Schools drop the ball [IrishTimes]
- Published: 22 March 2011
Primary schools that do not take responsibility for PE teaching do the children a disservice, writes BRIAN O'CONNELL
DOES IT matter that some primary school students will not experience physical education (PE) classes with their teachers? The phenomenon of contracting out the teaching of physical education to such sports organisation as the GAA or the Football Association of Ireland has become common in schools across the country.
The Irish Sports Council, in co-operation with sports bodies and local sports partnerships, developed a national Buntús Primary Schools Initiative in recent years through which additional supports such as training, resource cards and equipment, are provided to help teachers and others introducing young people to sport, and to complement the curriculum.
Concerns are now being raised that many teachers are not getting the experience they need to maintain a confident approach to PE teaching.
This may mean that PE gets less emphasis at primary school. Studies by Dr Catherine Wood of the school of health and human performance at Dublin City University, found that on average primary school pupils get just 46 minutes of PE teaching weekly.
The habits formed in school years can have a significant impact on children’s attitude to health and fitness for the rest of their lives. Many children, though, are not learning these habits from teachers and PE times are increasingly seen as not a part of the regular school curriculum.
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