Sport and physical activity
Direction and guidance on planning and delivering the mandatory 150 minutes per week of moderate to vigorous sport and physical activity for students.
Audience
All NSW public schools.
| Version | Date | Description of changes | Approved by |
|---|---|---|---|
| V01.1.0 | 22/11/2024 | Minor revisions of links and text to reflect current and updated information. | Director, Arts, Sport and Initiatives |
| V01.0.0 | 21/06/2024 | Under the 2023 policy and procedure review program, new policy document with consolidated instructions previously provided in Sport and Physical Activity policy and Sport safety guidelines webpage. | Executive Director, Student Support and Specialist Programs |
About the policy
These procedures relate to the Student health and wellbeing policy.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Classroom energiser | Short bursts of physical activity during classroom learning time that cause students to 'huff and puff' for 5 to 10 minutes. |
| External provider | Refers to any person, organisation or group offering services and/or resources to support school-based education at several levels (individual classroom, sporting activity or whole-school level). |
| Moderate physical activity | Involves a moderate increase in heart and breathing rate. |
| Modified sport | Simplified or adapted sport, using flexible rules, equipment and playing areas to suit different abilities and to foster skill development. |
| Personal development health and physical education (PDHPE) | A key learning area where students develop the knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes needed to take action to protect and enhance their own health, safety and wellbeing in a varied and changing context. |
| Physical activity | Any type of body movement that works the muscles and requires more energy than resting. |
| Principal-endorsed activities | Approved by a principal for the school's sport and physical activity program and are not found in the department's specific guidelines or the banned activities list. |
| Representative School Sport Pathway | Competitive sport organised and delivered by department staff. This tiered pathway allows selected students to progress from school to zone, association, state and national competitions. |
| School sport | Intra-school sport includes organised sport and physical activities involving students from the same school. Intra-school sport may occur at the school or an off-site sporting facility. Inter-school sport engages students from different schools in organised sport, whether for social or competitive purposes. Interschool sport may occur at the school or an off-site sporting facility. |
| Vigorous physical activity | Strenuous activities that significantly elevate heart rate and breathing, making it hard to hold a conversation. |
Principals:
- establish strategies and practices consistent with the Sport and physical activity procedures
- ensure all staff, including new and casual staff, are familiar with and follow these procedures.
Teachers:
- deliver safe and inclusive sport and physical activity.
Leader, School Sport Unit:
- provides advice on implementing these procedures and development of support materials.
Director, Arts, Sport and Initiatives:
- ensures currency of these procedures and provides oversight of support materials.
What needs to be done
1. Plan for 150 minutes of sport and physical activity weekly
Principals:
- ensure sport and physical activity is incorporated into the weekly school plan
- ensure activities are inclusive and adaptive for all students.
Teachers:
- plan for 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity over the school week for every student in Years K-10
- organise and ensure the effective delivery of quality sport and physical activity
- must modify sports and physical activities to be inclusive of all students.
Table 1 Mandatory sport and physical activity requirements, Kindergarten to Year 6
| Kindergarten to Year 2 | Years 3 to 6 |
|---|---|
Students must be provided with daily opportunities to participate in physical activity. Mandatory components of the 150 minutes include:
Additional opportunities to participate in physical activity should be provided to ensure students are physically active daily, for example, classroom energisers and physically active lessons in other key learning areas. |
Students must be provided with daily opportunities to participate in physical activity. Mandatory components of the 150 minutes include:
|
Table 2 Mandatory sport and physical activity requirements, Years 7 to 12
| Years 7 to 10 | Years 11 to 12 |
|---|---|
Students must be provided with opportunities to participate in physical activity at least 3 days per week. Mandatory components of the 150 minutes include:
Additional opportunities to participate in physical activity are encouraged. |
Opportunities to participate in physical activity are encouraged. |
Representative School Sport Pathway programs, knockouts, gala days and other one-off events do not contribute to the 150 minutes of planned physical activity across the school week.
