How We’re making physical testing better in schools
As long as we can remember, testing in high schools has consisted of beep tests, sit and reach and writing your results on a little sheet of paper that kids are eventually going to lose.
Ultimately we know we can do better to engage kids and get them excited about testing and exercise. Ultimately with obesity rates rising and more kids than ever not meeting National Health Guidelines, anything we can do as a community can have a large impact on health.
So how have we tried to do this? There are a couple of levels to it.
Firstly, you need to engage them on the day. How do we do this?
Make it RELEVANT.
No one wants to put in effort for a bunch of tests that won’t actually help them. And much less they won’t try to improve those scores for next time either. So when we select our tests for each group, we consider their needs and wants. There are some general main-stays but there is a reason for everything.
For our athletic populations we include jumps in different planes (vertical and horizontal) so we can see if they’re stronger in one compared to the other. We can then relate this to where they may need to build strength and power.
Whereas for some general PE classes we sometimes look to include tests such as a sit and reach for flexibility. This may be a more appropriate entry point into exercise for someone who might not regard themselves as a “sporty” person.
This makes testing relevant.
The second, is giving them CONTEXT.
Without context, testing doesn’t mean much. After the testing day we provide each student/athlete with a report showing their scores and comparing to our norms for their cohort. This gives them something to relate to and work towards which for many can be what sparks their interest in training or sport.
This little opportunity to build interest can pay dividends in the long run for many of the students we work with, a start is all we need.
Additionally, coaches/teachers get more in depth reports showing highest and lowest scores as well as averages across cohorts. This guides coaches/teaches to where they should be placing extra effort into development.
And that is how we have changed testing in school and sports environments to make it more engaging and genuinely helpful for all involved.
If you want to find out more about of schools programs, have a read HERE or if you want to learn more about our Youth Performance program look HERE.