Sport England’s new strategy requires sustainable, holistic and integrated actions between all key stakeholders to make ‘active lives’ a core message and vision for everything they do.
The Sport England-funded school teachers must be able to understand this bigger picture, together with the rationale of why active lives are so important in underpinning the five key outcomes: physical wellbeing, mental wellbeing, individual development, social and community development and economic development.
It’s pointless for teachers and Ofsted to measure the range of physical activity outcomes, unless teachers understand the context of the importance of physical literacy and the consequences of failing to act as a nation to reduce physical inactivity.
Teachers will also need to understand the inequities of opportunity and to understand how to break down barriers and objections from groups which may feel threatened by the emergence of a national curriculum which includes minimum levels of physical activity for all school children.
A blended approach between formal team and individual sports, physical exercises, all fuelled by ‘fun’, against an understanding of behaviours and individual needs of children will be essential to avoid an institutionalised approach of compulsory sport which will simply not work and stifle natural enthusiasm for many.
Teachers will require a strong knowledge base of nutrition and balanced diets and the consequences of excess fats, sugars and the future dangers of alcohol and smoking.
Finally the critical success factor for any teacher in addition to the above will be a passion for physical activity with high energy leadership.