A/Prof. Brendon Hyndman

National and state surveys of school sun protection policies and practices demonstrate that being a member of a SunSmart Program improves sun protection practices in primary schools, often lead by Health and Physical Education (HPE) teachers. Australia's major Sunsmart program implemented in primary schools has largely focused on limiting children's exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) to reduce the risk of developing skin cancer later in life. Yet another major hazard during outdoor physical education activities is the impact of extreme heat on school students. With physical education (PE) often occurring in hot environments and involving higher intensities (and heart rates), exposure to heat influences are raised. This research reports on a social-ecological model (SEM) review and text mining analysis of key heat protection policies and practices for the development of a five stage Heat Smart action plan in schools. The five stage action plan of Heat Smart strategies can be used to counteract extreme heat exposure during PE and ensure school students continue to meet key national physical activity and curricular objectives.

The importance of senior secondary school physical education (PE) is underscored by the assessment of learning outcomes being linked to future access to higher education, employment and further training. Yet within the broad spectrum of PE studies, the investigation of senior secondary school PE has been limited. This article serves the purpose of exploring the key concepts and themes from senior secondary PE syllabi across Australian states and territories. The Leximancer text-mining software was applied as an innovative tool for the exploratory conceptual and thematic analyses within the Curriculum Analysis of Senior Education in Physical Education (CASE-PE) study. A number of similar themes emerged within the CASE-PE study from across the state and territory senior physical education syllabi, including skills, physical, learning, assessment, study, use, performance and training. A number of themes were unique to each state and territory and major concepts had differing levels of relevance. This article provides insights into an under-theorised and -explored part of the Australian curriculum and PE literature. We conclude there is a need for greater uniformity in senior secondary PE curricula and its underpinnings in the future.

Identifying and understanding the perceptions of pre-service
teachers (PSTs) is vital to informing teaching practices. The purpose
of the ‘Generalist Entry into Teaching Physical Education’ (GET-PE)
study was to investigate Australian generalist PSTs' perceptions of the
barriers to teaching physical education (PE) classes. A socialecological
model framework (SEM) was uniquely applied as the
conceptual framework for the GET-PE study to analyse, explore and
understand the multiple levels of barriers perceived by the generalist
PSTs. A myriad of SEM level barriers were perceived by the
generalist PSTs (n=71) at the intrapersonal level (knowledge gaps,
physical abilities, reduced confidence), interpersonal level
(community influence, concentration/focus of students, inclusive
teaching, misbehaviour, modelling effective practice, motivation of
students), physical environment level (technology/screen time,
weather) and policy levels (balancing content, professional
development opportunities, recognition of PE, work-life balance).
With mounting demands on schools, PSTs must continually improve
preparation and readiness for teaching practical subjects such as PE.
By developing multi-level SEM insight from the GET-PE study into the
barriers for generalist PSTs to teaching PE, teacher education
programs can reflect upon the socialisation processes for PSTs and
facilitate learning environments that meet the needs of our future
teachers.

The promotion of regular physical activity within society has become a major public health objective in an effort to improve health internationally and to prevent the development of obesity and chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes , cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mental health conditions. Childhood is a crucial period to develop health behaviours such as physical activity that can track into adolescence and to a lesser extent into adulthood. As students in some schools can be involved in playground opportunities via up to 4200 school breaks during their schooling (three times per day, 5 days per week, 39 weeks per year, 7 years of primary school ), the school playground is becoming an emerging focus for researchers . Additionally, school playground activities can contribute up to 50% of children’s recommended daily physical activity. Developing a greater understanding and awareness for researchers of the facilitators and barriers of students’ school playground activities for researchers is therefore vital in order to implement school playground strategies effectively in an attempt to achieve sustainable health benefits. Establishing physical activity habits for students via school playground opportunities is important, with recent international trends revealing that many students prefer sedentary activities despite physical activity opportunities being readily available. Despite school playgrounds being an essential stage to develop physical activity habits, our understanding of how to enhance and maintain the physical activity and health of school students is starting to be uncovered, necessitating a vital area of focus for researchers. This chapter outlines the important link between school playgrounds and active, healthy students.

The concept of learning for life suggests that learning continues throughout the lifespan and is not just the realm of childhood. Importantly, learning for life suggests that not all the skills needed for life are learned in the classroom . The skills of negotiation , bargaining, sharing, tolerance and the basic skills of democracy are thought by many to be learned in the playground, when students are playing, away from the restrictions and interference of adults . Playground activities can provide a mechanism for allowing students to move from what they already know and can master to more advanced knowledge and how students can control what happens and use what they know in their own unique ways to further their understandings and development. A student’s social development can grow through interaction with peers to build social understandings and relationships , to each new situation, bringing what they already know about being with others. Students can engage in rich and meaningful playground activities, apply judgement, get to know and enjoy the power of choice and can experience autonomy, mastery and competence. If students are unable to experience a range of emotions, students’ emotional development could be jeopardised. The cognitive skills that students learn to use as they engage in playground activities are necessary prerequisites for later academic learning. This chapter highlights for school playground researchers how playground activities can enable students to have more resources to draw on and meet curricular objectives to enhance their school learning.

