Schools have been told to be cautious about fitness testing pupils in PE classes.
New Department of Education advice seeks to avoid having students pushed needlessly to the point of exhaustion and also wants to ensure that pupils with lower fitness levels are not discouraged.
A key area of concern is aerobic fitness tests, such as the Bleep Test, which involves continuous running between two lines, two metres apart, in time to recorded beeps.
Fitness testing aims to measure performance in health-related areas, such as cardiorespiratory endurance, or performance-related areas, such as reaction time or speed.
There are a variety of what are known as maximal aerobic tests, including the Bleep Test, which are tests of exhaustion.
Other elements of fitness testing include the Sit and Reach (SAR), which assesses flexibility, and the Standing Board Jump (SBJ) which assesses lower limb power.
Limited use of tests such as SAR and SBJ is allowed for primary pupils. However, maximal aerobic testing should not be used, other than in exceptional circumstances, such as ethically-approved research.
For post-primary schools, the department is discouraging the “the use of whole-class physical fitness testing to assess who is the fastest or strongest etc”.
It says these activities are “de-motivating for students whose physical fitness levels are low”.
The guidance adds: “It is important to remember that a physical education class is, first and foremost, an educational setting. It is not limited to testing students in the belief that this testing will somehow make them physically fitter.”
However, students who elect to engage in tests, such as the Bleep Test, as part of their learning in the new Senior Cycle Physical Education (SCPE) framework or the recently-introduced Leaving Cert PE subject, should be allowed to do so, it states.
But if maximal aerobic capacity tests are used, students should also be given the option of sub-maximal alternative tests, such as the Step Test, which “are sufficient from an educational perspective for a student who does not wish to undertake a maximal test and push themselves to exhaustion”.
The department also sets out range of good practice procedures around maximal aerobic tests, including explaining their purpose and advice to students about the need to drop out if they are feeling excessively tired or unwell.
A well-ventilated room, availability of cool drinking water, instructions for post-exercise recovery are also pre-requisites, while schools are told there should be no public display of student results.
