PE on wheels…

PGCE and School Direct PE students were introduced to the relatively new concept of physical education on wheels.

Many young people are physically active out of school and engaged in mountain biking, BMX biking, skateboarding, in-line skating, street surfing and scootering and yet very few schools have recognised this as a means to increase pupils activity levels and tend to ignore the potential of introducing these activities into their PE lessons.

University of Brighton sport scientist, Ashley Willmott has carried out some research on energy expenditure using micro-scooters and was rewarded with 12 micro-scooters from the manufacturers which trainee PE teachers were able to try out with the possibility of taking them into their training schools for pupils to use in PE lessons.

PGCE PE and School Direct course leader said: “The PE profession needs to wake up to the fact that young people are participating in very different physical activities outside of school compared to the types of activities they are taught as part of the formal PE curriculum. If we want young people to be more active we have to offer them choice and voice when it comes to curriculum decisions in PE and find out what their activity preferences are.

“Many young people take part in physical activities on wheels in their leisure time and micro-scooting is just one example of how we can make the PE curriculum more appealing to a broader population of pupils in schools. Currently, the curriculum is not fit for purpose and we need twenty first century physical education for twenty first century pupils.”

Ashley Willmott said: “From a sport scientist perspective the energy expenditure when using these micro-scooters is extremely high and by introducing this into secondary school PE lessons it could go some way in reducing the increasing numbers of young people who are clinically obese.”