicates that, in 2016, 72% of adolescents in Ireland did not meet these recommended levels of physical activity. This is a concern, since regular physical activity provides a host of health benefits91 from improved heart and respiratory fitness to better cognitive function which supports learning and knowledge acquisition. Notably, research from the Irish post-primary context92 during the COVID-19 pandemic found that half of the adolescents reported less physical activity than normal, this indicates that progress towards national and WHO targets to decrease inactivity by 15% by 2030 has been severely hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic. This key piece of new research once again highlights a particular need in relation to our young people becoming physically educated citizens by ensuring that they are provided with high-quality learning opportunities during their time in post-primary school.

87 Department of Education (2021) Results of survey of parents of post-primary students, April 2020, Remote Teaching and Learning, Summary of Inspectorate Research, January – February 2021 (Appendix).Available at: https://www.gov.ie/en/ collection/de987-remote-teaching-and-learning-reports/ 88 Department of Education (2021) Remote teaching and learning: Report on a survey of parents in post-primary schools. Department of Education (2021). Available at: https://www.gov.ie/en/collection/de987-remote-teaching-and-learningreports/ 89 Department of Education (2021) Remote teaching and learning: Report on a survey of students in post-primary schools. Available at: https://www.gov.ie/en/collection/de987-remote-teaching-and-learning-reports/ 90 https://www.who.int/news/item/22-11-2019-new-who-led-study-says-majority-of-adolescents-worldwide-are-notsufficiently-physically-active-putting-their-current-and-future-health-at-risk 91 See, for example: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK201501/ 92 Ng, K., Cooper J., McHale F., Clifford, J. and Woods, C. (2020) Barriers and facilitators to changes in adolescent physical activity during COVID-19, BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine 6(1). Available at: https://bmjopensem.bmj.com/content/6/1/ e000919