THE RECOVERY STARTS HERE
As charity Youth Sport Trust launches a campaign to help teachers and parents get children active again...
AFTER nearly 18 months of pandemic-enforced disrupted learning for children, schools are rightly worried about pupils falling behind in core subjects such as maths and English.
But the effects on physical wellbeing and sporting competence have been equally damaging.
A recent study by the Schools Active Movement, which surveyed more than 3,000 schools, found that 84 per cent of schools were identifying lower levels of physical fitness now compared to pre-pandemic levels.
Pupils were noted to be less active at break-times or more out of breath in PE lessons. They also found that 67 per cent of children had lost confidence and competence in their movement skills and 60 per cent demonstrated poor wellbeing.
It is a worrying prospect that children’s charity Youth Sport Trust is working to tackle, alongside Sport England. ‘We have a very simple mission,’ explains the charity’s CEO Ali Oliver. ‘We try to ensure that every child can enjoy the benefits that come from playing sport.
‘We’re absolutely obsessed with the power of sport to deliver positive outcomes to young people, whether that be their physical health, mental health, social well-being or, indeed, for some, to pursue their ambition in sport. For other children, it’s the role of physical activity in supporting their education — we know there are links between physical exercise and cognitive performance. One of the worries is that, in everybody’s efforts to recover in education, there might be a focus on core subjects such as maths and English which may lead to more sedentary behaviour.
‘We know referrals to mental health have gone up. Young people have missed being with friends so social skills are lacking. If we want children to recover quickly, we also want them to be fit. We need to balance the time they are spending in extra lessons, with time outside bonding with friends and keeping fit.’
Oliver (right), 50, explains that part of the Trust’s work to improve things is a campaign called ‘Active Recovery’, taking the view that all elements of children’s recovery will be accelerated if they can be active. Under that banner, they launched an ‘Active Recovery Hub’ supported by Lottery funding in partnership with Sport England.
‘The idea is: let’s put a one- stop shop in one place where schools, coaches and parents can go to find content and ideas which can stimulate children to be active,’ says Oliver. ‘It’s now got 450 activities on it — videos, apps, all downloadable and free to access. It’s from sports of all sorts from all organisations. In the few weeks since it’s been launched it’s had over 20,000 views from lots of schools with all ages.
‘We’re trying to make it really simple to keep children active at breaktimes, before and after school but more so in lessons. How can lessons be broken up for short activity breaks? It improves mood and concentration.’
They also have short, ‘ nudge-up’ videos starring sports stars such as England cricketer Jos Buttler and England rugby star Sarah Hunter.
In 60-90 second clips, the presenters go through very simple activities that could be put on a classroom screen, or an iPad if at home.
Part of the initiative is aimed at parents who, during the lockdown, had to step in as de-facto fitness coaches in lieu of regular sport clubs or teams and a lack of PE lessons.
‘Sometimes parents want their children to be active but don’t have the ideas or don’t feel confident enough to play with them,’ says Oliver. ‘So I guess this is building on the Joe Wicks phenomenon really.’
THEY are also working to make sport more fun. Oliver points out the key ingredients for that: confidence and competence to move, the motivation and understanding why it’s important to be active. She adds: ‘ Right now more than ever, physical education has to be about every single child. We want it to be less about trophy cabinets and district championships, and much more about wellbeing and personal development. We need to use sport as the vehicle for physical wellbeing, but they need to enjoy it. ‘I think it will be a long road back. It’s too early to truly understand the consequences of what the children have missed out on. We can catch up those lost opportunities in physical competence. ‘But kids are resilient — with physical fitness, if we put our mind to it, we can dramatically improve it.’ The Active Recovery Hub provides schools, local authorities and families with access to free resources to get children moving. Visit: www.yourschoolgames. com/active-recovery