Australian school playgrounds have changed considerably over recent decades to reflect a climate of ‘surplus safety ’. The playgrounds and policies of many Australian schools have reduced students’ opportunities for active, creative and diverse play . Significant school playground changes have included the reduction of school break time (i.e. lunch and other recess periods), removal of playground equipment , merging of school facilities which can result to crowded play spaces, and restrictive rules relating to students’ use of school playgrounds’ grounds that can lead to teachers undertaking playground policing -type roles. In Australia, there is an absence of regulations governing school playgrounds beyond the national standards for manufacturing playground equipment, and the majority primary school facilities within the state of Victoria are often over 50 years old. The most common school playground features reported have included sporting areas such as basketball courts , netball courts, sandpits , grassed play areas and football ovals . Educators plan , manage and monitor school playgrounds as they see fit. Within Australian schools, it has been revealed that all educators are allocated to undertake playground supervision during school breaks and the impact of such supervision on students’ play opportunities is little understood. It has been reported in Victoria that educators frequently report playground supervision (e.g. ‘yard duty ’) as something they wish to forego. With educators across the teaching profession allocated playground supervision duties on a daily basis, it is important to provide researchers with insight into the state of school playgrounds prior to any intervention implementation.

Building upon a recently published study that investigated the contours/lines of force that shape the moral geographies of playgrounds through management and supervision process, this chapter raises questions for supervising teachers to consider about how and why they make the decisions they do about children’s play and the consequences of their decisions. It also questions choices to control students’ play by establishing rigid boundaries and instead discusses positioning students in decision-making roles where teachers have opportunities to mentor these processes rather than dominate them. By reporting on supervising teachers’ play ‘biases and agendas’, teachers may be encouraged to reconsider the play they observe in a new light, thus increasing play opportunities for students and increasing their health and wellbeing.

Individual levels of influence on students’ playground activity behaviour tend to relate to a student’s knowledge , behaviour, attitudes and skills . Age, gender and body mass index (BMI ) are the most commonly measured individual factor in relation to students’ playground activities . This chapter will provide an overview for researchers of the individual-level influences that have been investigated within school playground activities.

The social playground environment includes factors such as relationships , culture and societal influences in which a student interacts with. The social environment is a major influence on students’ playground activities as many students prefer having someone to be active with. This chapter will provide an overview for researchers of the social-level influences that have been investigated within school playground activities.

The physical environment is an influence that many students would prefer to be enhanced to provide more opportunities to be active. The physical environment of Australian school playgrounds contains a large proportion of natural environment features (e.g. bushy areas, grassed areas, trees , ponds and water features) and built environment features (e.g. fixed playground equipment , playground markings , sports equipment, sandpits , shade sails, asphalt and concrete areas). An awareness of the physical environmental characteristics of a setting is important prior to implementing any school playground intervention strategy. This chapter will provide an overview for researchers of the physical environment-level influences that have been investigated within school playground activities.

Regardless of what strategies could be implemented at the individual , social and physical environment levels within the school playground, each level needs to be reinforced by the enforcement of supportive policies . Policy level influences on students’ school playground activities have been largely unexplored. With a reduced focus in schools to make time available for school playground activities, research suggests there should be a stronger focus on school policies to increase students’ activity levels. This chapter will provide an overview for researchers of the policy level influences that have been investigated within school playground activities.

Accurate measurement of students’ physical activity levels is important to determine the contribution physical activity within school playgrounds can make towards students meeting recommended daily physical activity guidelines . Assessment of physical activity is also conducted to examine the effectiveness of strategies targeting students’ physical activity within school playgrounds and to identify psychosocial and environmental factors that can affect students’ physical activity behaviour within school playgrounds. There are a number of measures that can be used effectively within the school playground context to assess the dimensions (frequency , intensity , duration , activity type ) of students’ physical activity including direct observation , accelerometers , pedometers , global positioning systems (GPS) and self-reporting instruments.

It has been revealed that the design of school playground facilities often results from parent/teacher collaboration and from principal decisions . Reliance on adults in the design and planning of students’ playground activity environments can lead to undesired settings that can have long-term consequences for students’ social and emotional development. In addition, students may believe they have little influence on the set-up of their school playground for desired activities . Students’ perceptions are an important consideration for researchers , teachers and schools when planning school playground environments for activities. Despite students generally being the main consumers of such environments during sport , health , physical education and non-curricular periods, adults are often the decision makers when planning school physical activity environments. This chapter will outline a range of recommendations put forward by both primary and secondary school students.

