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NEW RESEARCH HAS revealed that teachers believe their students’ fitness levels should be tested regularly.
According to a survey, carried out by Aviva Health, eight in 10 secondary school teachers would like to see Physical Education (PE) treated as a core, examinable subject which includes regular monitoring of fitness levels.
The study comes as the company launches this year’s Schools’ Fitness Challenge, an aerobics test for First, Second and Third Year pupils.
“At present there is little or no debate regarding the role of assessment and evaluation of fitness among school-going children in Ireland, and this needs to change,” according to Professor Niall Moyna who developed the Wellness Economic Alliance initiative.
“Physical education teachers are professionally trained and have the requisite skill-set to undertake fitness testing and our initial research indicates support by teachers for such an initiative with 80 per cent agreeing with the statement.”
The Wellness Economic Alliance has called on the Department of Education to set national, age- appropriate fitness levels in children, and for the fitness levels of secondary school students to be routinely assessed, like other examinable subjects, as part of the curriculum.
“Fitness is one of the best indicators of a person’s overall health, and a high level of fitness reduces the risk for major chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, depression, and diabetes,” continued Moyna. “Furthermore, our research shows that the majority of teachers (9 in 10) recognise that regular physical activity impacts positively on student’s academic performance, leading to a marked improvement in concentration, motivation, alertness and an overall healthy mind.”
A separate study recently undertaken by the Irish Sports Council and compiled by the ESRI highlighted a problem in keeping students playing sport as they get older. However, the report also revealed that students who play sport get, on average, better results in the Leaving Certificate exam.
“Children in Ireland are worryingly inactive, with only 12 per cent of 10-18 year olds in Ireland meeting the Department of Health and Children physical activity recommendations of at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity daily,” said Donegall footballer Michael Murphy.
“As a recently qualified PE teacher, I strongly feel that physical education needs to be prioritised and viewed as a core examinable subject like Maths and Irish, so that children learn from an early age the importance of exercise and carry that behaviour right through to adulthood,” he continued.
Irish international athlete David Gillick believes fitness starts with both parents and teachers.
Aviva Health now sets out on its task to find the fittest girls’ and boys’ schools throughout the country.
Brilliant, will they have the old Guinness ad? The one with the oul’ lads sittin out on the Blaskets or the Arans all depressed in a pub with no beer ’til the oul’ dog hears something only he can hear maybe the creak of oars and runs off down the beach and one of the oul boys says “Tá sí ag teacht!” And they all go shkitterin’ an’ shlidin’ down the shtony shingle towards the curragh landing with the kegs of nectar. That’s the way I remember it as a child. Pure art.
@ John o’Driscoll..Harp add…”Sally O’Brien and the way she might look at ya”..or you could fry an egg on the stones that’s if you had an egg..
@John O’Driscoll: I loved the guinness ad with the surfing and saxophone/ guitar solos.
No Harp or Guinness ads that I could see boys, some gas other ones though McArdles Tradition Janey lads up ladders spinning sugain ropes into thatch while other lads in V-necks swamp pints and chat up I dunno could be Twink aged twenty in the bar below the thatch must watch a few more you never know the memories they could evoke.
@Honeybadger197: a real classic.
Great idea. I’ll look forward to showing these to my nan.
The prices haven’t changed much in penneys.
@Dave Thomas
I shouldn’t think the conditions for the people making the products have changed much either.
The ads that stuck with me as a teenager in the late 70s were for the agricultural vet products for the likes of treating sarcoptic mange mites, mastitis, worms etc., all complete with pictures of the little critters, that rte would always, without fail, air at dinnertime. Still didn’t stop me tucking into the meat and veg :)
@molly coddled: triple A golden maverick
@jane: thanks Jane, couldn’t for the life of me remember the name – or maybe it was because of the PTSD caused by watching it daily….hard to handle that kinda thing as a city girl injected into rural Ireland.
@molly coddled: What I recall was “Spread Net-Niterate 10:10:20″”Douse your flock with…?” and the timeless phrase that is so useful in all sorts of situations..”STAMP OUT SCOUR”
@molly coddled: Chenow unction- a quare name but great stuff!
