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Welcome

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to The Bench Report, UK politics straight from the benches. We are your hosts, Amy and Ivan. Now, our producer, Tom, he plays a bit of football.

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He does.

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Mentioned us to his teammate, a PE teacher. And the first thing this guy asks.

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Oh, yeah. I remember Tom telling us about this.

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Yeah. What about all these playing fields disappearing?

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It's a good question, actually.

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It is a good question. Yeah. So Tom being Tom said he'd look into it.

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He loves a challenger, Tom.

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And so here we are. This one's for you, Mr. Harrison.

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Mr. Harrison, that seemingly simple question about playing fields. Well. It's a bit of a rabbit hole, isn't it? Because when you start looking at what's happening with school sports in the UK, it's not just about patches of grass vanishing. It's about a whole system. You've got the rules about what schools have to provide, then what they're actually teaching in PE lessons, where the money to do all this comes from, and whether kids are even getting active in the first place. So we're going to try to unpack all of that.

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Exactly. You know, Tom came back with his research. There is a lot to this. It's far more than just whether a school has a field or not.

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Oh, much more.

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So we are going to look at the regulations around school and what the curriculum expects for PE, how school sports are funded, and what's the reality for kids' activity levels.

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Let's start with the thing that got you asking the question in the first place, Mr. Harrison. the playing fields. Now, the first thing to realize is that the rules around this have actually changed. Back in October, 2012, things shifted a bit. It used to be all about having specific minimum sizes for playing fields, but now it's more about making sure there's suitable outdoor space, not just for playing, but also specifically for teaching PE. So the big question now is less about how much land a school has and more about whether that space is actually right for what they need to do.

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So it's about quality, not just quantity.

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Absolutely.

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So if a school does want to get rid of some of its land, what has to happen? What's the process there? Because I imagine that's a big part of Mr. Harrison's concern.

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It is a big deal, and rightly so. Any state-funded school wanting to sell off land, and that includes playing fields, they have to get consent from the Secretary of State for Education and the DFE, the Department for Education. They've got guidelines on this whole process. One of the key things is that whoever's applying to sell this land, they have to show that there's going to be a sporting or a playing benefit to make up for the lost space. You can't just sell it off for housing or whatever and say, tough luck. They have to show they've minimized the loss, not just in how much land goes, but also the quality of what's left.

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So there are safeguards there.

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There are.

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That's good to hear. And it's worth saying, just to put Mr. Harrison's mind at ease a bit, that no currently open school has ever been allowed to sell off all of its playing fields. That's good. That's good. It's not a complete free-for-all.

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No.

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Do we know how often this actually happens? How many schools do get permission to dispose of playing fields?

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We do. For 2022, the latest year we have data for, there were 20 applications to get rid of school land. And remember, this includes playing fields as well that were given the green light.

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20?

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Yeah. So it gives us a concrete figure.

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So it's not a huge amount, but it does happen. OK, so that's the land itself. But what about what's actually meant to be going on on that land in the sports hall in the gym? Let's talk about physical education in the national curriculum. What are the rules there?

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So in your standard state-maintained schools, PE, it's compulsory part of the national curriculum. Every kid's got to do it. Academies and free school, they've got a bit more wiggle room. They don't have to stick to the national curriculum exactly, but they're required to offer a broad and balanced curriculum that includes stuff to help their students' physical development.

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Okay. So it has to be in there.

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Yeah.

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In some form or another. Yeah. So what are the aims of PE in the national curriculum? What should schools be trying to achieve with all this?

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The aims are pretty ambitious, actually. Yeah. They want kids to be competent in a whole range of physical activities, obviously, but also to be active for long periods, to be able to get involved in competitive sports if they want to, and ultimately to lead healthy, active lives.

SPEAKER_01: 4:13

Right. So it's instilling that in them, getting them into it. Yeah. Embedding it. Okay. And how does what's taught change as kids go through school? Do they start off, I don't know, doing, you know, egg and spoon races and end up, I don't know.