A growing culture of ‘surplus safety ’ in Australian schools has emerged, which reflects the desire of parents and teachers responsible for students to protect them from danger. Students can lose confidence to be active within school playground from an adult culture of over-protection. Adult concerns of danger from school playgrounds could stem from playground equipment being the leading cause of all child fall-related hospitalisation in Australia. Although a number of Victorian and New South Wales studies have described the detrimental effects of a culture of ‘surplus safety’ and there is a high national hospitalisation rate from playground injury, little is known about students’ perceptions of playground safety when participating in activities . It is important to gain insight into students’ perceptions of playground safety influences, as students are the primary users of school playgrounds for activities. Providing insight for the researchers and the teacher education community (schools, principals, teachers, teacher/educators/academics, pre-service teachers) of the playgrounds’ safety influences that can inform safer school playground policies , supervision and intervention.

An emerging area of research is exploring the important link between enjoyment and student participation in activities . Enjoyment stems from kinaesthetic experiences, and the achievement of personal goals and is defined as ‘a positive affective response to an experience that reflects generalised feelings such as pleasure, liking, and fun ’. It has been revealed that if a student enjoys participating in a particular activity (e.g. intrinsic motivation), this increases the likelihood of students wanting to continue to adopt and maintain participation in the activity. Enjoyment has been shown to mediate (mechanism of change) involvement and participation in a range of sport sand physical activities. A lack of effective strategies targeting students’ activity participation could be due to a lack of understanding of how enjoyment can influence students’ participation in school activities. The purpose of this chapter is to provide insight for researchers into students’ enjoyment of school playground activities and how enjoyment can vary within different contexts.

A structured physical activity is an organised activity characterised by specified locations, time schedules and adult supervision . Structured activities can also include team sports , racquet sports and fitness classes. There have been a number of school playgrounds that have used specified playground or activity locations (e.g. playground markings , physical structures, allocated physical activity spaces , activity zones), teacher-led activities (e.g. fitness breaks, physical education activities in the playground) and games /sports equipment to facilitate structured activities within the school playground. This chapter will provide an overview of such strategies within the school playground context.

Unstructured playground activities are defined as the activities students participate in that are spontaneous and without a set regime or purpose that can include digging, raking, lifting/carrying, exploring, planting, chasing, pushing objects into positions, construction, imaginative and creative play . The importance of students’ unstructured active playground activities is reflected in the definition of school recess “as a regularly scheduled time for children to engage in ‘unstructured’ play” (Wechsler et al. Prev Med 31(2):123, 2000). School playground opportunities that encourage unstructured, open-ended free play are an important opportunity to promote students’ activity levels of all ages and genders. This chapter will outline some of the recent, major school playground strategies to encourage unstructured activities.

The evaluation of the translation (transferability and feasibility) of school playground strategies to other school settings is emerging as an important consideration for researchers and educators. Despite the importance of comprehensively evaluating school playground interventions, there is little evidence from process evaluations to provide guidance to other schools of how to replicate positive school playground strategy effects. This chapter will highlight key components of research that are important to ensure such translatability and feasibility to implement within other settings.

There are still a number of considerations to effectively conduct school playground interventions to promote active, healthy school students. This chapter concludes the book with an overview of the key influences and strategies for both school playground implementation and research evaluation.

This article is informed by two studies in Australian primary school playgrounds and provides a critique of the interaction between adults and children during recess breaks in the school day. The study investigates the contours/lines of force that shape the moral geographies of playgrounds through management and supervision strategies. This scholarly discussion is underpinned by categories, including play that is risky, unhygienic, worthwhile, an obsession, violent/aggressive and good. It is argued that supervising teachers in the primary school playground can often rush to judge the play that they observe. Although mostly well intentioned, such types of play can often negatively impact adult agendas and biases. At an individual school level, critical engagement with the points raised in this article provides an opportunity for schools to reflect on primary school playground strategies and practices that they implement. Improving understanding of the moral geographies within primary school playgrounds can raise awareness in schools of the implications of supervisory interactions and judgement on the health and wellbeing of pupils.

There has been a continuous increase in enrolments within teacher education programs in recent years delivered via online and external modes. Such levels of enrolment have raised discussion around the theory-practice nexus and whether pre-service teachers (PSTs) can optimally engage with practical learning components via online platforms. This paper provides insight into the potential and feasibility of using GoPro video technology as an innovation in online teacher education delivery of practical physical education (PE) classes. Upon completion of the university semester, qualitative data was collected detailing the generalist PSTs’ perceptions relating to the potential of using GoPro video footage to capture practical PE classes. Field note observations also documented implementation considerations for integrating GoPro technology into practical PE lessons. The findings from the GoPro trial provide valuable insight for teacher education providers for future planning and delivery of university practical PE classes online.

