Sensitive to all these issues, teachers from 5 European countries wanted to work together to raise awareness among their educational communities of the importance of practising sport. They wanted to make them realise that sport has benefits for physical and mental health, and fosters self-esteem and social relations... real assets for well-being. This 'wiishes' project gave us the opportunity to do everything we could to motivate pupils, school teachers and families, and to increase the amount of time spent practising sport by getting to know each other and our various partners, through pen-pals, exchanges and our sporting encounters during our exchanges. Together, the partners, through exchanges and inclusive sporting activities, have discovered that sport really is for everyone, that the English language is essential for understanding and getting to know each other, and that together we can build the Europe of tomorrow.
Since the COVID epidemic in 2020, teachers have observed a decline in interest in sport among primary school pupils in Europe. Fewer and fewer pupils are joining clubs, walking with their parents or doing sport in general... observations confirmed by Professor CARRE... It's true that pupils have developed many skills in the use of digital technology, but unfortunately these activities do not involve physical activity. We can all find excuses such as "no time", "I don't feel like it", "I'm too shy", "my disability won't allow me" .... Are members of educational communities aware of the lack of physical activity? Do they realise the risks? But can we all do sport? "Am I too short, too tall, too fat or too thin? Does my disability really prevent me from doing sport? What physical activity might suit me? Am I alone in my sedentary lifestyle? Are my classmates, school mates and friends from other countries concerned? How can we once again motivate members of educational communities to take part in physical activities?