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Well, hopefully something a bit more challenging.

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Yeah, exactly.

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Yeah. So in key stage one, that's your five to seven year olds, the little ones. A lot of it's about fundamental movements. You're running, jumping, throwing, catching, learning to control your body, developing balance, coordination, that kind of thing. They also start getting into really simple teen games. So under understanding really basic tactics and, you know, a bit of dance thrown in there.

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So very, very basic.

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Yeah. Getting those foundations in place.

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And then, so that's key stage one, five to seven.

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Then you move into key stage two. So that's seven to 11 year olds. And obviously they're going to be building on those basic skills, using them in more, I guess, complex ways and applying them to proper sports, your football, netball, cricket, all that good stuff. They're also working on their flexibility and strength, things like athletics and gymnastics. They might get into more intricate dance routines and maybe some outdoor adventurous activities. And one really important thing at primary school level, either in Key Stage 1 or Key Stage 2, is swimming instruction. And the aim here is that every child should be able to swim at least 25 meters.

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So that is a big, that is a big game, isn't it? The swimming, that 25 meter thing.

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Yeah.

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You hear a lot about that so that by the time they leave primary school, they can do that distance comfortably using different strokes and also know what to do if they get into trouble in the water.

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Yeah. The water safety aspect.

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Yeah.

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Huge. Okay. So primary, key stage two, seven to 11, they're doing all that. And then you get up to secondary school, key stage three, four. What are the expectations there? Okay. So key stage three, they're 11 to 14 and they're starting to get into more advanced tactics, strategies in their team games and individual sports as well. They're refining those skills in competition and they're doing more challenging outdoor adventurous activities, often with a focus on teamwork. And then by the time they get to key stage four, 14 to 16, they're continuing all that. They're supposed to be developing their skills even further, broadening out what they can do, still getting involved in those outdoor pursuits. And crucially, by this point, there's an expectation that they're actually participating in some kind of competitive sport outside of school as well.

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Right. So through clubs and...

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Exactly. Through local clubs and organizations.

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Yeah. Oh, okay. So there's a clear kind of pathway.

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Yeah.

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Now, there's been a lot of talk about how much PE time schools actually give students. I mean, what's the reality versus what we've just said is the curriculum? What's the situation there?

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It's a bit of a mixed bag, actually. The government encourages schools to offer at least two hours a week, but it's not a legal requirement. It's guidance.

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Right. OK.

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It's one of those things where they say you should, but they don't say you must. Now, we get some data from the school workforce census, and this tells us how much PE is taught by qualified teachers in secondary schools. And what we see is actually A bit of a decrease in those hours between 2010 and 2019. Oh,

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really?

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Yeah. There has been a slight upward trend more recently. In a typical week in November 2022, around 286,000 hours of PE were taught in secondary schools. So that's up from 281,600 hours in 2018. But it's still lower than the 333,800 hours they recorded back in 2010.

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Oh, so it dipped.

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It did dip.

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And it's come up a little bit.

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Yeah, a little bit.

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But not to where it was before.

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No, not to 2010 levels. And there have been some concerns raised about that. There was a BBC report in August 2023 that highlighted this decrease compared with earlier years. And organizations like the Youth Sport Trust, they've said they're worried this could have a negative impact on young people's well-being.

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Well, I imagine so because, I mean, there's the physical benefits of exercise and all that, but there's also the mental. One thing that I think is really important and something I'm sure Mr. Harrison would agree with is making sure every student has equal access to these opportunities. So what's the situation for girls and boys doing PE?

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This has become a bit of a hot topic, actually. And the government is saying very clearly that it expects schools to provide equal opportunities in PE for both boys and girls. And that includes offering the same sports if that's what students want. This is even reflected in the school games, Mark, which is like this award schools can get. It's got a quality criteria now to recognize schools that are getting this balance right. And there's been a big push for this with campaigns like hashtag let girls play, especially after the lionesses success.

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Huge for women's football.

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Yeah.

