Teach Secondary Issue 14.3

Timetabled PE lessons aren’t the only opportunities for teaching students important lessons about physical fitness, advises Anderley Hampson H umans are meant to move pretty much all the time. We might not be running marathons, but virtually all of us will be regularly fidgeting, shifting and jiggling day and night. As many a (weary) teacher can confirm, this constant need for movement will be most evident amongst children, teenagers and young adults. Yes, it’s less than ideal having students filled with the urge to careen around your classroom while you attempt to discuss a Macbeth essay or tricky physics equation – yet this need to move can also be an intriguing source of potential learning. Eruptions and rebellions Let’s think a little more about the underlying reasons behind those movement urges. Right from the start, babies display primitive reflexes as inbuilt active responses to the newworld they find themselves in. Then, through conscious and deliberate movement, they’ll begin to discover more about their surroundings, whilst simultaneously developing their own balance, body awareness, coordination and agility. Later on, the typical adolescent will continue learning through movement, becoming increasingly exploratory as time goes on, and sometimes actively putting themselves in risky situations in order to test boundaries and better understand their own capabilities. While all that’s happening, nutrition, environment, hormones, moods, stress, posture, breathing, hydration levels et al . will be combining to impact significantly upon our teenager’s overall movement abilities and bodily health and fitness. Their physical state will in turn become a major factor in terms of their mental health, confidence, social interactions and overall outlook. It’s therefore no wonder that from time to time, teenagers’ propensity to erupt or somehow rebel (with or without a cause) will come to the fore! Needless to say, the teenagers and young adults you see in your classes every day have an awful lot going on backstage. This is where physical education canmake a significant contribution, outside the constraints of formal PE lessons. Helping students to use their PE learning and knowledge throughout the day, and showing them their relevance to ‘real life’ canmake a world of difference, both in school and outside. So what aspects of physical education can we apply to the whole school day? Productive conversations Well, to start with, there’s the small matter of how your students actually get to school or college in the first place, which could be a great topic for a form time discussion. One of the joys of teaching is that these ‘open forum’ moments can sometimes throw up muchmore than you might be expecting… I remember once asking my Y9 formhow they all travelled to school, only to discover that one of them lived on an island, and that when the tide was in, she’d have to fire up a small motorboat to reach the mainland, whereupon she’d then need to walk a further three miles, before catching a bus to cover the remaining 15 miles to school. That was how I found out why she so often arrived slightly late and somewhat windswept – her PE started well before the school day! This led to some insightful discussions around what the class thought was an ‘okay distance’ to walk or cycle to school, and the social, health and personal development benefits of cycling or walking to school over just opting for a lift in their parents’ car. I’ve seen a number of such conversations eventually lead to students taking an interest in the school council, the installation of additional bike racks and shelters, fundraising efforts for high-vis gear, and even the creation of a cycle track round the school playing fields. To bike, or not to bike? Next comes that valuable time between arriving at the school gates and gaining admittance to the school building. What better time to conquer a few pull-ups, leg press and tricep dips? Step forward – the outdoor gym. Students living too far from school to join the cycling revolution can potentially get their fix by instead taking a turn on the exercise bike. Everyone’s a winner – and everyone’s now oxygen- rich, ready for better cognitive processing once they’re in the classroom. What’s more, you can expect to see the super active arrive in your classes more settled and ready to concentrate. The shy may have made a few friends through a joint workout, while the less sporty begin to get just that tiny bit fitter on their own terms. If your sports teachers can supervise formal equipment introductions during a PE lesson, then your students will possess the knowledge, safety awareness and familiarity they need to make the most of the outdoor gym by themselves. Your safety efforts can also be “Everyone canbenefit fromsome guidedbreathing and stretching exercises during registration” PE without the LESSON 54 teachwire.net/secondary