Physical literacy is developing as a contested concept with definitional blurring across international contexts, confusing both practitioners and researchers. This paper serves the dual purpose of reporting on an interrogation of concepts associated with physical literacy in academic writing and exploring the use of a text mining data analysis tool. The Leximancer text mining software was applied to 49 research papers relating to physical literacy from 2001–2016, sourced from academic repositories and scholarly search engines. The findings from the text mining analysis revealed that the concept of physical literacy is used in a variety of contexts, specifically in connection with ‘education’, ‘activity’, ‘fitness’, ‘health’, ‘concept’, ‘competence’, ‘understanding’, ‘roles’, ‘curriculum’ and ‘assessment’. The concept with the most relevance connected to physical literacy is ‘education’, the very term that is commonly being replaced by ‘literacy’. A number of concepts were identified from the text mining analysis that were not explicitly mentioned within the definitions of physical literacy, including educational components such as ‘curriculum’, ‘teaching’ and ‘assessment’. It was also revealed that many of the strongest relational concepts from the text mining of the physical literacy literature were of a physical domain, with less relevance and connection to concepts of cognitive, social and emotional domains. The study fills an important gap in the literature by showing that while a multiplicity of conceptions of physical literacy exists, the concept gives dominance to the physical domain and the marginalisation of cognitive and affective domains in various constructions of physical literacy.

There has been a paucity of literature investigating the teaching beliefs and intentions of Australian physical education teacher education (PETE) students that enter teacher training. The First-year Influences on Teaching Perspectives Exploratory (FIT-PE) study explores the teaching perspectives of first year PETE students; including teaching perspectives predicted as being dominant and important for physical education teaching. The teaching perspectives inventory (TPI) was administered to 105 Australian PETE students. Independent t-tests and one-way ANOVA statistical tests were conducted to compare average teaching perspective summary scores across demographic variables. The FIT-PE study findings revealed 18 year olds (compared to 20-25 year olds) and PETE students from rural backgrounds (compared to regional) had significantly higher average summary scores for the transmission (content-oriented) teaching perspective. This paper provides reflective opportunities for teacher training programs of the underlying core teaching values (beliefs and intentions) of students at the entry point of PETE training.

An emerging public health strategy is to enhance children’s opportunities for physical activity (PA) during school recess periods, yet little is known about the influence of children’s enjoyment of school playground activities on lunchtime recess PA participation. This study consisted of children within two Australian elementary schools (n=105) aged eight to 12 years old. The Lunchtime Enjoyment Activity and Play (LEAP) questionnaire was used to measure children’s enjoyment of school playground activities and pedometers were used to measure PA. Multiple linear regression models were applied in STATA (version 13.0) to investigate the relationship between children’s enjoyment of playground activities and PA during school lunchtime recess. It was discovered that children’s enjoyment of more vigorous-type school playground activities including playing tag games, running/sprinting, playing with sporting equipment and man-made equipment such as sporting facilities (and playground equipment) were significant predictors of children’s pedometer-determined steps per minute during school lunchtime recess. Children’s enjoyment of school playground activities and enjoyment of PA can be a significant predictor of children’s PA during school lunchtime recess. Considering children’s enjoyment of school playground activities may enable valuable insight for school decision-makers when developing school playground areas and activities during school lunchtime recess to promote PA participation.

An emerging public health priority is to enhance children’s opportunities for active play. Children spend a large proportion of weekdays in schools, making schools an influential and suitable setting to promote children’s active play. Rather than continually increasing the burdens placed upon busy teaching staff, the use of school playground interventions have emerged as a critical strategy within schools to facilitate and develop children’s active play via an informal curriculum. This scholarly article provides a research-based commentary on a range of school playground interventions to encourage both structured and unstructured active play opportunities. Additionally, future research directions for school playground research to encourage children’s active play will be discussed. Teachers, educational leaders, designers, researchers and play professionals can consider the findings from this article for future school playground intervention and planning to facilitate children’s active play within school playgrounds.

