Making students game to learn

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Chief Medical Officer Liam Donaldson recently called for children to be encouraged to use active computer consoles to help tackle the increasing rates of obesity in young people. Paul Barns, from The Whitminster Centre, explains how they took the initiative

The National Healthy Schools Programme is an important initiative jointly funded by the Department of Health and Department for Children, Schools and Families and is supporting local authorities and primary care trusts to equip children and young people with the skills to make informed health choices, and ultimately, to do better in learning and in life.

Creating new opportunities for extended physical activity in schools and providing a broad range of physical activity is seen as crucial to generating good lifestyle habits which not only improve concentration and motivation in class, but also have long-term health benefits as well.

Using the Healthy Schools approach, The Whitminster Centre has been using games consoles to work with a number of children and young people who have little or no interest in taking part in physical activity – and are beginning to see promising results.

Paul Barns, PE Specialist at The Whitminster Centre explains how games consoles are beginning to change their pupils' attitudes and behaviours towards taking part in physical activity.

"Last year, as part of our work with the National Healthy Schools Programme, we began introducing Nintendo Wii's and PSX Dance Mats for use during break times and lunch hours. We wanted to provide opportunities that would encourage their participation and get them active, but at the same time offer something that they would enjoy.

"Many of the young people we deal with are 'school phobic' while others have been excluded from mainstream schools for behavioural issues. Our aim was to get every child and young person doing at least two hours of physical activity a week during school hours, but because they attend our centre on a part-time basis and at different points throughout the week, timetabling issues meant that it was difficult for us to organise conventional group sports activities. We also wanted to keep them engaged during lunch breaks so that they wouldn't hang around in the nearby town centre.

The school conducted research by asking children and young people what they liked to do in their spare time, and found that on average they spent 13.5 hours a week on computer games, which is a fairly sedentary activity.

"When we asked them what activities we could introduce, there was massive enthusiasm for the introduction of Nintendo Wii's and PSX dance mats. We decided to look at sports related games such as Tiger Woods Golf, Winter Olympic Games, Tennis, Football and Boxing - and each one proved a massive hit."

"Now every break time, the Nintendo Wii and dance mat games are projected against a whiteboard allowing for a 60 inch screen, much bigger than a standard television. We allow the children and young people to decide for themselves if and when they choose to use these facilities, and on average, 3 to 4 people are actively playing at any given time.

He adds, "Our young people tell us that they find these activities highly motivating and enjoyable because they don't 'feel' like they are exercising. They are also easy to participate in for the short 15 minute slots during break time, as well as for longer organised sessions."

One student I work with Tanika, aged 15, enthuses; "When I first started playing I was rubbish, but my friends and I started practicing more and more, and now we can easily beat the boys at Tennis. These games have really made our break times fun!"

A 'Winners Scoreboard' is used to encourage good behaviour and create a competitive edge and greater social interaction. Because a lot of pupils have been excluded for behavioural problems we try not to enforce discipline through punishment, instead we operate a system of withdrawing game privileges which has been very effective in drawing out the best from our students.

"The games we have chosen to use require a considerable amount of physical exertion, are easy to continue to pursue beyond school hours and also seem to inspire success. From a professional point of view, I think that although the young people aren't running around, in some ways the games are more intense because they require concentrated muscle exercise."

Another student, Dan, 15, also says, "I love the boxing game, my arms are getting stronger and I'm feeling much fitter. I think the Wii is far more active than just playing on a normal console."

"I am particularly proud of one young man who continually refused to do any PE lessons. He was quite large for his age and suffers with very low stamina, but he decided to try out a boxing game on the Wii."

"Very soon he was playing on a regular basis for up to 20 minutes a day. His personal fitness levels and stamina have vastly improved, as well as his personal confidence, which are all important as he is looking to join the Fire Service next year. This kind of achievement is fantastic and confirms the benefits of this approach to physical activity for those who would not traditionally participate."

Paul adds, "The other great aspect is that the scheme is very cost effective. Often in Pupil Referral Units, because it is so difficult to engage young people in sporting activities, we have to organise regular motivational sports trips such as water sports or trips to dry slopes.

"This can require a great deal of fundraising effort in order to be sustainable as parents can't keep being asked to fund these kinds of trips. The great thing about this kind of initiative is that it's sustainable, whilst at the same time producing visible and encouraging results."

We've also had a significant amount of interest from other schools and sports associations since we began trialling this last year. The Stroud School Sports Partnership for example, has been looking at the idea and is now considering how they can introduce this concept into a much wider range of schools.

Overall, I think a computer based approach to increasing participation in physical activity is really effective. It's not only hugely popular and successfully improving fitness levels with our young people, but it's also proving a big hit with our staff too who often have to be kicked off by our pupils! Ultimately the measure of success for me, is that this is genuinely helping these young people to be more aware of and more motivated about their own health and fitness."

• Recent research from Nottingham Trent University, Department of Health and Nottingham University Hospital investigating the energy expenditure between sedentary and dynamic/interactive video games concluded that interactive games could increase the number of calories burnt by 42% and if children engaged in active play for an estimated 60 minutes a day over the course of a year, then they would burn approximately 7.5 lbs of body fat.

For more information about the National Healthy Schools Programme, please visit: www.healthyschools.gov.uk