Refer to the following resources:
- Curriculum policy standards (PDF 200 KB) include time requirements for PDHPE and planned physical activity (150 minutes)
- School Sport Unit’s resources for sport and physical activity, Inclusive and adaptive practices
- School Sport Unit’s teaching and learning resources
- School Sport Unit’s physical activity timetables. These support the planning and delivery of sport and physical activity.
1.1 Attendance exemptions for elite sport
Principals:
- can approve school attendance exemptions for up to 100 days in a 12-month period for a student participating in elite sporting events
- can approve part-day exemptions for students at the elite level in the lead-up to a national championship or selection event to support training commitments.
Principals and teachers ensure every student in Kindergarten to Year 10 participates in weekly sport and physical activity regardless of their sporting commitments outside school.
Refer to the following resources:
1.2 External providers
Principals must ensure that a teacher retains overall responsibility for student supervision when engaging external providers to deliver sport and physical activity.
Refer to Engaging external providers for curriculum implementation – guidelines (DOCX 73 KB) for further information.
1.3 Elite sports club partnerships
Principals must comply with the mandatory procedures in the NSW Department of Education’s the Playbook (staff only) when negotiating with sports clubs to procure elite sports programs for targeted students.
2. Comply with specific sport and physical activity guidelines
The School Sport Unit’s Specific sport and physical activity guidelines support principals to mitigate risks, as well as offer essential information for planning physically active student activities, including weekly sport, physical education, excursions and recreational activities at school camps.
Principals must ensure that all staff comply with the Specific sport and physical activity guidelines.
All staff must follow the Specific sport and physical activity guidelines for the sport or physical activity they are delivering.
2.1 Banned activities
The following sports and physical activities are banned in NSW public schools:
- boxing and other 'one-on-one' combat sports
- break dancing
- bungee jumping
- hang gliding
- quad biking
- rock fishing
- rodeo
- tobogganing.
Fitness programs that involve boxing and combat sports (such as boxercise) are permitted.
The following gymnastic skills are not permitted in schools:
- gymnastic bridges
- any form of somersaults
- head stands
- dive rolls.
Elite gymnastics skills such as aerials, including tumbling, are only permitted in Representative School Sport Pathway events and elite creative arts performances. These skills can only be performed under the supervision of gymnastics coaching accredited instructors and require fit-for-purpose facilities and equipment.
These skills must not be included in a unit of learning.
2.2 Principal-endorsed activities
Principals must follow the guidelines for Principal-endorsed activities (staff only) for any activities not detailed in the Specific sport and physical activity guidelines or those listed as banned activities.
3. Identify and manage risks
Principals must ensure that risk management and first aid plans mitigate the specific risks associated with sport and physical activity.
All staff must ensure reasonable steps are taken to protect students from foreseeable risk of harm during school sport and physical activity. In meeting this duty, consideration is given to the individual student’s personal circumstances, needs, capabilities and the activity.
3.1 Child protection risks
All staff:
- must follow the department’s Child protection policy
- should avoid physical contact with students unless necessary to develop sports skills or techniques, to provide treatment or prevent injuries, or to meet sports-related requirements
- ensure the safety and wellbeing of students using change rooms.
Refer to the School Sport Unit’s Child protection in sport and physical activity supporting resource for more information.
3.2 Health conditions
All staff must be aware of specific requirements for students with medical conditions participating in sport and physical activity. This can include asthma, epilepsy, diabetes and atlantoaxial instability.
Refer to the School Sport Unit’s Health conditions for more information.
3.3 Infection control
These measures apply to all sports and physical activities.
Principals or delegated school staff:
- must follow the School Sport Unit’s Infection control in sport and physical activity
- should take immediate action for any bleeding incident, including removal from the field of play and replacement of contaminated clothing and equipment.
3.4 Concussion
All staff must follow the department’s concussion management guidelines when a student receives a bump, blow or jolt to the head or body that causes jarring of the head or neck. Refer to the School Sport Unit’s Concussion resource for support in identifying concussion symptoms, responding to suspected concussions and assisting students in returning to learning and sport. It is important to note that concussions in schools are not limited to sport and physical activity.
An approved mandatory Concussion management statement for schools to use in parent or carer permission is provided in 'Permission must haves' (DOCX 184KB).
