Physical literacy is our relationship with movement and physical activity throughout life (Sport England).
Sport England run two annual surveys – Active Lives Adult and Active Lives Children and Young People which give us an insight into how active people are. Physical literacy and the Sport England survey are interlinked as physical literacy is one of the aspects that they report on. The results of the survey showed that children with high levels of physical literacy are twice as likely to engage in sport and physical activity which is key for ensuring healthy and happy people.
The Active Lives Survey also reported on the number of people playing table tennis – which has increased and showed that around 288,000 children and young people in school years 1-11 in England participate in table tennis in any given week (about 3.9% of the population) and around 195,003 boys in school years 1-11 participate in the sport in any given week (about 5.2% of the population), while about 88,598 girls in school Years 1-11 participate in any given week (about 2.4% of the population).
Physical literacy is made up of four domains:
- Physical
- Cognitive
- Social
- Emotional
Physical includes things such as being able to perform fundamental motor skills (running, jumping, catching and throwing etc), being able to apply various combinations of movements that an environment requires (e.g. in table tennis this could the throwing the ball up and then hitting it for a serve), being able to manipulate the body and different objects, acquire health and fitness components.
Cognitive includes things such as being able to make appropriate decisions and knowing how, when and why they perform certain movement skills, being able to adhere to riles and apply tactics within an game, to be able to use strategies.
Social includes things such as being able to lead others in a collaborative, ethical and inclusive way through physical activity and movement, understanding when they need to be a team member or a team leader, they have a willingness to learn from experiences and the cultures of their peers, and they practice fair play and ethical behaviour.
Emotional includes things such as understanding others emotional responses such as empathy and sensitivity, can manage physical responses such as fatigue and pain, and persists with movement when it becomes more challenging.
For more information about the Active Lives survey click here