Could “sports sanctuaries” reduce stress and support the new normal in Primary schools?
When we returned to school in September with the direction of a new normal – no more bubbles, no more closures – it was clear that school staff walked this path with trepidation.
While desks may no longer be in rows and bubbles have gone, singing is now allowed and lunch halls bubble with chatter and laughter, everyone working in the education sector knows that this is not ‘back to normal’. If anything, it is in fact a murky path with less clear directions and more uncertainty.
Since the beginning of the pandemic educationalists have reflected on the long term affects to children’s education – not just academically, but socially and emotionally. With this reflection it’s clear that throughout the challenges of Covid-19 we have, as teachers, leaders and parents, put wellbeing and mental health at the forefront of ensuring children continue to thrive.
As I spend time in schools this term, something I see is the importance that sport and exercise have played in supporting wellbeing for families and schools. Children talk about their daily walks, Joe Wicks and home workouts. They animatedly share recollections of their explorations in the woodlands near their homes, of long country walks and of workouts with siblings in the living room. This made me think about the importance of ensuring this continues. It’s clear that exercise, being outdoors and being active have been vital to children and all young people.
The Youth Sports Trust (https://www.youthsporttrust.org/ ), a children’s charity working to ensure every child enjoys the life changing benefits that come from play and sport, published an article “Could ‘sport sanctuaries’ in schools help young people recover from the impact of a pandemic?.” This led us to reflect on the importance of the changes in school and how sports sanctuaries could be developed in Primary schools to offer children a safe place to ‘escape,’ be active and ready to return to the classroom.
Barry Carpenters recovery curriculum identifies 5 levers which support children and young people in their ongoing recovery from the losses suffered over the last 2 years – these losses could be the loss of a loved one, loss of time, sense of place, friendships – the list is not exhaustive.
Lever 1: Loss of Routine
Lever 2: Loss of Structure
Lever 3: Loss of Friendship
Lever 4: Loss of Opportunity
Lever 5: Loss of Structure
The dictionary definition of a sanctuary is “refuge or safety from pursuit, persecution or other danger”. We see a sanctuary as a place to go to reflect, relax and gather our thoughts through being calm and peaceful.
For my own 3 children (all primary age at the start of the pandemic) something that, as a family, we recognised early on was the importance of stepping away from home learning and being active – making time to run around the fields, walk along the river and skim stones; taking time to play games in the garden, kick a ball around and dance. Indeed, these breaks led to better concentration, higher levels of enthusiasm and engagement and happier, healthier minds.
With this in mind I wonder how we can support this in school? As children are back in the classroom full time – 2 school years above the last full year they were in school – can we learn from the pandemic? Can we implement opportunities for sports’ breaks during the day – will this help behaviour in the classroom and on the playground?
Are there ways that schools can work with PE leads, sports coaches, outdoor learning leads and forest schools to ensure that we keep these wellbeing breaks – that children who need a brain break have a safe place to go – somewhere they can be active and then return to learning. In the Early Years we focus on brain breaks, active learning, dough discos and ways to ensure movement in learning – why should this not be the case throughout primary school?
Could schools develop sanctuaries within the safety of the school where children can go for a brain break? How could sport premium spending support an ongoing provision for activity?
In schools I’ve visited who have supported this, they have thought of creative ways to do this. Sensory rooms with active opportunities, table-tennis tables and reflective gardens in playgrounds with space to sit within nature, activity trails in the playground and around the corridors of the school. Schools have valued the impact of adults in supporting outdoor learning in all years, space to eat outdoors away from the bustle of the hall and developed learning labs to allow children the space to be active within the day, with high quality adult interaction.
Every person has had a unique lockdown experience – even siblings from the same family have had different experiences and, because of this, it’s important that young people are part of the development of sports sanctuaries. Their ideas must feed into the plans for these spaces. Children haven’t been in such busy, noisy spaces for a long time, some never at all. Add to this the correlation between physical activity, attention and academic attainment and it’s clear that we are at a point where we can, and must, implement changes in education.
Schools must support children to self-regulate and offer every child a place where they feel safe, secure and valued as well as developing their self-worth, self-awareness and resilience. As teachers and leaders, we must grasp this with both hands and embrace changes that support wellbeing and learning. We can shake up how we teach and ensure that all children have the opportunity to continue to develop emotionally and academically.
By considering the role Sport Sanctuaries could have within school we can ensure that play continues to be considered of the utmost importance in nurturing the whole child.
References:
Carpenter, B, Carpenter, M (2020) A Recovery Curriculum: Loss and Life for our children and schools post pandemic
Youth Sport Trust & You Gov (2020) Wellbeing and Location
Comments