Future Development of School Sport - Education Queensland ...

Review Report Future Development of School Sport and Phys cal Act v ty
• The Department s l able to pay compensat on for personal njury ( nclud ng med cal
costs) for students njured at school or play ng school sport only when njury has
been caused by the negl gence of the Department.
• Where a student s njured at school as a result of an acc dent or the Department s
not negl gent, all costs assoc ated w th the njury ( nclud ng med cal costs) are the
respons b l ty of the parent or careg ver. Med care and pr vate health nsurance may
cover some of the costs depend ng on the r pr vate nsurance arrangements.
• A number of sports ncorporate nherent r sks that parents and students accept as
part of the sport. Not every njury s caused by negl gence or a breach of duty of care.
QGIF does not prov de acc dent cover.
• It s unknown how many nd v dual schools prov de nsurance adv ce to parents.
6. Academic Literature
The l terature rev ewed prov des overwhelm ng support for ncreas ng the da ly phys cal
act v ty levels of ch ldren and young people to prov de them w th greater opportun t es
for l felong, susta nable nvolvement n phys cal act v ty (Jones-Palm & Palm, n.d.;
Mart n, n.d.; Amer can Academy of Ped atr cs, 2000; Act on for Healthy K ds, 2003;
Centers for D sease control and Prevent on, 2006).
Schools have a key role n prov d ng students w th opportun t es to engage n regular
phys cal act v ty to enable them to reach the r health potent al and ma nta n a balanced
state of wellbe ng (Ballard, Caldwell, Dunn, Hard son, Newk rk, Sanderson, Schne der,
Thaxton-Vod cka & Thomas, 2005). Prov d ng young people w th the sk lls and
confidence they need to be phys cally act ve requ res act v t es to be programmed that
are ach evable and mean ngful w th emphas s on part c pat on and nvolvement rather
than excellence (Chau, 2007).
The benefits of ch ldren and young people part c pat ng n regular phys cal act v ty
extend beyond the phys olog cal effects (Kerr, 1996). Reduc ng obes ty and the
nc dence of chron c d seases n adulthood and enhanc ng the cogn t ve, soc al,
psycholog cal and emot onal spheres have all been attr buted to regular phys cal act v ty
(McKay, Re d, Tremblay & Pellet er, 1996; Pate, Baranowsk , Dowda & Trost, 1996; K dd,
1999; L nder, 1999; Sall s, McKenz e, Kolody, Lew s, Marshall & Rosengard, 1999;
Dwyer, Sall s, Bl zzard, Lazarus & Dean, 2001). For many ch ldren, schools prov de
the r only opportun ty to part c pate n sport or phys cal act v ty (Austral an Bureau of
Stat st cs, 2004).
Enjoy ng phys cal act v ty s a s gn ficant antecedent to susta n ng part c pat on
throughout l fe. Students are less l kely to part c pate n suffic ent phys cal act v ty due
to personal barr ers such as the lack of enjoyment or fun. In add t on, school phys cal
act v ty programs connected to broader commun ty engagement are much more l kely
to encourage cont nu ng part c pat on nto adulthood. Develop ng l nks between school
and commun ty programs promotes l felong susta nable nvolvement n phys cal act v ty
(Chau, 2007).
The l terature rev ewed also prov des many nstances of best pract ce n relat on to
phys cal act v ty n school sett ngs. A snapshot of these follows.
Exemplary programs ex st ng n schools tend to reflect a whole-of-school comm tment
to phys cal act v ty programs. Brown and Brown (1996:19) conclude that ‘long-term
mprovement n act v ty and fitness levels are more l kely to result from an ntegrated
whole school-commun ty approach’ . The promot on of phys cal act v ty w ll be most
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