The Australian Womensport and Recreation Association's Board has agreed to give its support to ACHPER (the Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation) as it embarks on a campaign to include Health and Physical Education as key learning areas in the National Curriculum. AWRA would like to encourage its members to take an active interest and action on this matter as it is usually through school sport and physical education that girls are first introduced to organised sport and physical activities.
With increasing rates of overweight an obese children AWRA believes there is greater reason today for the inclusion of Health and Physical Education in a school's curriculum.
Janice Crosswhite,
President AWRA
Time to be Alert and Alarmed
Many of you may be aware that in recent times Geography, Languages and The Arts have been accepted as Stage 2 subjects in the national curriculum, following the initial announcement by the National Curriculum Board (NCB) of the Stage 1 subjects - English, Maths, Sciences and History. ACHPER National has asked the NCB about the plans for inclusion of Health and Physical Education and the response is "At this stage there is no agreement or timeline for development of learning areas beyond English, mathematics, the sciences, history, geography and languages. Specific curriculum development timelines have been set for the first four areas of national curriculum; in the next two months curriculum development timelines will be decided by the Board for geography and languages".
Stage 2 subjects were introduced apparently as a response to lobbying by supporters from these areas. Current information is that no further learning areas will be considered until October, when the newly formed ACARA (Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority) will meet to provide advice to MCEETYA (see below) about whether Health and Physical Education should be included.
The Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) comprises State, Territory, Australian Government and Ministers with responsibility for the portfolios of education, employment, training and youth affairs, View list of members
Clearly there is a need for supporters to ask some questions to the Federal and State Ministers such as:
1. Why isn't Health and Physical Education included in the national curriculum when most of the learning areas in the Melbourne Declaration are? (The Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians sets the direction for Australian schooling for the next 10 years and was agreed to by MCEETYA in December 2008. It includes Health and Physical Education as one of eight learning areas of the curriculum).
2. What are the future plans relating to the inclusion of Health and Physical Education in the national curriculum and why hasn't MCEETYA made any statements about Health and Physical Education?
3. By not including Health and Physical Education in the national curriculum, is this a statement that the Federal and State governments do not value Health and Physical Education or take this learning area seriously?
In the coming months, ACHPER National and Branches of ACHPER, will be working together to address this critical issue. We will commence a lobbying campaign that includes meetings with Federal and State politicians, media releases, working with influential individuals and organisations, online petitions and more. We are aiming to have Health and Physical Education included in the national curriculum and between the collective efforts of ACHPER members, teachers, parents and key organisations, this will be the intended outcome. We will need as much support as possible and will need to call on many people to assist.
As a start, if you see any media coverage in the newspapers, we urge you to respond with a Letter to the Editor, where applicable