§ 20. Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will make a statement on the playing of sports in schools. [66794]
§ Mr. BanksSport in schools is essential for a broad and balanced education to which all children are entitled.
I want schools to provide more opportunities for their pupils to take part in sporting activities. It is important that young people have access to a range of physical activities within and beyond the school curriculum.
Sport in schools is a key feature of our sport strategy paper and we are collaborating with the Department for Education and Employment, who have sole responsibility for the National Curriculum, to determine how school sporting activities can best be focused and supported. We have invigorated a range of initiatives to achieve this; these include the Sportsmark award scheme for high quality school sport, a new scheme for primary schools, the Sporting Ambassadors programme of visits to schools by prominent sportsmen and women and Study Support 454W for example in Premier League Football Clubs. We have also fed into the current review of the National Curriculum by the QCA.