This morning, the Government published its School Sport and Activity Action plan, setting out its two-year plan to support teachers and schools to deliver two hours of high-quality PE and provide extra-curricular sport and competitive opportunities for all pupils.
The Department for Education, working with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Health and Social Care has committed to publishing guidance and tools to support primary and secondary schools to overcome current barriers and deliver equal access and two hours of PE per week.
The Action Plan also states that at the end of the Opening School Facilities programme in March 2025, Active Partnerships and consortium partners will publish a practical guide with details of how schools can effectively use their sport facilities to increase the participation rates of some of the most inactive groups.
Additional guidance also published today, 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.
The full document can be viewed here.
Gary Palmer, London Sport’s Strategic Lead for Children and Young People said:
“We welcome the Government’s commitment to deliver high-quality PE and sport for all pupils and the School Sport and Activity Action Plan which will support teachers and schools to achieve this.
Positive experiences at an early age are so influential on a young person’s attitudes towards sport and physical activity throughout their lives and we hope that this commitment will ensure that more Young Londoners experiences of sport in school will feel fun, positive, give them all a real sense of confidence and make them more likely to be active throughout their lifetime.
It is also vital that young people have access to spaces where they feel comfortable being active, safe from harm and judgement. Creating more safe spaces for young people has been at the forefront of our work at London Sport, whether that be in the 176 schools using funding from the Department of Education for the ‘Opening School Facilities’ programme or in the many community groups working with us to make safe spaces for girls.
We must take this opportunity to work collaboratively with like-minded organisations to help more young people to build a positive relationship with sport and physical activity, irrespective of their gender, background, ability or disability. I hope that this plan can be the first step to ensuring equal access and that this in time will increase the likelihood that sport and physical activity becomes a habit for life for more Londoners”.
For more information around our work with Children and Young People, please contact Gary on [email protected]
About London Sport
London Sport is a charity that exists to help all Londoners live longer, healthier and happier lives through being active.
Our focus is on children and adults in the most deprived communities who face the greatest challenges of inequality. With physical inactivity responsible for 1 in 6 premature deaths, we want to help every Londoner find their way to move more.
We are supported by Sport England and the Mayor of London, and collaborate with London’s local authorities and other organisations to provide better access to sport and physical activity across the capital.
