Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Baroness Sater Excerpts

Thursday 18th September 2025 Lords Chamber

To refer back to an earlier discussion, it is children’s right to have a healthy and active lifestyle. A national strategy for PE and sport in schools is not just about enhancing physical health but about fostering well-rounded individuals who are confident, resilient and prepared for the challenges of the future. By investing in our children’s physical education today, we are investing in a healthier and more prosperous society tomorrow. Let us not squander this opportunity; the time to act is now.

[Baroness Sater (Con)]

My Lords, I will speak to Amendments 492, 502H and 502J, to which I have added my name.

Amendment 502H calls for a national strategy for physical education and sport in schools. I was fortunate to work alongside colleagues with significant experience in sport on the House of Lords’ national plan for sport, health and well-being Select Committee in 2023. This amendment is strongly underpinned by many of the recommendations from that committee. The report called for a long-term cross-government plan to embed physical activity and well-being into our educational system, for PE to be made a core subject, for teacher training to be improved, and for access to school sport to be widened to tackle the inequalities in participation. The committee also recommended that we gather better data through a national physical activity observatory. These are all the kinds of reforms that a national strategy as proposed in this amendment would deliver.

At present, fewer than half of children meet the Chief Medical Officer’s physical activity guidelines. According to the latest Sport England’s Active Lives children and young people survey, only 45% of children meet the target during school hours and 56% meet it outside of school, with levels varying significantly across different demographic groups.

This is one of the main reasons why we need a national strategy. The amendment comes with a list of recommendations, but it is not an exclusive one. The scope needs to be broad enough to obtain the right data and evidence to be able to create effective guidance and consistent delivery for all schools so that we can reach all children and better support their physical and mental development.

Without a coherent national strategy, we risk leaving physical education fragmented and underresourced. This amendment provides a clear framework to embed sport and physical activity as essential to children’s education, well-being and lifelong healthy lifestyle, through a truly holistic approach that supports physical, mental and social development.

Amendments 502J and 492 call for curriculum reviews to investigate how physical education programmes of study and recommended levels of physical activity can best be delivered in our schools. These reviews would provide a deep dive into the current delivery of PE and school sport, giving us crucial insights into the programmes of study being implemented and how they might improve the sport and physical activity offer in our schools. Without this insight, we risk continuing with fragmented and inconsistent provision that fails to meet the needs of all schoolchildren.

In 2019, I was delighted to serve on the Association for Physical Education’s task force on the future of physical education. It produced The Heart of School Life report, which looked closely at the future of physical education in schools. It was clear then, and it remains true now, that physical activity is about so much more than fitness or competitive sport.

These amendments responded to a growing consensus from a wide-ranging review of how PE is currently implemented and interpreted in our schools. The report The Heart of School Life highlighted the need to emphasise the unique role that physical education plays, distinct from general sport and physical activity, and to forge stronger links with health and well-being. It supported making PE a core subject, ensuring that it is valued and resourced accordingly. The report also highlighted how PE should develop a wide range of skills beyond competition, including leadership, teamwork, resilience and personal development.

Those broader benefits can be realised only through a curriculum that offers a diverse and inclusive programme. A national curriculum review would clarify what was delivered and how and where. It could also explore how PE might better integrate with other subjects such as maths, English and outdoor environmental learning, making it a more accessible and holistic part of school life, to the benefit of improved academic outcomes. If we are truly serious about improving sport and physical education in schools, we must consider whether there might be better ways to achieve our goals.

We all recognise that teachers and schools are under immense pressure, and the health and well-being of our children are not improving—in fact, we see worrying trends. It is a bit of a perfect storm. It is time to treat physical education and sport as an essential part of the curriculum, not an optional extra or an afterthought. The amendments would provide a clearer vision and a direction for the future of school sport and physical activity, and, hopefully, they would improve the health and well-being of our children.

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

My Lords, I support the amendments in this group. I declare my interest as a board member of the London Marathon Foundation.

The amendments in this group call for a curriculum review and a national strategy to embed physical activity and sport firmly within the school day. They are timely and urgently needed because the evidence is overwhelming that physical activity is not an optional extra for young people; it is crucial to their health, learning and life chances. The statistics tell a worrying story. One-third of British children aged five to nine are projected to be overweight or obese by 2050. As we have heard, according to the Chief Medical Officer, children and young people aged five to 18 should be active for at least 60 minutes a day, yet around 2 million children manage fewer than 30 minutes of daily activity, including walking. We are also seeing a worrying trend of young people’s mental health deteriorating alongside their physical health. These are not just numbers. They represent millions of young people whose physical and emotional well-being is compromised before their adulthood begins.

Sport and daily physical activity are among the most powerful tools we have to reverse these trends. Regular exercise improves cardiovascular health, brings muscle and bone strength and helps to maintain a healthy weight, but its benefits go far beyond the body. Evidence consistently shows that physically active children perform better academically, have higher levels of concentration and better behaviour in class, and can develop social and emotional skills such as teamwork, resilience and respect. Sport is also a proven protector of mental health, reducing anxiety and depression, along with fostering friendships and a sense of belonging.

Yet, despite the acknowledged importance and benefits of having young people engage in physical activity, as my noble friend Lord Moynihan highlighted, Britain has 7,000 fewer PE teachers now than at the time of the 2012 Olympics. Together, these amendments would create a framework for a coherent evidence-based approach, a curriculum that guaranteed daily activity, a programme of study that developed lifelong skills and habits, and a national strategy that ensures accountability and investment.

But schools cannot achieve this step change alone. Nationally, there are many sporting organisations that can and already do work collaboratively with schools to encourage young people to be more active. Among them are the London Marathon Foundation and London Marathon Events, which are demonstrating how imaginative partnerships with local schools can reach children who might otherwise miss out. Take the Daily Mile: that simple idea—getting children to run, jog or wheel for 15 minutes a day—has spread rapidly because it works. The London Marathon Foundation and London Marathon Events have now become official implementation partners of the Daily Mile in England and will be funding three new regional development roles and creating 33 active playgrounds in areas of high deprivation. The aim is to engage more than half a million children in regular physical activity.

Junior parkrun offers free weekly timed runs for four to 14 year-olds, and a £1.2 million investment has already increased weekly participation from 13,500 to over 19,000, with more than 1 million junior parkruns completed in the first year of funding. Early pilots linking schools to junior parkrun have shown a 25% to 30% increase in participation by students of the linked schools, demonstrating the power of such joined-up initiatives. Importantly, almost a quarter of new registrations came from children who were previously inactive, showing that these initiatives reach those who need them the most.

There are many projects across the country that demonstrate what can be achieved when ambition, evidence and partnership come together, and they highlight how much more could be achieved if government policy were able to match the scale of the challenge. That is why these amendments are so important—to ensure that every child, wherever they live and whatever their background, has the chance to be active every day, enjoy sport and reap the lifelong benefits of a healthy body and mind.