Physical activity as tool of students education enhancement

"CONTEXTIn some countries, sports practice is hardly ever considered an integral part of the school plan, but a sort of ""more or less"" subject in which you can relax, maybe play and, if necessary, you can do something else. Scientific studies confirm that sport is a very powerful ""medicine"", more than ever necessary in the healthy growth of adolescents engaged in studies because it is able to significantly improve their ability to concentrate, the level of attention, self-control. So who does regular sport, even intense, gets better results both at school and in tests that measure intellectual abilities.Numerous studies also show that physical activity levels tend to be low in Socially Disadvantaged Groups SDGs and that promoting physical activity in such groups can be difficult but important for their enhancement.Some schools are also challenged by poor student engagement, resulting in stand-downs, absenteeism, and anti-social behavior. Poor engagement leads to poor learning outcomes.A growing body of evidence indicates that sport is an effective way to engage students, that the values and characteristics of sport can be effectively transferred to classroom learning environments, and that quality PE and sport enhances school performance in other subject areas.Nevertheless, there is a tendency to see the sport, for some schools, as a nonfundamental or even extra-curricular activity, particularly in the secondary age group.According to this, there are declining levels of motivation in the teachers and participation of students in sport.OBJECTIVESThe overall objective of the PHASE ONE project is to strengthen schools’ capacities to design and carry out education-enhancing physical activity initiatives that target students, with special attention to Social Disadvantaged GroupsThe project aims also to develop, trial and evaluate approaches to improve educational and social outcomes through sport and the delivery of Physical Education (PE) and sports programs in the schoolsThe specific project objectives are:• The promotion of awareness of the importance of sport at school through better integration of PE into the school curricula• The professional growth of the teachers with specific attention to PE teachers• The exploitation of sport as a mean to improve the academic performance of all students and promote their social inclusion• The promotion of the importance of having an active and healthy lifestyleThe objectives will be pursued also through the help of Associated and Collaborating Partners of the projectCORE ACTIVITIES1. Collection of success stories of students and of best practices at school: for who and how sport and physical activities represented an educational tool.2. Creation of Guidelines/Toolkits for physical education teachers and teachers to exploit the use of sport at school3. Implementation of pilot initiatives4 Organisation of Multiplier/Final Sports Events.All the achievements and results of the activities 1,2,3 will constitute the innovative outcomes and will represent the intellectual outputs of the project in order to demonstrate the promising effects of the introduction of PHASE ONE inside the involved schools and, in the future, in a wide perspective at regional, national and international level.PROFILE AND NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS- teachers, sports coaches, and educators in charge of producing the I.O.s (4 teachers from each Partner School and 2 coaches/educators from each Partner Organisation for a total of 16 teachers and 8 coaches/educators);- teachers and students (about 600, both of the schools already in the partnership and to be associated, aged 10-15) participating in the pilot initiatives;- 96 students/young people + 24 accompanying persons for the brief mobility action- other participants to the 4 Multiplier EventsMAIN CONCRETE RESULTSI.O.1 Success stories of students, Best practices in schools: how sport helps! (2 Collections)I.O.2 Towards a PHASE ONE for PE classes (Guideline for PE teachers)I.O.3 PHASE ONE: Be Smart through Sport (Guideline for Teachers of all subjects)IMPACTLocal-level.the exploitation of sports activities as a mean to improve the academic performance of all students and promote their social inclusion.the professional growth of the teachers with specific attention to PE teachersRegional / national level.the awareness that a change in the quality of PE classes is an improvement of the whole Educational systemEuropean level.a new campaign of sensitization for the European citizens regarding the benefits that PE can bring inside the schools and sport, in general, can bring at Educational and social levels.METHODOLOGYThe production of these I.O. will be the result of a combination of competences of diverse subjects teachers, sports professionals, and Youth Educators."