Implementation of the UK Last Government PE, School Sport and Club Links Strategy - Essay Example

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UK LAST GOVERNMENTS PE, SCHOOL SPORT AND CLUB LINKS (PESSCL) STRATEGY AND ITS IMPACT IN SCHOOLS Institution Date Implementation strategy The United Kingdom’s government’s PE, School Sport and Club Links (PESSCL) strategy was launched in October 2002 by the department of children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Its guide was however published in the year 2003. This plan was to be implemented through eight programmes of physical education in schools. These programmes were through: School Sport Coordinators Gifted & Talented programme Specialist Sport Colleges QCA PE & School Sport Investigation Step into Sport Professional Development School or Club Links and Swimming To ensure effective and efficient implementation of the eight programmes of physical education, the government of UK through its executive and the department of Sports and Culture called upon the citizens and the local authorities to be united so as to realize and maximize the benefits of the programmes to young people. The plan was focused mainly the school. This is because in school the different categories of children meet from different communities. Therefore when the programme is in school, the children after their studies will expand the skills to the communities. It was very to united pupils and students in schools than in communities. This is because it had a focus in developing and nurturing the talents of the individuals both in school and community (Barbieri 2011, pg.133). The main objectives of the strategy were: To increase the percentage of the children that participates in “high quality” physical education and sport in a week to approximately 75% by 2006. To create new opportunities for children to participate in a three hours physical education in a week. To establish a National Infrastructure for PE and School sports by creating about 400 Specialist Sports Colleges, subject to sufficient high quality applications, by 2005 and 400 School Sport Coordinator partnerships by 2006 To improve the quality of teaching, coaching and learning in PE and School sport. To Increase the proportion of children guided into clubs from School Sport Coordinator Partnerships (www.dfes.gov.uk/pess). It was believed that this would enhance the pupil’s concentration, commitment in their studies and high level of self – esteem thereby improving overall performance in class. To ensure this, the government created a wide network scope of about 450 School Sport Partnerships across the entire country. The Partnership Development Manager (PDM), School Sport Co-ordinator (SSCo) in every Secondary school and the Primary Link Teacher (PLT) acted as the main stakeholders of the plan and were mandated with the responsibility of ensuring the strategy succeeded in schools. According to the results of the PE & Sport Survey by TNS-BMRM, 2010, it showed that most of the aims were achieved to higher percentage. It was realized that by the academic year 2009/2010, about 84% of the pupils were spending about 120 minutes per week in PE. This was an increase from the results obtained in the 2003/2004 academic year. The results also indicated that by the academic year 2007/2008, the percentage number of pupils between the ages of 1-11, that spent at least two hours of high quality PE were about 90%. It is important to highlight that this trend has been maintained from the academic year of 2003/2004 to the academic year 2009/2010 among all the children in most of the schools in the UK. I therefore state that the strategy of introducing the PE and sporting activities in the school has succeeded greatly. The success was attributed to the coordination of the various departments that were formed by the government to oversee its progress in both secondary and primary schools (Woolf 2004, pg.88). When the programmes were efficiently adopted in the school syllabuses, it was realized that the students developed a strong desire to learn, their self-esteem improved, there was higher attendance and participation in PE and other school sporting activities. The physical education also inculcated among the children good behaviours and positive mannerisms such as selflessness, politeness, humility, fair play and high level of enjoyment and enthusiasm. These personal qualities impacted positively in the overall school performance and therefore it is true to say that PESSCL strategy by the UK government succeeded in its implementation. Health benefits The physical education enables an individual to reduce rates of obesity, cases of high blood pressure among individuals also reduces. Cases of heart diseases and diabetes are greatly reduced. It also improves an individual’s grooming and healthy diet Publications (Maxwell & Klingenberg 2011, pg.67). Social benefits in schools The students who participate in physical education such as in sports like hockey may discover their hidden talents which may eventually built their careers. It also helps the students to be able to handle cases of emotional challenges and depression. These are helpful to the school because through sports, the school takes part in competition and can earn awards and trophies. It is also beneficial to the school as it reduces cases of students suffering from stress related ailments (Haugen 2009, pg.79). It also helps the student develops good practical skills of problem solving, term work and strategy formulation. These skills are vital for the individual wellbeing and for the general improvement of the school as it bring unity among the students to work together. The spirit of unity makes the students share ideas and knowledge hence can succeed in their studies. The overall performance of the school is therefore enhanced Publications (Maxwell & Klingenberg 2011, pg. 121). PE and Sport Survey 2009/10 and the Ofsted – Physical Education in Schools 2005/08 Differences The Ofsted survey findings indicated that 77% of the pupils participated in the competitive sport in schools while 37% took part in the competitive sports outside school. On the other hand, the Physical education survey revealed that 78% of the pupils participated in intra- school completion, rising from 68% in 2008/09 and 49% competed in inter-school completion, an increase of 5% from 2008/09 results (Woolf 2004, pg.165). In the PE Sport survey, it is recorded that, of the pupils of between 1-11 years, 84% were spending at least 120 minutes a week taking part in curriculum PE, while in Ofsted survey it’s noted that, pupils between 1-11 years, 86% of them participated in at least 120 minutes of curriculum PE (Haugen 2009, pg. 23). The PE sport survey only concentrated their research in pupils between 1-11 years while, in Ofsted study, the pupils of primary years (1-6 years) , those of between 11-15 years and those of 3-6 years are also considered (Barbieri 2011, pg.87). Similarities Both surveys have recorded that despite many schools focussing in competitive sport, only 21% of the pupils played competitive sport regularly against other schools and only 39% regularly participated in the completion with the school (Rank & Marie 2005, pg.46). Both studies held that the percentage number of children participating in sporting activities has increased from the previous years, for example those pupils between 1-11 years who participated in sporting activities in the sport survey increased by 6% while in Ofsted survey, the number increased by 4% from the previous survey (Cullingford 2001, pg.97). References Barbieri, Maggie. 2011, Physical education. New York: Minotaur Books, 2011. Coulby, D., 2000, beyond the national curriculum curricular centralism and cultural diversity in Europe and the USA, London, RoutledgeFalmer Press Cullingford, C. & Oliver, P. 2001, The National Curriculum and its effects, California, Ashgate Haugen, D.2009, Education, New York, Greenhaven Press Maxwell. & Klingenberg, L. 2011, Education, London, Sage Rank, Anna Marie. 2005, Sports and education a reference handbook. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2003 The high school athlete’s guide to college sports: how to makert yourself to the school of your dreams, Lnham: Taylor, Trade Pub, 2009 Tufte, John E. 2012Crazy- proofing high school sports, Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Education, Woolf, A.2004, Education, London, Lucent Books Read More