In this month’s Thought Starter blog Ali Oliver, CEO of Youth Sport Trust and Board member of the Sport for Development Coalition, reveals why the charity is supporting the cross-sector Open Goal campaign which will launch on April 6th, the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace.
This week the Department of Education published its new Schools White Paper. While it is good to see reference to an ambition for more sport as part of a richer school week, we would like to have seen this play a much more central role in this White Paper.
We feel this represents a missed opportunity – an ‘open goal’ missed, if you like – at a time when there is an urgent need for a change of approach to build back healthier, happier and more resilient young people following the pandemic.
OVERDUE
That’s why Youth Sport Trust has been helping to co-design, and will be supporting the launch of the Open Goal campaign on April 6th alongside its many partners across the Sport for Development Coalition. An ‘open goal’ is an easy or obvious solution, and we feel there is a long overdue need to recognise the fundamental role that play, sport and physical activity should fulfil in every child’s education and development. This has all too often been overlooked and marginalised in recent years which have seen hours of Physical Education cut, activity levels decline, and health problems rise.
The development of physical literacy must be put on a par with literacy and numeracy, recognising that it is essential to every child’s health, happiness and readiness to learn. We would urge the Education Secretary to recognise this in the Parental Pledge and wider ambition of the Schools White Paper.
The White Paper should also have provided an opportunity to address some of the uncertainty around funding for PE and school sport beyond this summer – particularly the future of the School Games Organiser network and the primary PE and Sport Premium.
The School Games have been one of the great legacies of London 2012 and Government funding has been critical to its success. For the past decade, this network of 450 School Games Organisers has helped to underpin school sport for young people in England. Without them, millions of opportunities for children to enjoy inclusive after-school sport would be lost, national governing bodies would lose a vital delivery partner, and in some areas obesity and mental health projects would be forced to cease.
Schools and School Games Organisers are concerned about the destabilising impact the uncertainty over funding will have if this has not been resolved. The Youth Sport Trust continues to call for Government to set out a long-term funding commitment for PE and school sport, and – at least in the short term – give immediate confirmation that funding for this vital network will continue beyond this summer.
Read the Schools White Paper in full.
Find out more at youthsporttrust.org.
