Asked by: Earl of Effingham (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of Sport England’s latest Active Lives Children and Young People Survey, published in December 2023, which estimated that around 47 percent of children and young people were meeting the Chief Medical Officers’ guidelines of taking part in sport and physical activity for an average of 60 minutes or more every day, and what steps they are taking to prioritise physical education in the national curriculum.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government wants all pupils to be healthy and active. A positive experience of sport and physical activity at a young age can create a lifelong habit of participation.
Physical education (PE) is a foundation subject at all four key stages, and it is a vital part of a broad and balanced curriculum for all pupils to access. The PE national curriculum is designed to ensure that all pupils develop competence to excel in a broad range of physical activities, are physically active for sustained periods of time, and lead healthy and active lives.
The government published the School Sport and Activity Action Plan update in July 2023. The action plan is attached. This sets out the next steps and provides further detail for school leaders and teachers on how the government will support them to improve the quality of PE and school sport, and to deliver two hours of PE a week. This will help all pupils to engage in physical activity and meet the Chief Medical Officers’ recommendations of 60 active minutes a day.
The government’s Get Active strategy, published in August 2023, also provides a blueprint for a system wide approach to support schools in getting one million more children to meet the Chief Medical Officers’ daily recommended amount of moderate to vigorous physical activity.
The department will publish non-statutory guidance for schools this spring, which will illustrate the practical steps taken by schools to provide two hours of PE, as well as ensuring equal access for girls and boys.
Asked by: Earl of Effingham (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to their response to the House of Lords National Plan for Sport and Recreation Committee's report, A national plan for sport, health, and wellbeing, where they note the average time teaching PE in primary schools was 90 minutes per week in 2016, what plans they have to increase the average time spent teaching PE in (1) primary schools, and (2) secondary schools.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is prohibited by law in prescribing the exact time a school should allocate to individual subjects in the curriculum. On 8 March, the government made an announcement on physical education (PE) and school sport which included an expectation for both primary and secondary schools to strive for a minimum of two hours of PE and sport in the curriculum time every week.