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Yeah, absolutely. OK, so we talked about the regulations around playing fields. We've talked about the PE curriculum. But the other big question in all this is money. How's all this paid for? Where does the funding for PE and school sports come from?

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OK, so the core funding for school sports in general, it's just part of this big pot called the Dedicated Schools Grant. They don't break it down specifically for PE, but it's in there somewhere. But since 2013-14, primary schools have been getting this extra bit of cash called the Primary PE and Sport Premium.

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Oh, right.

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And this got a huge boost in 2017-18. It basically doubled. thanks to money from the levy on sugary drinks. And the government has said they're committed to this premium until at least the end of the 2024-25 academic year.

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Okay. So that's just for primary schools, though?

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Yeah, just for primary schools.

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Okay. And what are they supposed to spend that money on?

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They can't just use it for anything.

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Right.

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It has to be for additional and sustainable improvements to PE, sport, and physical activity. So not just covering the cost of the normal curriculum or paying for teachers to do their planning, it's extra stuff. And And schools are held accountable for this. Ofsted will look at it when they inspect schools. And schools have to publish on their website how they've used the money and what difference it's made.

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So they can't just pocket it.

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No, they can't just stick it in their back pocket and go down the pub. No. And how much is it? How much are we talking?

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Yeah.

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So in this academic year, 2023-24, small primary schools with 16 or fewer pupils get a grant of 1,000 pounds per pupil.

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Oh, right.

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And larger schools get a lump sum of 16,000 pounds plus an extra tenner per pupil.

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So it's not insubstantial, is it?

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Not bad.

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You could do quite a lot with that.

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You could.

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I mean, has there been any research on whether it's actually making a difference, this premium?

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Yeah, there has. The DFE, they published a research report in 2018 looking at the impact of the premium, and it suggested that it has led to primary school staff feeling more confident about teaching PE. More schools are offering a wider variety of sports to their pupils. More pupils are doing at least 30 minutes of physical activity during the school day, and in some schools, it's even led to an increase in curriculum time for PE. Now, schools said they mostly use this money for equipment, training their staff and putting on more after-school sports clubs. But the report also highlighted some challenges. Schools said they sometimes struggled with lack of space, facilities, teachers not having the skills or confidence in certain areas, and just the general pressure of trying to fit everything into the school day.

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Yeah, always the curriculum time.

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Yeah.

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Now, I did read somewhere that some people are worried that schools might be using this premium to just bring in external sports coaches rather than training up their own staff.

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There was a report in 2019 by this group called the All-Party Parliamentary Group on a Fit and Healthy Childhood. And they raised this very point. They were worried about this trend of schools essentially outsourcing P.E. to coaches, which they said could affect the quality of teaching and you might get inconsistencies in what kids are learning. They even suggested maybe renaming the premium to include physical activity to encourage a broader approach.

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So not just.

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Not just. Not just sport. Yeah. More about physical activity in general. And they said headteachers should be made more accountable for how they're using the cash.

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OK. So keeping an eye on that. Yeah. Was there any other funding for school sports that's been around recently?

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There was this thing called the Healthy Pupils Capital Fund, which which was paid for by the sugary drinks levy. That was supposed to be for improving facilities, things like sports halls or kitchens, to help schools provide healthy meals. But that pot of money got slashed from 415 million quid down to 100 million, and it was only a one-off thing for the 2018-19 school year. And it's worth remembering that the ring-fenced funding for school-sport partnerships, these were partnerships between schools to coordinate sports activities, well, that got scrapped back in 2010-2011 by the coalition government.

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Oh, so there's been some to-ing and fro-ing.

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Yeah, a bit of chopping and changing.

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Yeah. Okay. Now, moving away from what's happening in schools specifically, what's the big picture when it comes to kids' activity levels in the U.K.? Are they generally active or not?

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You'd think that with all this emphasis on P.E. and school sports, kids would be super active.

