Sport and PE can be a difficult subject for children with Special Educational Needs. They may love it or hate it but either way it can become taboo. Specialist Kay Jones looks at how to reinvent PE and help students thrive.
Sport is always a dividing subject at school. From the child who thrives on discipline and structure and throws themselves into a competitive situation, to the child who is overwhelmed by the noise or activity of a sporting game. PE can cause problems for many children, whether they have special educational needs or not. Some may be easily distracted in an open environment and unable to concentrate or it may simply be the thought of getting changed into a PE kit. But I believe it is about reinventing the subject and finding even the most hardened PE-phobe can find appreciation and a new lease of life through sport if enough variety and diverse opportunity is available.
Many students I work with have a range of social and emotional needs, moderate learning difficulties or are on the ASD spectrum. And more often than not, sport is not something they enjoy. In many instances they do not have a clear perception of how they could enjoy sport or exercise. But with careful consideration of how it is presented, my colleagues and I find sport is a great way for them to not only explore more healthy options in life, but also discover emotional needs and bring about a positive dimension to learning.
For our students, they either hated getting changed, were always the last to get selected for teams or had been kicked out of PE lessons in their last school setting and it wasn’t something they wanted to engage with. Many of them were aware of their physical limitations, even if they didn’t consciously understand it was because of their dyspraxia or their sensory overload.
After they think they can’t do it or are told they can’t do it, they are going to build walls against that and add in all their ‘self preservation’ skills. But it is something we find can really enrich the lives of our pupils and we work hard to let them explore the concept of sport through play, team fun and adjusting rules and stringencies to accommodate their skill level. Before too long they are asking for additional ‘games’ lessons in their timetable and are impatient for lunchtime activities.
The big NOs include having a PE kit—we can cope with a sweaty t-shirt for the day!—other peers picking teams and choosing activities that do not fit the cohort, the choice of game is very important. It is a natural transition, being outside and having fun and engaging in something of a competitive nature. Modern life has also added to reducing physical activity for most young people. The days of wandering the local woods and rambling hills with your friends are a distant memory. However, it is that sense of adventure and fun that we try to bring to exercise and activity.
It’s about reinventing sport, learning that there are more ways to enjoy it and opening their vision for it. They will find they are playing sport before they even realise it is a PE lesson.
We definitely won’t put PE on the timetable. Instead, we would put ‘games’, ‘out and about’ or ‘hall time’ on there. Sometimes it’s dodgeball and sometimes it’s four square, but four square with our own rules, which may not be nationally recognised or indeed recognised by anyone outside the school gates or in fact the field of play.
Instead there may be a session on forest school or horse riding, anything that will interest the children or we know they will enjoy. With a positive approach to an activity rather than delivering a curriculum subject that has negative connotations, the students can really appreciate not only the fun nature of it but also other pivotal life lessons such as teamwork, determination, problem solving and resilience.
Ours is an environment specifically designed to meet the needs of children aged five to eighteen and those who need a more specialist education than mainstream schools. A high number of children have a significant, complex case history and team games may be something they have never encountered, they just may never have been part of a team. But I find that through opening our school’s eyes to a much wider concept of sport, students can even help themselves to build connections and emotional development too. We promote a healthy and active lifestyle, but part of this is learning to build trust with adults and encounter and manage different emotions too—sport is a great way to do this. They encounter rupture of relationships and anger when they lose, but build to repair it after and learn how to manage these emotions, which then translates into resilience in other areas of life.
There is no development in never having a winner or telling everyone they are one without a belief in what you have achieved. Their life experience has already given them experience of loss and losing—sometimes their friendships, their school placements and sometimes, sadly, their families. There is no emotional growth through not competing with your peers.
These students come to us and they succeed. We have success in getting them a sense of academic achievement and a huge sense of enjoyment from the outside world and the feel good factor of exercise. We also see them head back into mainstream further school—and sometimes on to university. Obviously this is due to the whole team here who help with so many aspects of their development from independent living skills, through social community and inclusion to intrinsic therapy and physical and mental wellbeing.
And while it may not say PE on the timetable, sport is a big part of that.
Author: Kay Jones
Kay Jones
Kay Jones is managing director and co-founder of Bettws Lifehouse has been running independent special schools in England and Wales since 2007.
Website: bettwslifehousekg.org
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