School partnerships improve sports activity for pupils: survey

More pupils are taking up PE and sport as a result of school sport partnerships, according to a government survey.

The partnerships, part of the government's strategy for PE and school sport, are groups of schools working together to increase sports opportunities for all school children. They already include 8,000 schools and the government aims to have 400 partnerships, covering the whole of England, in place by September 2006.

Pupils in participating schools can choose from a wider variety of activities -the schools surveyed offer 43 different sports in total - and benefit from high quality teaching, more competition, out of school opportunities and volunteering schemes, the government said.

The survey showed that 68% of pupils in schools that have been in a partnership for three years were spending at least two hours each week on high quality PE and school sport in and after school, rising to 90% at Key Stage 3. This compares to 52% for schools new to the programme.

Charles Clarke, Secretary of State for Education and Skills, said: "Sport matters in schools. It's good for health and good for skills such as playing in a team.

"This survey shows school sport is entering a new league. For years it was run down by lack of investment. We are now putting in resources and sport is on the increase. We have a way to go but we are getting there."

The survey involved the 1,807 schools in the first 31 partnerships that were set up in September 2000, including the first schools and those that had been members for a matter of weeks, when partnerships expanded to their full size in September 2003.

(gmcg)