As the awareness of the advantages of incorporating more physical activity into the daily routine of UK primary school children continues to grow, several barriers stand in the way of seamless implementation. Limited time, demanding workloads, lack of space, busy curriculums, unpredictable weather and classroom behaviour all present additional hurdles, limiting opportunities for children to engaged in physical activity.
So, what can we do about it?
There are a number of considerations we can make when thinking about implementing more physical activity within the classroom:
Develop Fun, Engaging, and Challenging Activities:
Physical activity breaks should be designed to be enjoyable, engaging, and challenging for children to prevent boredom and sustain the novelty factor.
Encourage Between-Class Competition:
Fostering between-class competition to instill a sense of camaraderie and motivation, while avoiding individual-level competition helps to prevent potential disengagement of students who may already feel excluded from physical activity.
Teacher Training and Support:
Equipping teachers with knowledge on the benefits of physical activity and providing ample support in planning and delivering physical activity breaks can enhance confidence and reduce apprehension.
Short, Simple, and Easy Implementation:
Recognising time constraints and workload demands, physical activity efforts should introduce physically active breaks that are short, simple, and easy to integrate seamlessly throughout the school day.
Whole-School Approach:
Encourage buy-in from all teaching staff to establish a comprehensive whole-school approach, emphasising the importance of, and allocating time for, physically active breaks within the classroom.
Provide Quality, Flexible Resources:
Physical activity efforts should supply schools with high-quality resources that offer flexibility and choice, allowing teachers autonomy in incorporating physically active breaks into their daily routines.
In essence, these recommendations aim to address the multifaceted challenges associated with embedding physical activity breaks in the primary school setting, fostering an environment that promotes engagement, inclusivity, and sustained positive behavior change among students.