The relationship between curriculum time for physical education and literacy and numeracy standards in South Australian primary schools

There is ongoing debate among educators and in the community about the status of school physical education (PE), particularly in relation to more vocationally-oriented learning areas. Against a backdrop of rising youth obesity, diminishing curriculum time for PE represents a serious public health issue. This study investigated the relation ships between PE curriculum time and literacy and numeracy standards in South Australian primary schools. Schools (n= 117) were surveyed on average time spent on PE (PE_time), and salient demographic characteristics. Average literacy and numeracy scores from a standardized statewide assessment system (State LaN), were obtained from government records. Regression modelling assessed the relationship between PE_time and State LaN scores, independent of socioeconomic status (SES), percentage of children of non-English-speaking background (NESB), geographic location, staff age structure, and staff PE training. PE_time was unrelated to literacy and numeracy attainment, after control for demographic variables. There was a strong positive relation ship between SES and academic attainment, while a higher proportion of younger staff predicted lower academic attainment. There was no evidence that schools with relatively high PE_time are disadvantaging students in the traditionally academic subjects.