Analysis: Here are 6 steps to build on the success and profile of our Olympians and support young children in primary schools through PE
We adored Rhasidat. We screamed Sharlene and her team over the line. With medals on display, we marvelled at Rhys (holding his nerve and staying on 'that horse'), we willed Paul and Fintan, Mona and Daniel, Philip and Daire on towards their goals and then we had Kellie. The word on the street after the Olympics was that we now have so many role models and inspirational athletes that our young children would be bursting through the gates of our local clubs.
So, where do we stand now a few weeks later? Welcoming crowds indeed illustrated the excitement of children to greet the athletes on return, but have more children taken those first steps towards a future podium place or indeed adopting and maintaining healthy lifestyles? Time waits for no-one and small steps now are crucial as the medals are placed on display or maybe forgotten.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
From RTÉ Radio 1's Drivetime, report from the Dublin homecoming for Team Ireland's Olympians
A key takeaway from this Olympic summer was that Team Ireland has improved, signposting that investment in facilities and in athletes is reaping rewards. Yet the report card for our younger children indicates that we have a lot of work to do. Highlighting the positives, the most recent study of children’s participation in sport indicates that more primary-aged children (96%) are participating in sport, while time for physical education reported by children in primary school has almost doubled.
But if we take a closer look at children’s experience in primary school PE, there has been a sharp decline in those engaging in aquatics (swimming) within school time and a significant drop too in gymnastics. Games continue to dominate the experience of primary children; our men’s hockey and rugby sevens teams arguably reflecting this emphasis at Olympic level, yet neither hockey nor rugby feature highly in children’s reporting of their favourite sports.
This dominance of games in a general sense occurs despite the PE Curriculum for Primary Schools extolling the virtues of ‘broad and balanced’ PE programmes. This can be seen in the stories of Ciara Mageean and Leona Maguire playing camogie before athletics and golf respectively. At the very least, we see athletes who have had some exposure to a breadth of activities.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
From RTÉ Radio 1's Drivetime, should we get rid of medals for school sports days?
So, what can we do to support our primary-aged children, regardless of their goal or motivation to enjoy physical activity and sport or to work towards 'being well' (one of the key competencies of the newly introduced Primary Curriculum Framework? Here are six steps to build on the success and profile of our athletes and support young children. Each is related to opportunities provided to children in primary schools through PE, accessible by all children regardless of age, ability or socio-economic class, and each can be supported beyond the PE class too.
Improve children's fundamental movement skills
These fundamental skills (running, hopping, jumping, skipping, throwing, balancing, kicking and striking) are the building blocks for all movement, but are poorly developed in Irish primary aged children. We see the potential of Adeleke to improve her performance by focussing on one aspect of her running skill, her arm movement. This can represent a motivation for teachers to teach children skills explicitly and for children to share this responsibility for their skill development over time.
Encourage children to try out new things
Listening to the voice of the child as they describe what they are learning in PE classes is an important step. They may describe skills, attitudes, behaviours and lots more, generally related to the dominant activity that they experience in PE. Research tells us that 73% of primary school boys identify soccer while 57% of girls cite basketball as the sport they engage in most frequently within PE. These activities provide significant experiences for building skills and positive attitudes.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
From RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday with Colm Ó Mongáin, why are children still only getting one hour of PE a week?
Yet, it is crucial that children also experience explore gymnastics, dance and outdoor adventure activities, with plenty of opportunities to develop a broader base of skills across social, cognitive and physical domains. The benefits of engaging in outdoor activities such as orienteering for example are well documented and provide a myriad of opportunities to develop qualities such as resilience (another attribute of wellbeing) as they try to master new skills. Arguably, such resilience can be highlighted by recounting the example of Orla Comerford, who overcame multiple injuries over the past year to reach her paralympic goal, or Mawdsley, who fought her way onto a team and excelled.
Children need more time for PE in school
An increased allocation of time has been recommended for PE, with 90 minutes weekly for junior and and 120 minutes weekly for senior classes. However, the emphasis must also be on enhancing quality. Much debate has centred on the prevalence of ‘volunteer’ coaches in supporting our elite athletes. In the same way, our sports’ governing bodies must endeavour to support teachers to provide better learning opportunities for children. That shouldn’t mean they work independently of our teachers. With 25 or more children per class, let’s combine these external resources with our qualified teachers to fully support the child towards achievement
All children can be included in PE classes in meaningful ways
When para-sports journalist Joanne O'Riordan and Paralymic cyclist Katie-George Dunleavy talked about their experience with PE in school, neither talked about in in glowing terms (though Katie-George did provide some hopeful evidence). Embracing the principles of Universal Design for Learning, we know we can include children always.
In just under two hours' time Rhasidat Adeleke will compete in an Olympic final. Dee Lunny (one of her first athletics coaches in school) and Maeve Cashin (Rhasidat's sixth class teacher) reflect on how a talented girl from Tallaght rose to the very top #RTESport #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/BwJmzQSugS
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 9, 2024
Parents can build on children’s PE experiences
What about popping outside to provide more practice opportunities before school, after school or at weekends? The image of the child shooting a few baskets, balancing in a hoop, twirling a baton, running with the dog or popping out a few cardboard boxes to hurdle: all our athletes had similar playful experiences, many at these early ages. Incidental practice opportunities are important for children daily, even on a skateboard
Follow our athletes
We can follow our athletes within and beyond the PE class, discussing their ups and downs, triumphs and defeats with our children. We now have plenty of stories about these role models from the Olympics and Paralympics. They need to be beamed into our classrooms and homes where every child can see it’s glamorous (every four years) but it’s also tough. PE experiences can be the catalyst for children to seek out the sports club that caters best for them so they can choose to play, row, swim, paddle, throw or even circle the pommel horse.
Follow RTÉ Brainstorm on WhatsApp and Instagram for more stories and updates
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