@DeFonz: 40+ years later – still have no effin idea what scour is
@molly coddled:
Try 15 pints and a tandoori before bedtime tonight and you will have a fair idea tomorrow.
I think I’m going back to the things I learned so well
In my youth :)
What an ad. They don’t pull on the heartstrings like that anymore
The money is good, and the sunshine is free, but what i’d give for a drop of Harp and Sally O’Brien amd the way she might look at ya.
@gregory: Or as we called her, crossed eye Sally…
Not having much luck getting on the ifi player all evening
@Trevor Beale: In the meantime… http://www.ad-review.co.uk/
Them water and farm safety ads used scare the life out of me as a child.
@Bairéid Rísteard: wheres granddad, seriously.
Where’s “Bearny and Beany” now..
@sparky: They never married.
@Paraic McDonagh: They’re has beans.
@sparky: Blackfly killed them.
This is way to start the day
To start the day
The Flavinans way
When there is a burrrh in the morning
Pop on the porridge
pop on the Flavinans
@Brendan Mason: Flahavans
Did you ever see “Rashomon” by Kurosawa? Or read more than one witness report to the same road accident?
I know it’s nothing to do with ads but my memory of waking up each morning waiting to go to school and hearing Terry Wogan is priceless
If you want to be pedantic Jess Kelly it’s actually Flahavan’s :-)
It’ll be refreshing to see, the cigarette adds.
@Stephen: “cool as a mountain steam … thats Consulate”
@DeFonz: Maverick drench was another one ad used cowboys in a saloon (buffers from the Midlands)
Any adds with Jimmy Saville?
@George McCarthy: did six paedophiles agree with you?
@George McCarthy: funnily enough bbc 4 show old totps and i haven’t seen ‘now then,now then’ on any if them so far. I wonder if he’s been airbrushed out of bbc history.
@George McCarthy: Bodyform for you lol.
@John Quill: they have removed all of the TOTP with jimmy Saville in them from their repeats. It’s a bit sad really because a lot of great music been missed because of that sc***ag. They should just show them episodes minus him
There’s one I described to people before that I quoted a few times and got strange looks. I’m starting to think I dreamt it because I can’t find it anywhere.
It’s for Calvita cheese (pretty sure slices).
Narrator: Calcium is good for you and [does a bunch of stuff]. A normal cheese slice has this much calcium.
{Skater kid of about 8 years old pulls one tennis ball out of his pocket to illustrate}
Narrator: But a calvita cheese slice has this much calcium
{Kid pulls out second tennis ball}
Narrator: And what’s calcium good for, Malcolm?
Malcolm: Shoes? (in northern accent)
Narrator: Not quite
Malcolm: Hardressers?
Anyone? Anyone at all?!
@Tony Canning: sounds familiar kinda –
Makes me think of that one ‘dem bones dem bones need calcium’ and that’s a natural law
I actually thought when I was 7 that if I ate ‘Ready Brek’ I’d glow – just like the kid in the ad. So did my brother, we begged our mother to buy it. We didn’t glow.
Might have a look at the oulde Christmas adverts?
should’ve realised that a mention from da journa would kill the servers
terrible response times and server errors
were the rds and web summit involved?
Anybody remember the plan Cadbury ad,
Little boys, dreaming dreams,
Making plans, scheming schemes,
What’s he going to be,
Say twenty years from now
An astronaut, a scientist.. Lalala
“Did you put the cat out?”
@Pat Finnegan: Bord Na Mona or the fire service lol.
Bandwidth exceeded! Guess they need more Internet
Myra, the thongs, the thongs!
Love to see the Dept of Defence recruitment adverts and the Beethoven sound track with it
Great will watch some over the weekend
Ive better things to be doing with my time than watching adds new or old
@Sandra Clifford: 1985 Levi’s Launderette Advert with Dinny Byrne?
1985 Levi’s Launderette Advert with Dinny Byrne?
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