Primary Physical Education is of secondary importance, researchers find

Greater collaboration between primary and secondary school PE teachers is required to ensure appropriate physical development in children, says a new study by sport coaching experts at USW.

Research published today by Paul Rainer and Stuart Jarvis, finds that that primary school physical education is frequently undervalued by secondary PE teachers.

"Primary and secondary schools have been identified as key environments for the promotion of lifelong physical activity, through the provision of physical education or PE classes," said Paul Rainer. "But concerns have been raised about the quality of provision and delivery at primary school level and a child’s subsequent transition to the secondary school environment."

The study investigated secondary PE teacher’s perceptions of how young pupils are prepared for secondary school PE and identified several key themes that influenced this.

"Primary school PE teachers are responsible for laying the foundations of physical development but they can lack the confidence, motivation and expertise to ensure this is of a high quality," Paul continued. 

"Several eminent themes were identified which suggested that secondary PE teachers were extremely dismissive and untrusting of the current primary PE curriculum and the quality of PE teaching that was being delivered. 

"And while teachers recognised the constraints that primary PE teachers faced - such as not being specialist PE teachers and lack of appropriate support, facilities and development - very often, this resulted in them ignoring what had been taught previously and delivering ‘remedial’ work to ensure pupils were at the appropriate level of learning." 

"One of the key findings from this study is that primary PE teachers require considerable support and guidance in order for children to develop appropriately. This could be achieved through greater partnership and collaboration between primary and secondary schools."

"It would seem there are many challenges and barriers that significantly impact on the ability of the primary PE teacher to teach PE, and unless there is some agreement and clarity between primary and secondary PE teachers as to the purpose of primary PE, it will be increasingly difficult to deal with current challenges," added Paul.

Whilst the study is very critical of primary PE teachers, it should be noted that secondary teachers are accountable and should prioritise responsibility as they offer minimal support, guidance and are often unaware of what pupils should be taught in the KS1 and KS2 PE curriculum and inevitably this creates a PE curriculum that is disconnected and no continuity.

The study suggests is there a need to re-visit the requirement for specialist teachers of PE in the primary school or to consider the deployment of a teacher that transitions between both primary and secondary PE that has an awareness responsibility and understanding of the requirements of both curriculum. Nevertheless, the key messages are that if young children do really matter and we ensure young children develop lifelong physical fitness, then physical education requires high quality specialist input during the primary years and this clearly requires urgent action.