Physical activity in school playgrounds has changed considerably over recent decades to reflect a climate of ‘surplus safety’. A growing culture of surplus safety can be attributed to a desire of parents and teachers responsible for children to protect school students from danger. The aim of this research was to examine students’ perceptions of playground safety influences on physical activity during school breaks from the perspectives of the ‘users’ of school playgrounds. Data collection consisted of seven focus groups (4 primary school & 3 secondary school) conducted across four schools (2 primary & 2 secondary). During this study, the focus group discussions consisted of 54 children (32 primary & 22 secondary; 50% females; 50% males). Social-Ecological Model levels of school playground safety influence identified by both primary and secondary school students included intrapersonal safety influences (risk taking, preventing boredom, misbehaviour); interpersonal safety influences (teacher responsibilities, teacher support, peer support, teacher intimidation and bullying/territorial issues); physical environment safety influences (surfacing, protection from the weather, safe structures, protective equipment, playground space, hydration, school security and passive smoking protection) and policy/organisational safety influences (designated play areas, playground rules, further supervision, maintenance). This research addresses an important gap in the literature by providing useful information for teacher educators of the multiple safety influences on students’ participation in playground physical activity. Recommended Citation Hyndman, B. P., & Telford, A. (2015). Should Educators be ‘Wrapping School Playgrounds in Cotton Wool’ to Encourage Physical Activity? Exploring Primary and Secondary Students’ Voices from the School Playground. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 40(6). Retrieved from http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol40/iss6/4

Background
An emerging public health strategy is to enhance children’s opportunities to be physically active during school break periods. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of the Lunchtime Enjoyment Activity and Play (LEAP) school playground intervention on primary school children’s quality of life (QOL), enjoyment and participation in physical activity (PA).
Methods
This study consisted of a movable/recycled materials intervention that included baseline, a 7- week post-test and an 8-month follow-up data collection phase. Children within an intervention school (n = 123) and a matched control school (n = 152) aged 5-to-12-years-old were recruited for the study. Children’s PA was measured using a combination of pedometers and direct observation (SOPLAY). Quality of life, enjoyment of PA and enjoyment of lunchtime activities were assessed in the 8-12 year children. A multi-level mixed effect linear regression model was applied in STATA (version 12.0) using the xtmixed command to fit linear mixed models to each of the variables to examine whether there was a significant difference (p < 0.05) between the intervention and control school at the three time points (pre, post and follow-up).
Results
Significant overall interaction effects (group × time) were identified for children’s mean steps and distance (pedometers) in the intervention school compared to the control school. Intervention school children also spent significantly higher proportions within specified target areas engaged in higher PA intensities in comparison to the control school at both the 7-week post-test and 8-month follow-up. A short-term treatment effect was revealed after 7-weeks for children’s physical health scale QOL, enjoyment of PA and enjoyment of intra-personal play activities.
Conclusions
Examining the effects of this school playground intervention over a school year suggested that the introduction of movable/recycled materials can have a significant, positive long-term intervention effect on children’s PA. The implications from this simple, low-cost intervention provide impetus for schools to consider introducing the concept of a movable/recycled materials intervention on a wider scale within primary school settings.
Trial registration
Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registration Number: ACTRN12613001155785.

Non-curricular avenues such as active play during school breaks have been established as a major source for children’s physical and cognitive development, yet there is little information for teachers on the influences affecting primary and secondary school students’ non-curricular physical activity. During this study focus groups and drawing were used to explore the broader influences on primary (n=47) and secondary (n=29) school students’ physical activity behaviour beyond the classroom. Barriers and facilitators to children’s physical activity were categorised using a multi-level social-ecological framework incorporating intrapersonal, interpersonal, physical environment and policy factors. Based on the drawings, comparisons between students’ existing play spaces and their perception of their ideal play space were made. Additionally, students depicted what features within a play space would encourage them to be active. The findings of the study indicate secondary school play spaces may need to incorporate more features to facilitate physical activity. The barriers and facilitators identified in this study provide information for teachers and school decision makers to consider when targeting children’s physical activity beyond school classrooms.

Abstract
Despite an increase in the provision of effective school-based interventions in recent times, there is an absence of literature for teachers focusing on the translation of promising interventions into real-world practice. The aim of this research was to provide a social-ecological guide for teachers of the external validity of implementing the Lunchtime Enjoyment Activity and Play (LEAP) school playground intervention. This research presents the process evaluation of a school playground intervention using RE-AIM (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance) as the theoretical evaluation framework. Data collection consisted of a mixed methods approach for two and a half years including a teacher focus group, direct observations and field notes. The process evaluation confirms the LEAP intervention as cost-effective, sustainable and transferable that is capable of enhancing multiple social-ecological factors within a school playground.

