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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 5 Hansard (8 May) . . Page.. 1706 ..

MR STEFANIAK (continuing):

bloke called Woodgers, who played sixth grade. Woodgers came to rugby late in life. He was somewhat overweight, and he wore a Raiders jumper. Raiders were sponsored by Woodgers at the time, so he was nicknamed Woodgers.

I remember some of the first graders having a bit of a go, and Burkie was having a go at them saying "You're not trying hard enough."They would whinge and say, "Yes we are. Look at Woodgers; he's so far behind everyone."I think they were backs. Backs tend to get like that: a bit catty and they whinge. Burkie said to them, "You guys are first-graders. Woodgers is trying hard. I know he's trying hard, and he's doing a lot better than he was last week. You blokes aren't doing as well as you can."

Burkie, as any good fitness trainer will do, had graded people in terms of what was expected of them, and he praised up Woodgers for having a go. Maybe the school programs do need to be improved, and quite clearly so. A lot of extra work can be done there. It does not have to cost money either; it is doing things in a better way.

Having said that, there is a place, too, for competitive sport in schools and in the school system. Ms Tucker recommends that kids who play competitive sport should do the health component but should not have to do any of the other basic physical education things. That is a bit elitist. It is like saying, "You're so good. You're doing this, so you do not need to do this."It is important that it is inclusive and everyone does something to the best of their ability.

Ms Tucker

MR STEFANIAK: I am not quite sure what you are getting at there, Ms Tucker, but that might not be very effective. Your committee has made this report, but what I recommend the government do then is look at ways of improving how schools deliver physical education training.

When we started our program, we trained 600 primary school teachers, empowering them to feel confident about delivering a very basic fitness education program. I wonder whether that professional development has been continued. It should be. Paragraph 3.11 on page 14 indicates that a witness says there should be programs, especially at primary level, where there are very few dedicated physical education teachers. I would support that.

Maybe we need to do some more training. We did in 1996, or whenever it was. Obviously, more needs to be done now and must continue to be done. Also, perhaps the government could look at whether they can put into primary schools dedicated physical education teachers (Extension of time granted.) Failing that, they could ensure that proper training is there. I think that is imperative.

I am worried about a few points the report makes in this area. After paragraph 3.11, Ms Tucker's report says, at 3.12:

This however, places additional demands on teachers to implement programs that need to be supported by parents and carers in order to succeed. There is no use in teaching children appropriate physical activity if they are not encouraged in the home to engage in it as well.

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