Is school sport in crisis?

The Olympics are supposed to give competitive sport in schools a boost. However, reductions in government means that children are doing less than before

The man and the boy raised his arms in greeting, before closing to participate. Obtained against each other for a few seconds before a child darts into the chest of the man with the tip of the black plastic sheet. This is a slot perfectly executed. In a soft yellow light in a hallway of an elementary school in Tower Hamlets, East London, eight boys and one girl is getting to the fence. Inevitably, there are laughs, as masks to follow, and children should be discouraged to cut each sheet as pirates with machetes. His coach, Hijrat Popal, are deterred from this waste of energy. They are encouraged to go and kill an attacking movement in place. It makes them pay attention to your footwork, and children begin to learn the lessons of this sport, balance, coordination, agility,

As London prepares to host the Olympics, which would encourage such scenes are repeated in schools across the country. But they are not. School sport is suffering. Competitions were canceled. After school clubs are scrapping. Physical education teachers receive less training. And austerity measures the government is blamed.

One of the most unpopular acts Education Secretary Michael Gove was the abolition of the national network of sports clubs at school. There were groups of schools working together to improve the quality and variety of sports offered to children. In each case, a high school teacher of physical education has been given two days a week to act as coordinator, while the teacher in each primary school has been paid to receive additional training in physical education and sport.

A protest by teachers and athletes forced the Secretary of Education to keep the system going until last summer. Gove has agreed a new concession - to bring in the supply of money to release a high school teacher for one day a week. In some parts of the country, schools have pooled resources to support these associations, the release of employment of teachers and coaches to run sports sessions. This happened in Tower Hamlets. In addition, school sports, are affected.

Simon Spiers, director of specialist King's College Sports Wantage Alfred, New York, said: "In areas where the directors of elementary and secondary schools believe is important, If you finance, they are not .. We are in our first year of this, so that differences are not so great. But if this continues we will see a great disparity. "

is a very sensitive issue for the government. And not just for the usual reasons that the affairs of the school sports: the fact that one in five children leaves primary school obese, or exercise that improves the behavior and attention. One of the promises that helped win the Olympics in London was the promise to "inspire young people around the world to choose sport." The Secretary of Culture Jeremy Hunt, whose firm includes brief the Olympics, said the last year: "I can sum up our sports policy in three words: sport more competitive."

The government has set a new school games tournament - sponsored by Sainsbury - to the place national final, taking in the Olympic Park in May. Approximately 12,000 schools, both public and private, are signed by this, a government spokesman said. To put this in perspective, there are about 20,000 public schools in England.

is difficult to be precise about the impact of cuts, and at the same time, ministers of dismantling of sports associations, which got rid of the annual survey that collects information about each student . But when you talk to principals and sport coordinators survive, it becomes clear that - ironically, perhaps -. Competition between schools that suffer most from the

Jo Marston was as coordinator of school sport in Thirsk, North Yorkshire, after Gove, financial pulled the plug because the schools in your area of ??collaboration to maintain a sports club. Now she spends three days a week organizing school plays and the rest of the offer time faculty in the training guide.

"I noticed that there is much less attention in the events," says Marston. "We'll probably work on attendance of about 50% to 75%. This is because schools do not have money for transportation to game competitions, and can not release staff because" they have the money to pay for the supply, to take a class teacher outside of direct instruction for a competition. It hit us hard. "

Marston made clear that it is not a complainant. In fact, she feels privileged to have launched their local schools to maintain some competition, and believes that things are worse elsewhere. However, the fact that teachers can not be released during the day, we hear a lot of competition takes place after school hours. And some schools have simply abandoned.

"I had two Aquasplash [swimming and other aquatic skills] competition last week with four schools each. We did it before with nine or 10 schools. We had to cancel some skills because no one wanted to enter. I had three lots of gym athletics [internal], I had to cancel because no one came.

"This is what the government tries to increase, and we put in a position where they can not do. We do a lot of virtual links, which the school gives me the results and put them on the site, it's ridiculous -. what we're trying to focus on and increase, and take the necessary resources to be able to do "

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She describes the years of spending under Labour as "Happy Days", where primary schools, in particular, were introduced to a breadth and depth of competition has never seen before . "Primary schools have played football and basketball - now Aquasplash careers, entertainment, sports, hockey Quicksticks gym." The Daily Mail derided this diversity that schools ditching traditional sports of "cheerleading, yoga and circus arts", echoing criticism of the coalition that participation in sports such as rugby, hockey and netball fell under the previous government.

But less conventional sports often act as a bridge to the more familiar team games. Between 2003 and 2010, the number of high school students who play two or more hours of sport per week rose from 20% to 85%.

schools, in part, Marston North Yorkshire weather the cuts are "triangular" lights - on three sides of the school play at the event itself. Obviously this means that children are not playing as long as they would in a normal case. Marston also organized parties harmonized so that school teams can walk on other grounds rather than having to rent a bus.

• But small schools are struggling. "It's not fair. Some schools with 23 students do not have the resources to leave the competition. If you have a great school with 420 students, with a very large, [which is] able to leave the school and take the children. When you are in a rural, small schools are suffering. "
• it's the same story in the Lancashire coast, where schools have been forced to abandon a winter among the countries of the League. Attendance has declined in competitions, said Matt Hilton, coordinator of the Wyre and Fylde School Sports chain. As in North Yorkshire, this partnership is supported by local schools to join. But money is much tighter now.
• "We'll have to work differently because of the time we find ourselves," said Hilton. He reels off a list. There is no money for "the liberation of teachers, the hiring facilities, the purchase of certificates of medals, equipment hire. "He cites a recent indoor track competition in which 28 local primary schools participated. Before the cuts, about 35 schools that entered.

parents never asked to dip into their pockets. Floor Gavin, director of elementary school, Cullercoats Tyne and Wear, has canceled after school badminton clubs and dance, because their school can not afford external teachers. Instead, some of its volunteers to work after hours of football sessions and aerobics, while parents pay £ 2 a class for a gym membership.

Storey said. "I am very conscious of the economic situation that we want to have additional clubs because I have to ask parents to contribute to that, and people are struggling with the basic cost of household services, food, etc. "their neighborhood schools are still ongoing competitions, but they did. "A hockey competition used to pass at a regional level is now only for local schools - no movement at county and regional level, but want the competition for some of its elite teams The government wants more competition -? .. Where is the competition for the elite level "

Everyone talks about accepts that primary schools are worse than the side. They are based in secondary schools with the expertise to provide a broader range of activity of their children.

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