In summary, from this series of five studies, it is possible to suggest that researchers can now target children’s physical activity during school lunch breaks with more confidence. Multiple social-ecological levels of influence on children’s physical activity during school breaks were identified. The facilitators and barriers to children’s physical activity during school breaks provided the framework to develop a reliable self-report measure examining multiple levels of influence on primary school children’s enjoyment of lunchtime play activities (LEAP questionnaire). The LEAP questionnaire study filled an important gap in the literature via the development of a school context-specific instrument to measure enjoyment, a key mediator of children’s school-based physical activity. Important for measuring children’s enjoyment of play during interventions targeting school lunch breaks, the intra- and inter-day reliability measurements established that measuring children’s enjoyment of lunchtime play would be representative of that particular day, but not necessarily that school week. Furthermore, a range of overall physical activity (steps, distance, intensity, activity types) and short-term quality of life and enjoyment effects from introducing a movable/recycled materials school playground intervention were evident. The RE-AIM evaluation and social-ecological model frameworks revealed that due to the cost-effectiveness, diversity and sustainability of introducing movable/recycled materials, the movable/recycled materials intervention could feasibly be implemented and maintained in a school for at least two and a half years. The positive and multiple social-ecological levels of influence from the intervention suggested that the simple implementation of movable/recycled materials could challenge the concept of conventional, fixed school playgrounds for use during school breaks. There are a number of challenges that face schools to promote children’s physical activity in our modern, urbanised society. This thesis builds upon previous literature to provide a range of multiple level strategies to ensure schools can take an active role in providing their children with a variety of daily physical activity opportunities within the crucial setting of schools and context of lunch breaks.

Abstract
Background: Enjoyment and play during school lunchtime are correlated with children’s physical activity. Despite this, there is an absence of studies reporting children’s enjoyment of play during school lunchtime breaks. The purpose of this study was to examine the intra-day and inter-day reliability of children’s enjoyment of school lunchtime play. Methods: Surveys used to assess children’s enjoyment of lunchtime play were distributed to and completed by 197 children (112 males, 85 females), aged 8-12 years attending an elementary school in Victoria, Australia. Children completed the surveys during class before lunch (expected enjoyment) and after lunch (actual enjoyment) for five days.  The intra- and inter-day enjoyment of school lunchtime play reliability were determined using a weighted kappa. Results: Intra-day kappa values ranged from fair (0.31) to substantial (0.75) within each of the five days (median kappa=0.41). In comparison, ‘expected’ (0.09-0.40; median 0.30) and ‘actual’ (0.05-0.46; median 0.28) inter-day enjoyment of lunchtime play displayed low reliability. Conclusions: Children’s enjoyment of lunchtime play appears to be more consistent within days than across days. The findings suggest that assessment of children’s enjoyment of lunchtime play once on a single day would be representative of a particular day but not necessarily that particular school week.

Key words: Child, Schools, Health Surveys, Play and enjoyment

ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND
Enjoyment of physical activity is as an important determinant of children's participation in physical activity. Despite this, there is an absence of reliable measures for assessing children's enjoyment of play activities during school lunchtime. The purpose of this study was to develop and assess the reliability of the Lunchtime Enjoyment of Activity and Play (LEAP) Questionnaire.

METHODS
Questionnaire items were categorized employing a social-ecological framework including intrapersonal (20 items), interpersonal (2 items), and physical environment/policy (17 items) components to identify the broader influences on children's enjoyment. An identical questionnaire was administered on 2 occasions, 10 days apart, to 176 children aged 8-12 years, attending a government elementary school in regional Victoria, Australia.

RESULTS
Test-retest reliability confirmed that 35 of 39 LEAP Questionnaire items had at least moderate kappa agreement ranging from .44 to .78. Although 4 individual kappa values were low, median kappa scores for each aggregated social-ecological component reached at least moderate agreement (.44-.60).

CONCLUSIONS
This study confirms the LEAP Questionnaire to be a reliable, context-specific instrument with sound content, and face validity that employs a social-ecological framework to assess children's enjoyment of school play and lunchtime activities.

Limited investigation has been undertaken into Australian physical educators’ teaching beliefs and intentions and those that have been researched have tended to utilise ‘qualitative’ research methods. The present study addresses a gap in the literature by exploring the differences in teaching perspectives between Australian pre-service and graduate physical education teachers. The teaching perspectives inventory (TPI) was administered to pre-service physical education teachers (n=105) graduate physical education teachers (n=37). Each TPI item was linked to one of five key teaching perspectives (apprenticeship, developmental, nurturing, social reform & transmission). Average teaching perspective scores were calculated for each of the five teaching perspectives and the proportions of dominant and recessive teaching perspectives were identified within both groups. Independent t-tests and multivariate chi-square statistical tests were conducted to compare mean teaching perspective scores and proportions of dominant and recessive teaching perspectives. The findings revealed that graduate physical education teachers had significantly higher average scores for the apprenticeship, developmental and social reform teaching perspectives. The nurturing teaching perspective was the most common dominant teaching perspective and the social reform teaching perspective was the most common recessive teaching perspective for both pre-service and graduate physical education teachers. The findings suggest that teacher training programs have the ability to develop and inform knowledge of teaching approaches to facilitate higher scores for a broader range of teaching perspectives in comparison to pre-service teachers commencing their teacher training. 

