All schools will be required to show how they are providing equal access to PE for girls to take part in a PE “kitemark scheme” that recognises and rewards schools for developing school sport opportunities, the government has announced.
The government said its School Sport and Activity Action Plan aims to support teachers and schools to deliver two hours of high-quality PE and provide “competitive and extracurricular opportunities to both girls and boys”.
But headteachers leaders have expressed concerns about shoe-horning two hours of sport into an already packed curriculum, and the Youth Sport Trust, charged with administering the kitemark scheme, said the plan ”should only be seen as the first step”.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said it was “absolutely vital” that there is no gender divide in opportunities to participate in sport.
“We welcome any action to ensure that schools have the investment and support to deliver high-quality PE and sport to girls and boys, and ensure all pupils have equal access,” he said.
“Schools already strive to provide high-quality PE and sports but they face general funding constraints, which this programme does not address, and government-prescribed curriculum demands, which mean that timetables are extremely congested.
“There does need to be a comprehensive review of the curriculum to achieve a timetable which balances all the competing demands, and this must be backed up with improved funding which schools are able to use to put in place the staffing and facilities needed to deliver all demands on them.”
School sport action plan ‘only the first step’
Youth Sport Trust CEO Ali Oliver said: “There is much we welcome in this action plan, not least the clear, unequivocal statement, PE and sport is integral to what makes an excellent school. The significant commitment to investment, alongside clear expectations and accountability, is much needed.
“However, we believe this should only be seen as the first step - less than half of children and young people meet the chief medical officer’s guidance of 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day, which impacts on their physical and mental health, as well as progress and achievement in the classroom.
“The Youth Sport Trust stands ready, alongside partners, to work with schools and the government over the longer term to increase opportunities for activity throughout the school day, ensure equal access and develop an understanding that children learn better when they are active.”
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, said schools do much to help ensure that pupils are physically active and get to experience new sports for the first time, and are committed to ensuring that girls get equality of access,
“We know that millions of girls and young women are already participating in sports through their schools, and with the Lionesses set to inspire even more in this summer’s football World Cup, it is crucial we build on that.
“Setting an arbitrary target for the number of hours of sport there should be in school each week is, however, unhelpful.
“Many school leaders will wonder how they will be able to accommodate this within an already packed curriculum amid all the other pressures they are facing. We cannot simply keep heaping more expectations on schools without thinking about what we will take away.”
Research by Women in Sport and the Youth Sport Trust from January 2021 found that only 56 per cent of girls enjoyed taking part in school sport, compared with 71 per cent of boys, reinforcing evidence that girls find school sports intimidating and unwelcoming.
Meanwhile, efforts to halt the rising tide of obesity were failing. The Health Survey of England 2021 revealed that 10.1 per cent of Reception-age children were obese, with a further 12.1 per cent overweight. At Year 6, 23.4 per cent were obese and 14.3 per cent overweight.
The Department for Education said the new plan will also recognise schools that are raising daily activity levels. Currently less than half of children and young people meet the chief medical officer’s guidance of 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day.
The School Games Mark is a government-funded kitemark award scheme administered by the Youth Sport Trust that rewards schools for their commitment to the development of school sport. The DfE and Department for Culture, Media and Sport are collaborating with the Youth Sport Trust to add 21 equality criteria to the School Games Mark that will cover curricular and extracurricular sport provision.
In the 2021-22 academic year around 8,000 schools engaged with the School Games Mark.
Promoting equality in sport
The DfE said that equality criteria will be phased into the award scheme from this September, and made mandatory from September 2024.
Schools will be awarded either bronze, silver, gold or platinum, and the Youth Sport Trust will publish data annually on how many schools are achieving the award.
“Schools will be recognised for showing intent to improve their equal access to PE and sport and they will achieve higher awards when they are able to evidence that they have delivered sport equally to pupils matching the demand from the pupils to the opportunities offered during school PE time and extracurricular activities,” the plan states.
While there are no financial awards for participation, successful schools will be able to use a School Games Mark logo on letterheads and school websites. They will also receive a formal certificate and a “celebratory GIF which you can share on social media to further celebrate your success”.
The School Sports Mark will “recognise schools that create positive sporting experiences across all sports for young people, supporting them to be active for 60 minutes a day” and provide a minimum of two hours PE and equal access to sports during the school day and additional extracurricular activities. “We will celebrate this with an annual moment of recognition in National School Sports Week, led by the Youth Sport Trust,” the plan says.
Education secretary Gillian Keegan said she wants the plan to encourage more girls to follow in the footsteps of their national sporting heroes. “As another nail-biting British summer of sport continues, with Markéta Vondroušová winning her first grand slam at Wimbledon, Heather Knight leading the women’s cricket team through the Ashes and our inspirational Lionesses still having all to play for in the World Cup, it’s so important our next generation not only see their heroes but have the opportunities to emulate them.
“Our School Sport and Activity Action Plan sets out how we will support schools to make sure girls and boys alike have those same great opportunities.”
New guidance also published alongside the action plan includes details of the digital tool to “help schools spend their allocation of the PE and Sport Premium to the best advantage of pupils”.
Headteachers can use this money to improve teacher training, offer more opportunities for pupils to take part in competition and expand the range of sports on offer at school.
On top of funding for the PE and Sport Premium, an extra £57 million is already supporting over 1,000 schools across England to open sport facilities outside of the school day. This fund is targeted at girls, disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and disabilities.
The DfE said it will publish further guidance later this year to support the delivery of equal access and two hours of PE per week.
