Future Development of School Sport - Education Queensland ...

Future Development of School Sport and Phys cal Act v ty Review Report
Executive Summary
In March 2006, the Honourable Rod Welford MP, M n ster for Educat on and the Arts (now
Educat on, Tra n ng and the Arts) announced a M n ster al Rev ew of School Sport and
Phys cal Act v ty to prov de d rect on for the future del very of sport and phys cal act v ty
n Queensland state schools.
The rev ew exam ned a range of ssues nclud ng the levels of part c pat on n sport and
act v ty n Queensland state schools and the types of act v t es and sports undertaken.
Other ssues ncluded the potent al barr ers that could prevent students from
part c pat ng n school sport and phys cal act v ty, commun ty nvolvement n the del very
of sport and phys cal act v ty n schools, examples of good models n the del very of
school sport and act v ty n schools, and acc dent nsurance cover for students engaged
n sport and phys cal act v ty.
The Rev ew Comm ttee used nformat on gathered throughout the rev ew to develop
recommendat ons for the M n ster’s cons derat on. These ncluded a research and
l terature rev ew, a survey of key stakeholders, a Health/Phys cal Educat on teachers’
focus group; a sport and phys cal act v ty forum w th presentat ons from health and
phys cal educat on experts; and school v s ts.
The Rev ew Comm ttee was very mpressed w th the work already be ng done by many
Queensland state schools to enable students to part c pate n sport and phys cal act v ty
programs. A w de var ety of examples of ex st ng sport and phys cal act v ty programs
were reported by schools. These programs were des gned to develop students’ phys cal
sk lls and create nterest and enjoyment n phys cal act v ty. It s clear that many schools
also use a number of sport ng organ sat ons as part of the r sport and phys cal act v ty
programs.
The rev ew sought feedback from all stakeholder groups about the factors they perce ved
as poss ble barr ers prevent ng students from part c pat ng n school sport and phys cal
act v ty programs. The most commonly perce ved barr ers ncluded:
• cost of compet ng – travel, reg strat on fees, un forms
• ava lab l ty of appropr ate fac l t es
• d stance to compet t on – d stance between schools s too far for students to travel
• compet ng curr culum areas
• staff del ver ng phys cal act v ty programs requ r ng tra n ng or exper ence to bu ld
sk lls
• ava lab l ty of staff or volunteers to run or ass st w th runn ng act v t es
• student numbers n some schools are too low to form teams.
The major ty of rev ew stakeholders nvolved were asked to prov de recommendat ons
for the future development of sport and phys cal act v ty n state schools. The most
common suggest ons related to mandat ng t me for phys cal act v ty and establ sh ng
accountab l ty and mon tor ng systems, enhanc ng the sk lls and confidence of pr mary
classroom teachers to enable them to conduct act v t es w th the r students, address ng
ssues of transport / d stance to nter-school compet t on, more affordable part c pat on
and better plann ng and school and commun ty use of resources and fac l t es.
The Rev ew Comm ttee formulated a range of recommendat ons from the nformat on
and data prov ded by rev ew part c pants. The comm ttee cons dered the data and
stakeholders’ v ews and formulated recommendat ons w th n the target areas of
leadersh p, staff expert se, curr culum, commun ty and partnersh ps.
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