Mens sana in corpore sano


WELLBEING is one of the hottest issues of the day in university circles, and news that Bristol University is being sued by parents of a former student who killed herself there will focus authorities’ minds even more sharply on how to improve welfare and mental health.


Jump!


Pupils at Endeavour School in Andover, Hampshire hot-footing it, thanks to the installation of an underfloor heating system.


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But it’s not just tertiary education that must confront the issue full square: schools are often the breeding grounds of fragile psyches, creating underlying issues that can manifest tragically a few years later. It follows that just as universities can’t be asked to solve by themselves problems of social equality and educational attainment that should have been addressed in pupils’ earlier years, so their efforts to tackle wellbeing are made all the harder if schools continue to send them already-damaged young people.


One way to reduce adolescent stress levels is physical activity. Study after study has shown the benefit of exercise and games, which makes the vast sports fields disposal programme and national curriculum downgrading of PE look all the more foolish.


Recognition of this policy blunder is growing, and pressure is mounting to redress the balance between study and play. Lord O’Donnell, a former Cabinet Secretary, has warned that we are “failing our children” and storing up a “ticking time bomb” by curtailing PE at school. He is calling for the minimum time allocated to games and sports to be doubled from the current legal requirement of two hours per week (which is often ignored).


Editor Andrew Pring


Sales director Julian Walter


Production Gina Mitchell Design


Sandra Cid


Managing director Toby Filby


He reinforces his call with research that shows a clear correlation between more sport in schools and higher academic achievement. It’s a point that was also made by Henry McKeown of JM Architects at our recent education building forum Scotland event, where he urged much more emphasis on outdoor learning generally. We’ll be considering how this can be done at our next education building forum with its theme of "Healthy and sustainable schools - the key to better learning".


The event is from 3-4 October at Whittlebury Hall Hotel, Northampton, and by then the Government may have published its School Sport Action Plan, which is being trailed as a “game changer”, officially putting sport and activity on a par with reading and writing. It’ll be good to discuss the best ways to implement this as speedily as possible.


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e. sales@educationdab.co.uk


Andrew Pring Editor


andrew@stable-media.co.uk


The publishers do not necessarily agree with views expressed by contributors and cannot accept responsibility for claims made by manufacturers and authors, nor do they accept any responsibility for any errors in the subject matter of this publication.


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