September 2002

On your marks - if you're South of the Border you're under starter's orders for the new term. After several months of high-profile sporting events, we decided it was time to get physical. So this month's newsletter is about physical movement and learning.

In this edition we look at why movement should be part of classroom learning, the effect of PE on pupils and suggest some strategies to improve participation in the subject. We also have ideas for some great sporting reads. Ready? Go!

Gym'll Fix It

A study being carried out by QCA has found that high quality PE lessons lead to improvements in pupils' behaviour and attendance. Although Curriculum Guidelines state that schools should aim to provide two hours of PE a week, a Sports England survey carried out two years ago found out that only 11 per cent of 6 to 8 year olds did this much PE, compared with 32 per cent in 1994.

Strategies for improving participation in Secondary PE

Utilise a range of teaching and learning styles
Set high expectations
Utilise short, medium and long term developmental planning
Make the best use of teaching assistants, coaches and young leaders
Link with local Primaries for Professional Development
Use PE for a year 6 to 7 transition project
Teach GCSE Physical Education and complete the theoretical elements by the end of the Autumn Term in Year 11. Focussed revision follows
Have recreational after school clubs and use members of the public to assist
Utilise pupil questionnaires to assess: self-esteem, physical participation history and perceptions of abilities
Include a non-traditional games option
Evaluate teaching to highlight the variety of thinking skills pupils utilise. Integrate problem solving, planning and review into the teaching
Increase the use of video and ICT
Introduce sports masterclasses
Have a participation award for KS3
Host a Community Sports Leader Award and the Junior Sports Leader Award
Have a Festival of Sport week
Have visual images of a variety of sporting role models on display
Review kit and showering policies to improve comfort and privacy, especially for girls
Establish links with local health clubs

Some Recommended Sporting Reads
Armstrong, Lance: It's Not About the Bike
Armstrong's struggles with testicular cancer and with the Tour de France.

Roberts (ed): Advances in Motivation in Sports and Exercise
An academic summary of all you need to know about motivational theory and sport.

Ecott, Tim: Neutral Buoyancy, Adventures in a Liquid World
Brilliant account of the author's fascination with diving.

Miller, Andy: Tilting at Windmills - How I Tried to Stop Worrying and Love Sport
A book for those who hate sport!

O'Connor, Joseph: NLP and Sports
How to tune in your head to better sporting performance.

McEnroe, John: Serious
A man obsessed. You may not like him by the time you finish!

Jackson and Csikszentmihalyi: Flow in Sports
What getting in the 'zone' means: the theory of flow applied

Buzan, Tony: Headstrong
Subtitled 'How to get Physically and Mentally Fit'.

Ericksson, Sven-Goran: On Football
Better on motivation than on football!

Youth Sport Trust: Best Practice in Sports Colleges, February 2002
How the other half lives…

Will Power

Former England rugby captain, Will Carling, has revealed how psychology helped him to become one of the most successful rugby players of all time. In a recent programme on Radio 4 he revealed the importance of mental preparation as part of training. He announced that he is a keen advocate of visualisation as a key to preparing for specific situations on the field, so that responses become second nature. Who said that success wasn't in the mind?

MOVE !T makes it!

Alistair Smith's newest work MOVE !T: Physical Movement and Learning is out in September. MOVE !T is a book of practical physical movements to aid classroom learning. The proposition is that physical movement within lessons can offer reprieve, it can link to learning, it can improve motor control and it can be fun and memorable in itself.

Ten arguments for adding movement to classroom learning

Movement is an integral part of human development.
Mimicry, a form of controlled movement, is the most natural form of human learning
The more we do it, the better we become at it. Oxygen uptake becomes more efficient, little and large motor control is improved
Procedural learning sticks. When something is learned through physical movement it doesn't dislodge easily.
Multiple learning systems are actively engaged. Rehearse in different ways and the learning is deepened
Adds value to one's life. Being physically healthy, having good co-ordination and balance helps you cope better with different everyday challenges.
Highly valued. Physical skills such as those used in silversmithing, carpentry, dentistry, construction, sports such as tennis and golf and even the high wire act have financial value.
Integrity of method. Whilst semantic and episodic memory is vulnerable with ageing and illness, procedural memory is less so.
Transferable. Physical learning is carried with you and into all situations.
Independent of other measures of intelligence. Physical learners seem to have a high capacity for adapting and learning new skills.

'On me 'ead 'arry!'

Alite are now the designated learning consultants to the English Football Association. Alistair Smith has been working with the FA for the last six months as part of a team who are helping modernise the FA's educational provision. In the next three years the FA will review all their coaching courses from schools level through to professional level. Alistair will be helping them utilise modern learning methodology to do this. This is part of a six year plan to improve every aspect of the national game in England. More details in the next newsletter.

Going Bonkers for Conkers

Various studies have pointed to the physical, social and academic benefits of play and exercise. But what chance do children have if the fear of germs and injuries precludes many from taking part?

This is what over 100,000 children throughout the country wanted to know as they took part in activities recently to raise awareness of this growing concern. The protest was organised by the Children's Society and Children's Play Council who, in a survey of 500 children below the age of 15, found that many thought playgrounds a boring place to be. They thought that overprotective rules prevented the more interesting games from being played. Among banned activities are bike and skateboard riding, handstands, tagging games, conkers, yo-yos and even making daisy chains.

Many think a 'blame culture' has made schools and councils more cautious, though they are being implored to consider what is best for the children. Not only are rising numbers of childhood obesity and the potential for related illnesses in later life causing concern, but also the effect on children's social skills and other areas of learning. It seems that children are quite rightly going loco without their yo-yos.

The Simpson's guide to physical exercise

Homer, lecturing to the family. "If you really want something in this life you have to work for it. Now quiet, they're about to announce the lottery numbers.'

Homer's fatherly advice, "Son when you participate in sporting events, it's not whether you win or lose; it's how drunk you get."

Homer's closing statement in his college application essay, "It was the most I ever threw up and it changed my life forever." He didn't make college.

Homer's bowling team, the Pin Pals, starts to win when he introduces team cheers. "I'm tired of being a wannabe league bowler. I wanna be a league bowler!"

Move !t: Physical Movement and Learning

Move !t: Physical Movement and Learning is on the press as we write. Containing over 100 examples of brain breaks, this book promises to be the authoritative practical guide to physical movements that stimulate and link to learning. We hope this will be the first of many. For more details, please email Melanie Hill at the Alite office: Melanie@alite.co.uk, quoting Move It!.

Alite for Numeracy

Ex-professional footballer and mathematics genius Chris Tomlinson has worked with Alite to create an Accelerated Learning-based numeracy course. Drawing on his extraordinary success using AL to teach maths, Chris shares a wealth of innovative and effective ways to develop and improve your numeracy strategy. He will be running a course in London on 7th October, and another in Leeds on 13th January 2003. The course may also be booked as an INSET. For more details, contact the Alite office on 01628 810700 or via email: office@alite.co.uk.

Help Your Child Succeed

Full colour, beautifully illustrated and available in September! It's Alistair's collaboration with ex-Campaign For Learning Director, Bill Lucas, on a book for parents. This book is aimed at the parent who doesn't normally buy parenting books. Through imaginative distribution, point of sale marketing, lots of give-aways and the fact that it's cheap, both authors hope it will get beyond the chattering classes. Fingers crossed! If you would like to hear more about the book once it's published, please email Melanie Hill at the Alite office: Melanie@alite.co.uk, quoting The Learning Family.