Letter to the Chairman of the
Committee from the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Select committee hearing on the 2003 DCMS annual report
When I appeared before the Committee last month to
give evidence on my Department's annual report for 2003, I undertook
to provide a note on the present and projected roll-out of School
Sport Partnerships. I believe that it would be helpful if, in
so doing, I set them in the context of the national strategy for
PE, school sport and club links. I would also like to say a little
more on veteran sport following my exchange with Alan Keen.
PE, school sport and club links
The national strategy will deliver the 2002 PSA target
that I share with Charles Clarke to enhance the take-up of sporting
opportunities by five- to 16-year-olds by increasing the percentage
of school children who spend a minimum of two hours each week
on high-quality PE and school sport within and beyond the curriculum
from 25% in 2002 to 75% by 2006. It is underpinned by eight distinct
but interrelated workstrands. Two of these will establish a national
infrastructure for PE and school sport:
- specialist sports colleges
are creating local centres of best practice and raising whole-school
standards through PE and sport. There are currently 228 sports
colleges and three academies that specialise in sport. Subject
to sufficient high-quality applications, we aim for there to be
a total of 400 by September 2005; and
- School Sport Partnerships are families of schools—typically
made up of a specialist sports college, eight secondary schools
and around 45 primary or special schools—that come together
to enhance sports opportunities for all. There are currently 222
Partnerships involving some 1,280 secondary schools and 6,750
primary or special schools. We aim for there to be 380 Partnerships
involving three quarters of all maintained schools in England
-some 2,400 secondary schools and 13,500 primary or special schools—by
September 2005. Subject to the outcome of the 2004 Spending Review,
we would hope there to be 400 Partnerships involving all maintained
schools in England by September 2006.
The remaining six strands provide schools with tools
to enable them to deliver the entitlement to two hours of high-quality
PE and school sport to all of their pupils:
- professional development is
giving teachers and other adults the necessary skills to deliver
high-quality PE and school sport and, in so doing, to raise whole-school
standards and support healthy lifestyles. It is currently being
piloted in 30 Local Education Authorities, and we aim for it to
reach all 150 LEAs by the 2005-06 academic year;
- club links is working with governing bodies of
sport to improve the existing arrangements for guiding young people
from school sport to community sports clubs. It currently involves
the governing bodies for seven sports in nine of the 45 county
sports partnerships, and we aim for it to involve an expanded
range of sports in all 45 county sports partnerships by September
2005;
- Step into Sport is encouraging children, young
people and adults to begin and continue an involvement in sports
leadership and volunteering at the same time as encouraging governing
bodies, county sports partnerships and clubs to develop and implement
volunteering strategies. It is currently active in 200 School
Sport Partnerships, and we are currently considering how to extend
its impact over the period 2004-06;
- gifted and talented is improving the range and
quality of teaching, coaching and learning for talented young
sports people in order to raise their aspirations and improve
their performance, motivation and self-esteem. It is currently
active in 44 School Sport Partnerships, and we aim for it to extend
to 320 Partnerships by March 2006;
- swimming is ensuring that more children can meet
the statutory requirement to be able to swim 25 metres by the
age of 11. We have launched a swimming and water-safety website
and delivered two pilot top-up schemes, and we aim to publish
a swimming charter in the very near future; and
- the QCA investigation is exploring and developing
ways of improving the quality of PE and school sport and investigating
the impact that high-quality PE and school sport have on young
people and schools. It has produced guidance on delivering and
evaluating the impact of the two-hour entitlement, and we aim
for it to produce further guidance on how partnership working
and community links can support that delivery.
The largest data-collection exercise concerning PE
and school sport ever undertaken in England—involving some
8,000 schools—is now under way, and we will report for the
first time on progress toward the PSA target at Easter 2004 in
the annual report on the implementation of the Government's Plan
for Sport.
The national strategy is being delivered at a time
when the Government is seeking to transform education and reverse
the alarming growth in childhood obesity. In total, more than
£1 billion will be invested in PE and school sport by 2006.
Charles and I are both determined and confident that, by working
in partnership with children, parents, schools, local authorities,
governing bodies and clubs, we will deliver on our commitment.
Veteran sport
"Game plan: a strategy for delivering Government's
sport and physical activity objectives," published by my
Department and the Strategy Unit in December 2002, refers specifically
to older people in recommending increased participation in sport
and physical activity. A good example of a project aimed at this
is the Nottingham-based Local Exercise Action Pilot (LEAP), which
is being funded by the Department of Health, the Countryside Agency
and Sport England to test initiatives in the community.
However, we need to do more in this area. We know
that physical activity declines with age and that demographic
shifts point toward an older population over the next 20 years.
It is important that we build on existing good practice and develop
innovative approaches to sustain lifelong participation in sport
and physical activity. This is an area that the cross-Whitehall
Activity Coordination Team, led jointly by my Department and the
Department of Health, is currently exploring.
January 2004