3.5 Aquatic locations
Principals must ensure that any activities in, on or near water are supervised by either a lifeguard or swimming instructor, or a teacher that holds an aquatic rescue accreditation.
Refer to the School Sport Unit’s Specific sport and physical activity guidelines for more information.
3.6 Weather conditions
Supervising teachers must:
- assess and monitor changing weather conditions to restrict or cancel activities that could endanger students
- be aware of extreme weather conditions, such as heat, cold, lighting and water conditions.
3.7 Air quality
All staff:
- must follow NSW Health warnings regarding air quality during times of smoke haze and other pollutants
- ensure spaces used for indoor sports and physical activity are well-ventilated.
The NSW Department of Planning and Environment’s website has supporting resources:
4. Gain parent or carer permission
Principals:
- must incorporate permission collection as a part of their risk management plans
- ensure the parent or carer permission form clearly outlines the event or activity and includes sport-specific mandatory extracts when required
- ensure that permission forms for sports or physical activities include specific mandatory statements.
The School Sport Unit’s Permission resource guides schools in developing parent or carer permission for all sport and physical activity.
Principals must ensure all staff comply with the permission procedures including the ‘Permission- must have’ statements and specific inclusions for sport and physical activities including interschool sport, knockouts and gala days.
All staff must follow the permission for physical activity guidelines when developing permission procedures.
Schools must include the points below in the parent or carer sign off sections for all sport and physical activity permission.
Personal injury
I can confirm that I understand that, in the event of injury, no personal injury insurance cover is provided by the NSW Department of Education for students in relation to school sporting activities or events, physical education lessons or any other school activity.
Concussion
If my child is diagnosed with concussion at any time, I must inform the school and provide a medical clearance to support their return to sport and physical activity. If my child experiences a suspected concussion during a school activity, they will be removed from the activity and medical follow-up recommended.
Ambulance
In the event of any accident or illness, I authorise the obtaining, on my behalf, of an ambulance for my child.
Refer to NSW Ambulance School and Group Cover Scheme (ASGCS) Policy Guidelines (PDF 563 KB) for more information.
All staff must be aware that Representative School Sport Pathway permission notes include additional information. Refer to the School Sport Unit’s Permission for Representative School Sport Pathway events.
Include the specific mandatory inclusions in all permission or notifications for the following sports and physical activities:
5. Respond to incidents
For sports and physical activities, both on and off school grounds, all school staff must follow the department’s:
- first aid procedures (refer to First aid [staff only])
- Incident notification and response procedures for injuries or incidents.
5.1 Concussion
Principals must:
- ensure that staff responsible for delivering or supervising sport and physical activity can recognise and respond to a suspected concussion
- include the concussion clearance statement in permission notes for all activities related to sport and physical activity.
Refer to the School Sport Unit’s Concussion page for more information.
The Representative School Sport Pathway
Students may participate in department events that are not arranged or supervised by their school. When this occurs, the department staff member organising the event:
- takes on the line manager's responsibilities as outlined in the Incident notification and response procedures
- must keep a record of necessary actions and decisions made during the incident response and send it to the principal of the affected student's school. It is their responsibility to create and maintain these records.
Record-keeping requirements
(FA387) keep records according to the functional retention and disposal authority for primary and secondary education as stipulated under the State Records Act 1998.
Mandatory tools and templates
Supporting tools, resources and related information
School Sport Unit:
- School Sport Unit
- Sport and physical activity supporting tools and resources
- Sport and physical activity school health check
- The Playbook
- Principal-endorsed activities (staff only)
- Engaging external providers for curriculum implementation – guidelines (DOCX 73 KB)
- NSW Ambulance School and Group Cover Scheme (ASGCS) (PDF 563 KB).
Policy contact
School Sport Policy Advisor
02 9508 5541
School Sport Unit
schoolsportunit@det.nsw.edu.au
02 9508 5500
The Executive Director, Student Support and Specialist Programs monitors the implementation of this policy, regularly reviews its contents to ensure relevance and accuracy, and updates it as needed.