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About the project
The ACTIVE Schools Project was held in 27 government-
funded primary schools in Perth, Western Australia by
researchers from The University of Western Australia.
Funding was provided by the Western Australian
Department of Education and Healthway.
The schools were randomly selected from 9 groups
incorporating an equal number of: low, middle and high
socio-economic status schools; and old, middle, and
newly built schools.
The ACTIVE Schools Project investigated the
relationship between primary school environments and
children’s physical activity participation while at school.
The project incorporated 3 stages including instrument
development, instrument testing and data collection
and analysis. These are displayed below.
Project aims
The four main aims of the project were to: 1. identify school environmental characteristics related to children’s physical activity during recess
(morning and lunch breaks) and class-time using interviews with children and school staff, and a review of previous research in this field;
2. measure and estimate children’s average physical activity participation at different schools; 3. examine school, classroom and child-level characteristics using a school physical environment audit
and staff and child questionnaires; and 4. identify school, classroom and child-level characteristics associated with class-time and recess physical
activity .
What is the school environment?
Many school features can be considered part of the
school environment:
1. Physical features of a school such as the oval,
playground equipment, classroom and plants.
2. Policies are rules, such as no running on footpaths
and not permitting classroom use during recess.
3. Socio-cultural beliefs and practices such as the
attitude of the principal towards daily physical
education and the culture of physical activity
competition within the school.
School
Child focus
groups
Staff interviews
Instrument drafting:
environment audit and
questionnaire development
Stage 1: Instrument development
Literature review
Qualitative study
1. Data entry
2. Data cleaning
and preparation
3. Data analysis:
27 schools
27 principals
23 PE coordinators
51 teachers
408 grade 6 children
Collect data:
27 schools
27 principals
23 PE coordinators
51 teachers
1309 grade 2, 4 and 6
children
Pilot study: instrument
and procedure
testing
The ACTIVE Schools Project methods
Stage 2:
Instrument testing
Stage 3: Data collection and analysis
Physical activity measurement
Children’s physical activity was measured in this study with accelerometers, a device similar to
a pedometer, except that it records movement rather than steps. Data from the
accelerometers can be converted into different physical activity intensities. In this study
moderate and vigorous activity were added together to provide a ‘physical activity’ measure .
2
Supports for class-time physical activity
Features supporting or encouraging physical
activity during class-time reported by principals,
teachers and children included:
good quality, quantity and availability of sport equipment (e.g. bats, balls, hoops, mits)
sport apparatus (e.g. football goals, basketball hoops)
good amount of space and grass
lower child enrolment
having a PE teacher
using external/private PE clinics/providers
varied and high number of external PE programs
having a culture of competition
teachers with positive PE/sport attitude
children having positive attitudes to PE/sport
parents having a positive attitude towards and involvement in PE/sport
teacher’s perceiving responsibility for their class’s physical activity participation.
Physical activity during class-time
On average, across all 27 schools, children
participated in 37 minutes of moderate- to-
vigorous physical activity during class-time
daily. However, this ranged from 3 minutes
at one school, to 88 minutes at another.
When children’s average accelerometer data
were analysed with child, teacher and school
information, specific aspects of the school
environment were associated with higher
moderate- to- vigorous physical activity
during class-time (see Table 1).
Barriers to class-time physical activity
The main barriers to physical activity during class-time reported by principals, teachers and children were:
poor storage of sport equipment (bats, balls, hoops, mits etc)
insufficient time for PE/sport (crowded curriculum)
fear of children being injured
fear of litigation/being sued
too much emphasis on competition
negative classroom teacher attitude towards teaching PE/sport
classroom teacher’s lack of knowledge and skills in teaching PE/sport
Characteristic Additional class-time PA (mins)
Each additional 100 square metres of grass per child 1
Each additional sport apparatus* item 5
School PE coordinator met adult Australian Physical Activity guidelines 27
No designated person assigned to coordinate PE at the school 29
Classroom teacher held ‘fitness’^ as 1 of their 2 main PE activities 9
Boy 5
Children from a non-English speaking home 5
Children who perceived they were good at sport 4 cricket nets and pitches, football and soccer goals, long jump pits and wall markings, ^ examples provided to teachers included star jumps and laps of oval.
