§ Mr. CotterTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what steps he has taken to promote and encourage the teaching of swimming in schools; [159932]
(2) what proportion of pupils in England undertake swimming lessons as part of the national curriculum. [159933]
§ Jacqui SmithWe do not hold specific figures on the proportion of pupils in England who take swimming lessons, as swimming is a compulsory part of the PE activities only at Key Stage 2 of the National Curriculum, unless pupils have met the full Key Stage 2 requirements during Key Stage 1. After Key Stage 2, it remains one of six physical activity areas. The Ofsted report on swimming at Key Stage 2, published in November 2000, showed that well over four out of five of the schools inspected provided adequate time for swimming. It also reported that four out of five children are able to swim 25 metres at the end of Key Stage 2. This was good news, but we acknowledge that we need to work with schools726W to make even more opportunities available for more children to be able to swim 25 metres by the time they reach secondary school.
Swimming and water safety are important life skills, and we are investing heavily in school sport, and swimming will benefit. The Government's commitment includes £580 million in England (out of a total of £750 million in the UK) from the New Opportunities Fund for sport in and around schools and up to £130 million to create multi-purpose sports and arts facilities in around 300 primary schools.
We have also established a Swimming Advisory Group, involving representatives of the swimming associations, Ofsted, QCA and DCMS, to discuss what more can be done to create even more opportunities for children to swim. We hope to announce proposals that will increase the numbers of children who can swim by the end of Key Stage 2, before the end of the year.