§ Ms WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) if she will set the proficiency standards in safety skills and survival required by key stage 2 in respect of school swimming; how she intends to ensure these standards are met; and what resources are made available;
(2) in respect of each local education authority, what assessment she has made of the achievement in respect of safety and skills and survival in respect of key stage 2 of the national curriculum; and which authorities and schools have failed to meet these standards.
§ Mr. ForthThe revised national curriculum for physical education requires that, by the age of 11, all pupils should be taught to swim unaided, competently and safely, for at least 25 m. They should also be taught the principles and skills of water safety and survival. These requirements begin to come into effect on 1 August 1996.
Detailed advice on safe practice in the teaching of swimming is included in the handbook "Safe Practice in Physical Education", which was first published in 1985 by the British Association of Advisers and Lecturers in Physical Education. A revised edition of the handbook was published in 1990 with the approval and recommendation of the, then, Department of Education and Science. The handbook includes advice about recommended teacher-tutor qualifications, supervision, pupils behaviour, pool safety and equipment. The handbook is currently subject to further revision and will be republished later this year.
The proficiency of individual pupils in reaching the standards prescribed in the national curriculum for physical education will be assessed by their teachers under arrangements which will be given statutory force in due course. The regular cycle of four-yearly inspections by the Office for Standards in Education will look, among other things, at each school's effectiveness in implementing the national curriculum, including the national curriculum for physical education. My right hon. Friend expects to begin to receive information about the standards achieved in relation to the national curriculum requirements, including safety skills, from the 1996–97 school year when these requirements come into force.
The Government have already supported with specific grant £900 million of local authority expenditure on the implementation of the national curriculum since 1989. It is up to schools and local education authorities to decide how to deploy their total resources in the light of local priorities and needs.