Key Words: Teaching perspectives, Physical education, Teacher education, Pre-service teachers, Graduate teachers

An important consideration for schools to develop children's physical activity habits is the identification of psychosocial correlates of children's physical activity such as enjoyment. The purpose of this study was to uniquely assess children's enjoyment of school-based physical activities beyond the health and physical education classroom, including the type of activities children enjoy and the extent of his/her enjoyment. The Lunchtime Enjoyment of Activity and Play (LEAP) questionnaire was administered to 281 children aged 8-12 years, attending three primary schools in regional Victoria. In this paper, the social-ecological model levels of influence on children's enjoyment are discussed including (1) intrapersonal (individual), (2) interpersonal (social), and (3) physical environment and policy/organization variables to identify the broader influences on children's enjoyment of school-based physical activity. In order for age and gender-specific comparisons to be made for the LEAP questionnaire categories, independent t-tests were conducted. The findings revealed that the students’ enjoyment of school-based physical activities declines with age. It was also discovered that females had significantly higher enjoyment compared to males for the majority of school-based physical activities. With understandings of the types of school-based physical activities that are most enjoyable to students during school breaks, teachers and school decision makers can employ the social-ecological model insight gained within the current study to guide future school-based planning and design.

he Australian Health and Physical Education (HPE) curriculum notes the importance of primary school students developing decision-making, creativity and problem solving skills during physical activities. A key developmental context for primary school students to enhance such skills is within school grounds. School grounds are emerging as a ‘hidden’ HPE curriculum. Within school grounds, students can work individually and in small groups to practice fundamental movement skills, physical play, manipulation of equipment, spatial awareness and overall movement competence. The size, design, features and utilisation of school grounds can be a complementary setting to HPE classes for students to transfer, develop, trial and revise physical skills. Despite this, the relationship between the outside environment and the learner has often been overlooked or perceived differently to inside learning spaces. There is a paucity of literature exploring the capacity of primary school students to utilise different types of materials and the available space within school grounds for the development of physical activities. The aim of this research was to explore the types of physical activities within school grounds that primary school students can develop via three different equipment scenarios (a) – school grounds with no equipment; (b) – school grounds with fixed equipment; (c) – school grounds with movable equipment. Direct observation and field notes were conducted across each area of the school grounds of two primary schools. Descriptive accounts of primary school students’ developed physical activities within each equipment scenario were analysed via a process of open coding. Emerging physical activity themes can provide further understanding of the types of physical activities students can develop when engaging with different equipment materials within school grounds. The findings can continue to improve knowledge of a hidden HPE curriculum beyond curricular classes.

Purpose
Enjoyment and play during school lunchtime are strongly correlated with children’s overall physical activity. Despite this, there is an absence of data reporting children’s enjoyment of play during school lunchtimes. The purpose of this study was to examine the intra-day and inter-day agreement of children’s
school lunchtime enjoyment.
Methods
Lunchtime enjoyment surveys were distributed to and completed by 197 children (112 males, 85 females), aged 8-12 years attending a regional government primary school in Australia. Children completed the surveys during class time before lunch (expected enjoyment) and after lunch (actual
enjoyment) for five days. The intra-day (expected vs. actual lunchtime enjoyment) and inter-day school lunchtime enjoyment agreement (expected/actual lunchtime enjoyment between days) was determined using a weighted kappa.
Results
Intra-day kappa values ranged from fair (0.31) to substantial (0.75) within each of the five days (median kappa=0.45). ‘Expected’ inter-day lunchtime enjoyment between each of the five days failed to reach moderate kappa agreement, ranging from 0.09 to 0.40 (median kappa=0.30). Similarly low ‘actual’ interday lunchtime enjoyment agreement was identified, ranging from 0.05-0.46 (median kappa=0.28).
Conclusion
Children’s enjoyment of lunchtime appears to be more consistent within days than across days perhaps due to the varying influences children experience from day to day (e.g. weather). The findings suggest that measuring children’s enjoyment of lunchtime once on a single day would be representative of that particular day but not necessarily that school week. It is therefore recommended future physical activity interventions targeting school lunch periods consider assessing enjoyment across multiple days.

