Schools: Sports

(asked on 8th July 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to (a) increase participation in sport in schools and (b) ensure that sport remains on the curriculum.


Answered by
Nadhim Zahawi Portrait
Nadhim Zahawi
This question was answered on 16th July 2019

​The government firmly believes in the importance of physical education (PE), sport and extra-curricular activities to teach children the importance of physical activity to improve their physical and mental health as well as their overall wellbeing. Schools are free to organise and deliver a diverse and challenging PE curriculum that suits the needs of all of their pupils. However, PE is the only foundation subject on the national curriculum at all 4 key stages. The national curriculum must be taught by all maintained schools and it provides a frame of reference for academies in deciding what to offer as part of their broad and balanced curriculum offer.

Ofsted’s new inspection framework, which will come into effect from September 2019, has spilt the current judgement for personal development, behaviour and welfare into 2 new separate judgements: ‘behaviour and attitudes’ and ‘personal development’. This will give greater recognition to the work of schools to support the personal development of pupils, such as the opportunities that they have to learn about eating healthily and maintaining an active lifestyle. Inspectors will expect to see schools offering children a broad, balanced education, including opportunities to be active during the school day and through extracurricular activities.

Since 2013, the government has invested over £1 billion of ringfenced funding through the Primary PE and Sport Premium to improve PE, sport, physical activity and extra-curricular activities for all pupils in England.

We will shortly be publishing our cross-government school sport and activity action plan, under which the Department for Education, working with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Department of Health and Social Care, will consider further ways to ensure that all children have access to high quality, protected PE and sport sessions during the school week and opportunities to be physically active throughout the school day.

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