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Well,

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But the data paints a slightly more complicated picture. So the UK chief medical officers recommend that kids and teenagers, five to 18, they should be doing at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day. And the Sport England Active Lives survey for the 2021-22 academic year found that around 47% of kids were actually meeting that target. which is roughly similar to pre-pandemic levels. But that means over half aren't.

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That's more than half.

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Yeah.

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Okay.

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And about 30% of kids are doing less than 30 minutes a day.

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Oh, wow.

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So a lot of kids are missing out.

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Yeah. Are there any particular groups that are less active than others?

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Unfortunately, there are. The survey shows that boys are generally more active than girls, and kids from richer families tend to be more active than those from poorer backgrounds. And there are also differences between ethnic groups and age groups. For example, activity levels are generally lower amongst younger primary school kids, years three and four, and amongst black boys in primary school. And while a 2019-20 survey found that 65% of 5- to 15-year-olds had taken part in competitive school sport in the past year, that still leaves a chunk who haven't.

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There are gaps.

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There are gaps.

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And it's not just down to what's happening in school. There are all these other factors at play.

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Yeah.

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Okay. Now, what has Ofsted found in their reviews of PB in schools?

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So they did this subject review in September 2023, specifically on PE, and it was quite interesting. They found that most primary schools are hitting that two hours a week target, but only about half of secondary schools are. And they also said the quality of teaching is a bit variable, and some schools don't have a clear, well-structured curriculum. And they said there's a real lack of challenge and rigor in the compulsory PE that's offered at Key Stage 4.

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Oh, so by the time they get to 14, it's not stretching them enough.

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No.

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Okay. And what did they suggest schools could do to address these issues?

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So Ofsted said that. Any decisions about funding, it needs to be based on evidence, and it should be focused on making sure staff have got the right skills and knowledge. And they were big on professional development for teachers, making sure that's informed by how well students are actually doing. And they said schools should use extracurricular activities to go a bit deeper with the learning. So don't just rely on those PE lessons. And they were particularly keen to see improvements in swimming and water safety.

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Okay, so it's about quality and making sure that the money is being used strategically.

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Yeah.

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Now, what about the people on the front lines? What about the Association of Physical Education? What's their take on all of this?

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The FPE, they put out a report in 2021 where they basically said PE needs an urgent review. They actually said it should be classed as a core subject. So up there with English, maths and science. Their argument is that this would give PE the status it deserves and it would make sure it's taken seriously in schools.

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That would be a big shift, wouldn't it?

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Yeah.

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OK, so, Mr. Harrison, bringing all this back to your question. about playing fields disappearing.

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Yeah.

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It seems like while that is a real issue, it's only one part of a much, much bigger story.

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It is. And it's good that you asked it.

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Yeah.

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Because it made us delve into all these other things. Like you said, we've looked at how the rules around playing fields have changed. They're more about having the right space now, not just So, Mr. Harrison.

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For you, listening at home, what's the takeaway from all this? It's clear that there are policies and funding in place to support physical activity in schools, but it's not always straightforward. There are issues around consistency, making sure there's enough time for PE, and that all kids get equal opportunities. And this is about more than just whether there's a playing field available.

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This deep dive, Mr. Harrison, it's shown that this whole situation is complex and it's constantly evolving. Yeah. And while it's understandable to be concerned about losing play It's all tied up with these wider trends in PE, how it's funded, and a constant push to get kids more active. So the intention is there, but actually making it work, making sure every child benefits. That's the ongoing challenge.

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It's complicated. So, Mr. Harrison, we hope this has given you some food for thought about playing fields, PE in schools, and the bigger picture of physical activity. It's something that affects us all, doesn't it?

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It does. And it raises this big question for everyone. How can we work together to make sure all kids have the chance and the encouragement to develop a love of being active that will last a lifetime? Because that's what we really want, isn't

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it? Absolutely. Well, we've given you plenty to think about there, Mr. Harrison.

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We have.

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As always, shape our next episode and get in touch.

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We love hearing from you.

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Bye.

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See you next time.

UNKNOWN: 18:07

Bye.