Purpose
To evaluate the feasibility, acceptability and potential efficacy of a school-based playground intervention on children’s well-being, social interactions, enjoyment of play and physical activity during lunch periods at school.
Methods
Over 13 weeks moveable recycled household and garden items (e.g. tyre tubes, tarps, rope, noodles, buckets, milk crates) were made available during all play periods at one primary school. This whole-school intervention program included all staff and 135 children within years prep to six. Children were not provided with any instruction about how to use the household items. During the process evaluation, teachers (n=9) participated in 50 minute focus groups which examined their perceptions of the program within the context of a social ecological framework considering intrapersonal, interpersonal, organisational and environmental factors.
Results
Themes emerging from the focus groups suggested play within the playground was more active (exhibiting more lifting, carrying & jumping) displayed greater co-operation and engaged higher order thinking skills, negotiation and problem-solving behaviour among students. In addition, teachers discussed potential long-term changes to their school policy and physical environment within this forum. According to teachers children’s interest in the intervention was sustained over a nine month period well beyond the initial intervention delivery period of 13 weeks.
Conclusion
Teachers perceptions were that this inexpensive and feasible intervention program increased active, cooperative and cognitive play. This suggests that, with limited funds, the introduction of household and recycled items to a school playground has the potential to improve the policy, social and physical environments designed to promote children’s active and engaged play.

Purpose
School play spaces are acknowledged as a key setting for children’s physical activity, however it remains unclear what factors within school play spaces facilitate children’s physical activity. The aim of this research was to investigate children’s perceptions of which factors within school play spaces would
encourage them to be physically active, within the context of a social ecological framework.
Methods
Focus group discussions and cognitive mind mapping were conducted across four government schools (two primary & two secondary) in Australia. Focus group discussions consisted of 54 children aged 9-13 years, each with 6-10 per group until saturation of themes was obtained. The mapping exercise included 22 children, each with 2 to 5 drawers per group. Each focus group and mind mapping session ran for
approximately 40 minutes in duration. Questions focussed on children’s perceptions of existing play spaces, ideal play spaces and ideal play spaces to facilitate physical activity.
Results
Social ecological themes that emerged from children’s perceptions of their ideal school play spaces included the social environment: teacher role models and peers; physical environment: natural environment, built environment; and school policy: supervision, access to sports equipment, safety rules, safe surfaces and structures and access to areas by year level. Mind maps revealed children consistently
included features to facilitate physical activity that contrasted their existing play spaces.
Conclusion
The findings of this study suggest there is a contrast between physical activity features within children’s existing and ideal school play spaces and provides direction for the development of future school-based physical activity interventions.

INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF BEHAVIORAL NUTRITION AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY (ISBNPA) 2011 ANNUAL MEETING, Melbourne; 06/2015

Charles Darwin University Lecturer in Primary Teaching and Learning, Dr Brendon Hyndman describes a ‘good’ playground as “an environment that children can invent play activities and use more places. “It is difficult for children to be creative, social and imaginative within bleak, plain surfaced areas. A playground should be place for ‘doing’, ‘thinking’, ‘feeling’ and ‘being’. “If children fail to engage in high quality and challenging childhood play, a capacity to develop a range of key life skills could be diminished.” - See more at: http://www.ausleisure.com.au/news/melbourne-zoos-growing-wild-area-wins-kidsafe-design-award/#sthash.5TiwMRJX.dpuf

Brendon Hyndman, a researcher and lecturer at Charles Darwin University’s International Graduate Centre of Education, found risk anxiety was behind the cottonwool culture. Teachers and parents needed to allow children to overcome small risks in the school playground.

Fifty four Victorian primary and secondary school students were interviewed about playground safety influences for the study. They said a lack of school play equipment led to boredom. They also wanted more running space, more trees, drinking fountains and better monitoring on bullying.

A snapshot of the Lunchtime Enjoyment Activity and Play (LEAP) school playground intervention that was implemented and then evaluated over 2 1/2 years in Western Victoria by Dr. Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor Amanda Telford and Dr. Amanda Benson.

You may think taking you kids to the local playground to muck around on the swings, slippery dip and monkey bars offers the best exercise but new research shows giving them objects like a bucket, broomsticks or milk crates is a better option. RMIT's Dr Brendon Hyndman spoke to Weekend Breakfast about the findings of his research.

ABSTRACT Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore the seasonal influences on elementary school children&amp;#39;s enjoyment of physical activity during school breaks. Methods: The Lunchtime Enjoyment of Activity and Play (LEAP) questionnaire and Physical Activity Children&amp;#39;s Enjoyment Scale (PACES) were used to measure children&amp;#39;s (N = 80) enjoyment of physical activity longitudinally during school breaks over 4 time points. Separate mixed regression models determined whether children&amp;#39;s enjoyment differed by sex and over time. Results: Children&amp;#39;s enjoyment of physical activity during school breaks was significantly higher in March (autumn in the southern hemisphere) in comparison with time points later in the school year. Conclusions: The findings suggest strategies could be implemented by schools to maintain and enhance children&amp;#39;s enjoyment of physical activity during school breaks later in the year.