There’s no better feeling than getting a perfect hit during rounders, or seeing a football fly to the back of the net.
But the benefits of regular exercise go far beyond these fleeting moments of success. As well as tackling the problem of obesity and inactivity, a University of Toronto study found team sport helps teenagers enjoy better mental health as young adults.
The problem is that some young people don’t think sport and physical education (PE) is for them. PE has a bit of an image problem with teenage girls. The baggy shorts, plimsolls and polo shirts are in part to blame, with research showing that while young girls like being active they are put off by PE kits which make them feel “ugly”.
Getting other students engaged also has its barriers. According to research by Stonewall, two thirds of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) pupils say they don’t like team sports, while three in 10 experience bullying in changing rooms. A report by the English Federation for Disability Sport also found that 51% of disabled students do not enjoy PE.
Whether it’s mixed-sex sports, such as softball, as Lou Englefield, director of Pride Sports suggests, making sure that changing areas are accessible for disabled students or tackling homophobic language – our online discussion asks how can we make PE more inclusive?
Our experts will be online on Wednesday 22 April from 5.30pm to 7.30pm to share their advice and chat about the issues. Comments are open now so if you can’t join us live, feel free to post your ideas and opinions early. We will answer the following:
- How can we make sports more accessible to disabled students?
- What are the best ways to engage girls?
- How can we tackle homophobia on the sports field?
- What are the best ways to engage special educational needs (SEN) students?
Expert panel:
Danielle Tedford teaches PE and is the assistant headteacher responsible for teaching and learning at Flixton Girls. Tedford has no fingers on her right hand but has always taken part in able-bodied sport, playing high-level hockey and most other sports to county level. Tedford wasn’t given disabled talent pathways at school but feels she could have developed even further as an elite athlete if she’d had the right support.
Alison Goodall is the inclusion development manager at the Youth Sport Trust (YST). Alison has undertaken a variety of national development roles for the charity, creating new initiatives to open up opportunities for under-represented groups to benefit from the power of PE and sport. Following a three-year research project into adolescent girls’ engagement in PE, sport and physical activity, she currently leads on YST’s Girls Active work across the organisation.
Louise Englefield is the director of Pride Sports, a social enterprise that supports LGBT sports development and equality.
Kat Southwell is active kids for all manager at the English federation of Disability Sport.
Jon Dunn teaches mixed PE from years 7 to 11 at Brockhill Park Performing Arts College. He has done staff in-house training on inclusion and differentiation strategies. Dunn also organises local TeachMeets to discuss inclusion across the curriculum.
Darren Jones is head of PE at Oakwood Academy, a secondary special needs school in Salford. The school won a Youth Sport Trust award this year for their work between 2013 and 2014 increasing student attainment and achievement in PE.
Matthew Sweeney is the PE co-ordinator at a primary school in Cambridgeshire. He also teaches year 6 pupils. He has co-ordinated a range of activities for primary students and won an Association For PE quality mark for his work.
Peter Harris is the subject leader of PE at The Bishop’s Stortford high school, an all boys school with a mixed sixth form. The state school offers students the chance to play Saturday sport and has a range of extra-curricular opportunities around PE.
Sean Perrotton is head of PE at St Thomas More high school. The school fosters a culture of respect and belonging through school sport. The school’s sporting curriculum is challenging and inclusive; they offer a variety of sports such as Gaelic football.
Ryan Forwood is PE coordinator at Gunton primary school.
Suzanne Della-Porta is Channing School’s director of PE and sports development. Prior to that she was the partnership development manager and PE lead for the royal borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Della-Porta has developed a PE programme which aims to cater for all students, focused on participation and competition.
