§ 15. Mr. John Bercow (Buckingham)If he will make a statement on the promotion of swimming in schools. [123684]
§ The Minister for Sport (Kate Hoey)Swimming is important in its own right as a school sport and as an essential safety tool. That is why it remains a compulsory element of the national curriculum for physical education, which requires that, by the age of 11, pupils should be able to swim 25 m and should be aware of the principles of water safety.
§ Mr. BercowI speak as someone who swims badly but persistently five times a week at the Living Well health club at No. 4 Millbank. Does the hon. Lady accept that I and many of my right hon. and hon. Friends are concerned about the diminution in opportunities in schools to participate in swimming? Will she guarantee to arrest the tide? Will she take this opportunity to spell out the importance not only of swimming in general, but of the excellent sport of synchronised swimming in particular?
§ Kate HoeyThe only information that the hon. Gentleman has not given me is the time that he goes swimming at the health centre, but I agree about the importance of swimming. Last October, I raised my concerns with Chris Woodhead of the Office for Standards in Education to encourage him and Ofsted to do more in terms of section 10 inspections of school swimming. It is something that a number of Members are interested in. Ofsted has now introduced an extra focused inspection on swimming. We will get the results of that very soon. They will be announced shortly.
Having watched synchronised swimming, I support it very much. It is a sport that requires a huge amount of physical effort; it is very demanding indeed.