CONTEXT In 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. OBJECTIVES The 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 Groups The 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 schools The 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 lifestyle The objectives will be pursued also through the help of Associated and Collaborating Partners of the project CORE ACTIVITIES 1. 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 school 3. Implementation of pilot initiatives 4 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 Events MAIN CONCRETE RESULTS I.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) IMPACT Local-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 teachers Regional / national level .the awareness that a change in the quality of PE classes is an improvement of the whole Educational system European 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. METHODOLOGY The production of these I.O. will be the result of a combination of competences of diverse subjects teachers, sports professionals, and Youth Educators.
We wanted to create innovation in the form of tools such as promoting awareness of the importance of sport in schools by better integrating physical education into school curricula. In addition, it was important for us to improve the school's educational offer by linking lesson plans from other subjects with physical activity. It was also important to deepen cooperation among teachers. Our goal was also to emphasize the promotion of the school by implementing activities related to the project, because it undoubtedly contributed to the greater prestige of the institution. Another reason was to increase the didactic potential through sports education of students. We wanted to gain a new perception of professional competences by the teaching staff in connection with combining various forms of teaching. We also wanted to equip the staff with new professional and personal competences through a personnel policy strengthening the individual and its impact on the relationships built by spending time actively and searching for new solutions for an active lifestyle. Incorporating the concept of the project perfectly matched the mission and vision of the school through a common goal for the education strategy.
We applied for the implementation of this project due to the need to increase the attendance at physical education lessons and to increase the involvement of children and youth in sport. In all partner countries we have noticed the same problem of declining sports activity of young people, which has a significant impact on their overall development. We wanted to draw attention to the fact that physical activity generally increases students' educational opportunities - practicing sports can contribute to greater progress in learning. We also wanted the position of sports activities at school to rise to a higher position - precisely because of the impact on the well-being of students, who can thus achieve measurable benefits. Due to the lack of awareness of the problem, as well as methods of combating it, we decided to launch appropriate forms of work with children and youth, focusing on unusual solutions for working with special social groups, such as small children, people with disabilities or the elderly. It was also important to identify solutions for whole families by actively spending time together. We also present profiles of athletes who managed to combine training with work and study.