Education CommitteeWritten evidence submitted by King Harold Academy
Summary:
1. On Thursday 23 May, approx. 60 students from King Harold Academy* in Essex took part in a discussion about 2012 legacy and school sport and shared their views by answering questions from the Education Select Committee’s children and young people’s survey.
2. There were a variety of views from a wide range of students (groups from Y10, Y8 and Y7) about the impact of 2012 outside of London, not all positive. There was a widespread feeling that football is the dominant sport and “always will be”.
3. That said, it was also felt that 2012 had created some “idols” such as Mo Farah, Usain Bolt and Jessica Ennis who would inspire the next generation.
4. Most of the students didn’t think they did enough sport in school and felt that facilities needed to be improved to encourage more participation.
5. The following notes and quotes are those gathered by the students during the class discussion, reflecting the students’ views on their London 2012 memories, interest in sport and PE experiences at school.
London 2012 Memories:
6. Tom Daley jumping in the swimming pool.
7. Jessica Enis & Mo Farah winning gold.
8. number of tourists and visitors coming to London.
London 2012—An Inspiration
9. Some students did feel inspired—felt like they can become gold medal winners and wanting to do more sport.
10. The GB Olympic team “did our country proud” and made everybody happy while the Olympics were on.
11. Some felt the effect was short-lived though, perhaps lasting only six months after the end of the Game before everything went back to normal.
Did they start to go running/swimming etc or join a local sports club/school sports team? Or did the effect quickly fade once the Games were over?
12. Some students said they had become more sporty/active in the wake of the Games, but the majority said it had made little impact.
13. A vocal minority just wanted to do more football, preferably all-year round!
14. There was a feeling that the area was lacking in local sports clubs and that links between school sport and community sport were virtually non-existent. Not too difficult to find a football club, but that’s about it.
How important is school sport? What do they think of the provision of school sport?
15. Most pupils wanted to do more than 2 hours a week, with either 3 or 4 hours felt a better solution.
16. Dance was popular with many of the girls in the group, but school has had to get rid of its dance teacher so many had stopped doing it.
17. Felt that the teaching was of good quality but equipment was old and needed updating/replacing—things like rounders bats, better changing facilities etc.
18. Would like a swimming pool!
19. Would like a wider range of sports to be offered—baseball, golf, more opportunities to play cricket.
20. Some did have an understanding that funding was an issue—that more equipment/coaches/teachers costs money which school might not have.
What do they think the government should do to make sure there is a proper school sport legacy from 2012?
21. One suggestion which got lots of support was for professional athletes/footballers etc to come into the school and coach/mentor/speak to pupils—this really would be “inspirational”.
22. A feeling that class sizes are too big and prevent better skills coaching etc. PE could be done in smaller groups to allow better coaching for each pupil—more PE teachers would help to do this.
* Plashet School is a mixed academy in Waltham Abbey, Essex. The school has been involved in BBC News School Report for the last three years. Students involved in this school sport discussion were a mixture of Years 7, 8 and 10.