5 hrs a week

[rossendalemark]

well, my 8yr old step-daughter's school has just banned football in the playground before school (new headmaster ). They were doing really well too - swimming and judo as well as ordinary PE. They do however have a new sign with the rules of football on the wall! Bet the teachers love the kids now they don't blow off steam before school.
Scanigirl

We don't allow football in the playground before school as it's not supervised. Too much chance of hitting a younger child or parent. However the children are encouraged to be active at playtimes, with cricket, football, dodgeball and skipping. This takes a lot of effort but I think it is worth it. Although it's a primary school the behaviour of the children can be appalling if they are not occupied. The health benefits are an obvious spin off.

[daz h]

as we drove back from our fellrunning jaunt today the radio was on and a young lad was highlighting the problem that all the lesser talented youngsters tend to get bunched together whilst the better ones get picked for the school teams, this in turn means that if there doing a competition say in footie, the better ones get to play longer.
the lad was saying he gets 1hr a week

when i played for my school, i was in the Ateam for 5 years but we also had B and C teams which enabled everyone to have a bash and have a chance to improve, nowadays my sons school has no team so its left for parents and individuals to set them up with no backing, there is a thriving football community out there but it doesnt benefit the lesser talented youngsters at all, thats the problem, you need to be fairly good to get into one of these teams
i think one hill hit upon this point admirably

[Toreador]

To my mind we (or, at least, the government we elected) have failed this generation.

Well many of my generation (I'm 43) were also failed. Not by the Government of the time of course, as they sensibly kept out trying to micro-manage the syllabus. But by whoever it was that decided in our school that the only option available to us would be foopball.

So those of us who were incompetent at the sport just stood on the touchline for an hour at a time doing nothing. Result - boredom, no contribution to fitness, and a strongly ingrained idea that physical activity was something that other people did.

Once per year, we did a cross-country run (using the huge school playing fields that were otherwise largely unused, and an area of woodland at the end, owned by a generous parent. I loved this, and despite being a fat b*stard at the time, would finish in the top half of the field (a major success, relatively speaking).

But no-one cared, or even noticed, and it was another 20 years before I slowly began to discover the joys of hill-walking, climbing, and eventually running.

It would be nice to see the reaction of the PE staff if they saw the sort of thing I got up to these days. But I then again, they wouldn't know who I am. I suspect they didn't even know at the time...

[Margarine]

My experience too. The PE teachers were w**kers, most concerned to impress the girls: it was football a tiny bit of rugby and nowt else except cross country for when the teachers couldn't be arsed to go out - they just sent us off around thye block I didn't get into sport ubtil I left school - and it was more or less straight away.

[Dux de lux]

My experience too. The PE teachers were w**kers, most concerned to impress the girls: it was football a tiny bit of rugby and nowt else except cross country for when the teachers couldn't be arsed to go out - they just sent us off around thye block I didn't get into sport ubtil I left school - and it was more or less straight away.

Wow - that exactly sums up my secondary school sporting experiences. Rubbish. We once spent a whole term getting changed and changed back again cos some kid who didnt want to do it made a little bit of noise when there was supposed to be silence. 12 weeks of nothing at all. I love all kinds of sport now and that is despite those wankers responsible for teaching me PE at my secondary school

[daz h]

sounds like some of the blame is being put on the teachers on here
my experience was good at school
our sports teachers were excellent but yes i suppose not all teachers were good sports and p.e teachers.

in fact there was some hard b./..,..rds, one schoolmaster used to really lay into the boys that couldnt keep running , he used to make there life hell , i didnt think at the time but it must have been hard for them. i suppose he was a bully when all said and done.

[Toreador]

The best thing about my secondary school experience was for two years having the option of doing a whole afternoon a week of "Outdoor Pursuits".

Our headmaster wouldn't even let the Duke of Edinburgh people into the school, as he thought it was elitist!

[Potto]

I think that the amount and quality of PE done in schools depends on the school. I work in a Sports Specialist college and have just asked a few of the angels in the room how much PE they do and what they think of it. Pupils at KS4 (age 13+) do 5 hours a fortnight and if they pick it as an option then they will do 10 hours a fortnight. They love it and would not change it;
'Sir it keeps us fit'
'it makes us better at sport like'

The head here loves sports and backs it 100%. The school wins local and international sports competitions and gets the kids to places they would never go. There's a large range of sports and activities provided from rock climbing to street dance.

There have been countless studies linking sports with academic achievement and I think that this does become more prominent in urban areas where literacy is low and kids find it hard to channel theri energy in positive areas.

PE needs to inclusive through a range of activites and for different abilities, its the only thing thats good about school! oh............. and the holidays!
Choose your school wisely!

[daz h]

I think that the amount and quality of PE done in schools depends on the school. I work in a Sports Specialist college and have just asked a few of the angels in the room how much PE they do and what they think of it. Pupils at KS4 (age 13+) do 5 hours a fortnight and if they pick it as an option then they will do 10 hours a fortnight. They love it and would not change it;
'Sir it keeps us fit'
'it makes us better at sport like'

The head here loves sports and backs it 100%. The school wins local and international sports competitions and gets the kids to places they would never go. There's a large range of sports and activities provided from rock climbing to street dance.

There have been countless studies linking sports with academic achievement and I think that this does become more prominent in urban areas where literacy is low and kids find it hard to channel theri energy in positive areas.

PE needs to inclusive through a range of activites and for different abilities, its the only thing thats good about school! oh............. and the holidays!
Choose your school wisely!

you cannot choose your school around here

[Margarine]

I'm in charge of PE in a primary school and I've put a lot into it, particularly in developing orienteering. It's a graet sport for kids because you find that the more academic ones who have never been attracted to sportn find that their brains are a positive advantage over the more trditionally football mad boys for example and it's brilliant to see when they start enjoying competeing and winning. One of the problems is that a big proportion of primary school teachers are middle aged middle class female Daily Express or even worse, Daily Mail readers who are allergic to rain and physical exertion; in my experience they are really glad when it is raining and they 'don't have to do PE' - what kind of role model is that?