By Rebecca Denis - Director of Learning Sport, Health and Exercise
It is without question, that many young girls continue to feel self conscious when exercising or participating in PE lessons. A report from the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation (WSFF), which looked at the views girls and boys hold about physical activity, sport and PE lessons, found that only 12% of girls aged 14 get enough physical activity each week. This report also highlights, just how big a problem physical inactivity has become with activity levels for 11-15 year old girls lagging behind. With inactivity rates increasing, child obesity rates continue to rise; it is thought that 1 in 3 young people are considered obese in the UK.
As a faculty lead, it has always been my vision to support, find and consider new innovative approaches to teaching and learning, to ultimately help students stay fit, healthy and to encourage students to take up different types of activities. It is also important to acknowledge that our female students at Westminster Academy are well aware of the physical and mental health benefits of exercise and understand the importance of engaging in some form of regular physical activity. Therefore, when building a personalised PE curriculum, it is imperative to consider activities that will support and motivate young girls to remain active. The result would not only encourage them to keep fit now, but to aim to help them find activities that keep them healthy as they grow into adults. As such, we have developed a curriculum and an extensive extra-curricular programme that allows our female students to engage in PE lessons which they find fun and motivating. For example, we have girls only sports clubs in the Sports Hall or we offer Gymnastics, Basketball, Football, Dance to girls only.
Innovative teaching and learning approaches to teaching young girls is paramount in creating a culture of excitement for PE lessons. A question I continually ask myself is, ‘how can PE be exciting and motivating’. It is to that end that we plan, develop and research a variety of strategies and advance our own teaching pedagogies. For example, through the use of technology and apps we can critically analyse techniques to improve a students technique. Or it can be as simple as creating a space where young girls are able to perform where male students are not visible or in contact. I have found that this provides them with a sense of security over their body image, which as a young girl can be really important to their self-esteem.
Cultural differences and perceptions in sports and physical activity contribute to barriers that we face in society today. Sport can often be gendered by the misconception of the “character of the sport”. Most notably, football is often perceived as a ‘male sport’ and dance often perceived as a ‘female sport’. The perception of gendered identities/stereotypes in conflict with sport participation is a continued issue that arises with the cultural differences of our young female students from different ethnic communities. It is to this end that we should be providing our students with role models from a range of ethnic communities celebrating their achievements and successes of overcoming adversity in sport; such as Nicola Adams, Alex Scott, Serena Williams or Sarah Attar.
What can you do?
As tutors, you are in a position where you can talk to students about the topics of body image, femininity, stereotypes and what it is to lead a healthy active lifestyle. It is to this end that a tutors relationship with their tutee’s can be really important in creating healthy and honest discussions about the idea of sport and physical activity with the aim to break ongoing barriers that potentially impact the participation rates of young girls as they get older.
As a department we also have a responsibility to inspire and encourage young girls to reach their full potential and remain physically active. This will always remain a personal goal and vision of mine! Having worked within our local community for 8 years now, it is essential that as a department we continue to offer sporting activities that allow young female students to feel safe, secure and physically remain active.