Table 1: Characteristics associated with additional class-time physical activity minutes per child per day
3
Barriers to recess physical activity The main barriers to physical activity during recess reported by children, teachers and principals were:
play areas too close to car parks/roads
poor or lack of weather protection
sloping land
poor playground equipment quality
children not allowed to bring own sport equipment
no running allowed
no hat, no play policy
inside areas available during breaks
fear of litigation/being sued
poor sport equipment access and availability
fear of injury (by teachers)
grade-specific play areas
game rules and conflict about rules
parent complaints
social issues
cost upgrading/new playground and sport equipment
Physical activity during recess (morning and lunch breaks)
On average, across all 27 schools, children participated in 27 minutes of moderate- to- vigorous physical activity during school recess daily (equivalent to 41.2% of recess time). This ranged from an average of 2 minutes at one school, to 37 minutes at another. When children’s average accelerometer data were analysed with child, teacher and school information, specific aspects of the school environment were also associated with higher moderate- to- vigorous physical activity during recess (see Table 2).
Supports for recess physical activity Features that support or encourage physical activity during recess reported by children, teachers and principals included:
good access to sport equipment
high amounts of space and grassed play areas
low child density
access to natural play areas
good variation in playground equipment
number of hard courts and wall markings
good school design
teacher involved in play/sport
varied and enjoyable PE programs
having sport equipment available before school
good knowledge of, and display of, playground and game rule information
having a PE teacher
having access to school grounds out- of- hours
good problem solving by children
gender specific sports perception
adult/teacher assistance
having structured activities
good Parent and Citizen Association fundraising
positive teacher attitude towards PE/sport
good competition culture
Characteristic Additional recess PA
(mins)
Each additional 100 square metres of grassed area per child 4
All grassed areas unshaded 8 Each year that a school was newer 0.1 PE coordinator met adult Australian Physical Activity Guidelines 6
Teacher did not attend PE professional development in last 2 years 5
Boy 8
Children from a non-English speaking home 3
Children perceived they were good at sport 3
Children were a healthy weight 3
Table 2: Characteristics associated with additional recess physical activity minutes per child per day
4
Implications This study has implications for school design, policy and practice.
Schools with small amounts of grass per child can be identified and interventions planned. Placement of transportable classrooms onto grassed areas should be discouraged.
Schools providing high number of shaded grassed areas may need to expand the availability of un-shaded grassed play areas while implementing suitable sun-safe strategies.
Provision of sport apparatus is likely to assist with supporting physical activity.
Older schools require further examination to determine specific aspects of their environments that may be associated with lower physical activity.
Promoting physical activity to teachers and encouraging good role modelling is important. Encouraging the development of a positive physical activity school culture is warranted.
Assessment of time available for the PE coordinator to organize equipment, sport, hold PE and sport classes and complete duties is warranted. When possible, schools with an assigned PE coordinator may benefit from increasing the number of hours that the PE coordinator is assigned to undertake PE classes or encourage class teachers to undertake more PE and sport sessions.
The impact of teacher PE professional development programs requires examination. Such programs may benefit from incorporating strategies for teachers to optimise physical activity while ensuring PE learning outcomes (including the development of motor skills) are met.
Conclusions
Schools are unique settings as they can provide opportunities to increase physical activity for large populations of children. The results of this study suggest that the school environment plays an important role in supporting children’s class-time and recess moderate- to- vigorous physical activity. Schools, education departments and planners are encouraged to use this information to plan and develop school environments that support physical activity.
For further information on the Active Schools Project contact
Dr Karen Martin, karen.martin@uwa.edu.au
Results taken from Martin KE., (2010) School, Classroom and Child-Level Correlates of Children’s Class-Time and Recess Physical Activity PhD Thesis, The University of Western Australia.
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