An Investigation into Fundamental Movement Skill Proficiency among Irish Primary School Children Lisa Kelly1, Siobhán O’Connor1, Andrew Harrison2, Niamh Ní Chéilleachair1 Department of Life and Physical Science, BRI, Athlone Institute of Technology1 Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Limerick2 OVERVIEW IRISH CONTEXT Only 19% of Irish primary pupils are reaching the recommended levels of daily physical activity (Woods et al. 2010). Only 11% of 1st year post-primary pupils achieved FMS mastery in a battery test of 9 FMS (O Brien et al. 2015). The Irish PE curriculum varies hugely with 55% focusing primarily on the games strand. Out of 30 European countries, Irish primary schools provide the lowest number of hours of PE per school year. To date, there is no published research that identifies FMS proficiency among Irish primary school children. Fundamental movement skills (FMS) are described as foundational movement patterns which provide a basis for more complex movement sequences required for daily living, sports specific movements and recreational activities. They are comprised of locomotor, object control and stability skills. The ideal window of opportunity for the development of FMS is between 3 and 8 years and failure to utilise this developmental period may make it more difficult to achieve mastery later in life (Gallahue & Cleland-Donnelly 2007). The aim of this study is to establish FMS proficiency across 16 skills among a sample of 300 primary school children from senior infants to 5th class. This information will guide the development of a 12 week intervention programme with primary focus on the skills and skill components that are most problematic. METHODS Pre-test procedure: ID numbers will be assigned to participants and anthropometric data will be measured and recorded on individual participant information sheets. Warm up: Participants will be guided through a 5-10 minute full body dynamic warm up (Faigenbaum and McFarland 2007). Testing station 1: Locomotor skills and static balance (run, gallop, hop, leap, horizontal jump, slide, vertical jump, skip and single leg stance). Testing station 2: Object control skills (strike, stationary dribble, catch, kick, overhand throw, underhand roll). Testing station 3: Y balance test. Cool down: Participants will be guided through a 5-10 minute cool down of light jogging and static stretching of major muscle groups. Figure 2: Set up for testing procedure at school hall Figure 1. Overview of methodology from participant recruitment to testing in schools Figure 1. provides a breakdown of the methods employed to recruit participants, obtain informed consent and carry out the testing procedure. Once informed consent is provided, FMS proficiency will be assessed across 16 movement skills in the relevant school hall which will be set up as illustrated in Figure 2. Each participant will be video-recorded performing skills at testing stations 1 and 2. Figure 3: Y Balance test ANALYSIS AND RESULTS PROPOSED CONTRIBUTION FURTHER INFORMATION 15 FMS will be scored by the principal investigator at a later date using performance criteria from one of the following three assessment tools: Test of Gross Motor Development 2nd Edition Get Skilled; Get Active Victorian Fundamental Motor Skills Manual Y balance (Figure 3) will be scored on the day of testing as it will not be video recorded. Data will be analysed using SPSS software version 22.0 for windows using appropriate statistical analysis. This will include the following: Overall proficiency levels established in percentages Proficiency levels of skill components Difference in overall proficiency between classes Difference in overall proficiency between genders Identify if there is a relationship between Y balance test scores and overall FMS scores. ↑ FMS Proficiency ↓ ↑ Health related physical fitness Direct and indirect health benefits ↑ Confidence/ Perceived competence ↑ Cardiorespiratory fitness Improve weight status and subsequently enhance psychological wellbeing and lower the risk of obesity related diseases Reduce healthcare costs (Obesity related diseases cost the Irish state €437 million annually) For further information on this study please contact any of the following: Lisa Kelly: l.kelly@research.ait.ie Siobhán O’Connor: soconnor@ait.ie Niamh Ní Chéilleachair: nnicheilleachair@ait.ie REFERENCES Woods, C.B., Tannehill D., Quinlan, A., Moyna, N. and Walsh, J. 2010. The Children’s Sport Participation and Physical Activity Study (CSPPA). Research Report No 1. School of Health and Human Performance, Dublin City University and The Irish Sports Council, Dublin Ireland Gallahue, D.L. & Cleland-Donnelly, F., 2007. Developmental Physical Education for All Children, Human Kinetics. European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, 2013. Physical Education and Sport at School in Europe, Eurydice Report. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. O’ Brien, W., Belton, S. & Issartel, J. 2015. Fundamental movement skill proficiency amongst adolescent youth. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, pp.1–15. Faigenbaum , A. and McFarland, J. 2007. Guidelines for implementing a dynamic warm-up for physical education. JOPERD, 78(3), pp. 25-28. This study is funded by the President Seed Fund Athlone Institute of Technology