By William Moncrieff, Communications Coordinator
For Megan Laird being physically active has always been really important. That’s what made it hard when her high school didn’t take an inclusive approach to physical education (PE).
“In high school, sport made me really exhausted. I hated sports then because I felt like I couldn’t participate,” Megan said. Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) has been trying to influence change within the education system, to make PE more accessible and inclusive for all. This ties in with Paralympics GB’s recent campaign, Equal Play, which specifically targets this.
Megan is 15 years old and is in secondary school. She is also a current member of the Young Person’s Sports Panel (YPSP).
Whilst in Primary 4, Megan was diagnosed as deaf and her primary school tried to adapt to her needs and requirements.
“They did lots of research, looking into what works and what is good for different people. In primary school, sport was absolutely perfect.”
“In primary school it was really good, everyone went to my needs and aimed to help me, this made me feel really good about myself.” Megan explained.
When Megan went to secondary school, this is when her experiences and enjoyment of sport started to change.
“When I was in PE I didn’t like the noise of basketball or other balls hitting the floors, like it made my ears feel really irritated and uncomfortable”, she said.
“Whether it was football, basketball or tennis I just didn’t like it. I hated the noises.”
In her school there were only two options: competitive PE or health and wellbeing. Megan attempted to change from competitive PE to health and wellbeing. However, she was told that there wasn’t any space for her in the class. This was eventually resolved. However, in the meantime it started to impact other areas of Megan’s life.
“I ended up really unmotivated which ended up affecting my schoolwork. This made me feel bad as a person. I was really upset.”
Once Megan had moved to a class that was more suitable for her needs, she started to enjoy being active again. “We did gymnastics for the first time. I loved it, I got really into it. It’s my sport now”, she said.
Megan’s experiences throughout school were a clear motivating factor for her joining the YPSP. It is as a panel member that she has opportunities to share her story and experiences with an aim of making change.
A head of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, ParalympicsGB released their Equal Play campaign that aims to use the platform that has been grown and developed throughout the Paralympic movement to make sure that every child has the same access to PE. The campaign showcased this through a documentary on the lead up to the Paralympics and with an open letter to the Prime Minister urging to ensure that the next generation of children do not miss out on PE through a lack of inclusion, and the requirement for cross-governmental steps to be taken to achieve this.
Throughout previous years, SDS have made many efforts to ensure that PE becomes more inclusive to all individuals with the aim that many individuals like Megan, don’t miss out. This is highlighted throughout the ongoing work done with Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA). This involved amending course specifications for National 3 through to Advanced Higher PE to more explicitly mention Para sport, Para athletes and the opportunities available to disabled pupils.
Further work was done with SQA to amend policies including a reasonable adjustments policy. This has led to there being a process in place for teachers working with disabled pupils in qualification-level PE to request reasonable adjustments for assessments – SDS are now a part of this process. Teachers can also request support for their pupils to take part in PE through SQA.
Along with working closely with SQA, SDS have also worked with Education Scotland to get boccia added to the list of accepted sports across National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher PE.
A further step was the launching of the More Than a Bell Ball workshop. With an aim to provide primary and secondary teachers and QTVI staff with additional skills to include pupils with a vision impairment in mainstream PE.
Similarly, the Inclusive PE Disability Inclusion Training (DIT) workshop was launched. A tailored practical workshop aimed at existing PE teachers and class teachers who may have missed out on Disability Inclusion Training whilst at university.
To support the delivery of these new workshops, SDS were fortunate to receive generous funding from Motability Scheme to enable the delivery of Inclusive PE and More Than a Bell Ball workshops this year.
Further work was done with Education Scotland and SQA. Where SDS were invited to be involved in the PE National Qualification Support Team made up of PE teachers from across the country. Education Scotland put together a working group of existing PE teachers to review the Inclusive PE DIT workshop and online resources.
This working relationship has resulted in SDS being asked by Education Scotland to be part of the Health and Wellbeing Curriculum review process.
Currently SQA and SDS are working together to continually showcase developments in ongoing work, with both closely following the progress of boccia athlete, Layla McCloskey, who is undertaking National 5 PE this year using boccia and frame running as her sports.
If you would be interested in finding out more about the training and workshops that SDS provide, you can reach out to your Regional Development Manager to find out if they have any training scheduled in your area. Alternatively, you can visit our website to find out more about any Education and Training opportunities.
Make to follow Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) on Facebook, X and Instagram. Keep up-to-date with the latest news on the SDS website.
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