Rotherham schoolchildren 'missing out on PE lessons'

ROTHERHAM schoolchildren are missing out on their exercise fix—with one in seven not doing at least two hours of PE a week.

Some schools offer year groups as little as 50 minutes, while Wickersley Sports College leads the way with two-and-a-half hours for most pupils.

Just seven per cent of pupils at Oakwood Technology College take part for two hours, down from 41 per cent last year.

Similarly, the figure at Brinsworth Comprehensive dropped from a quarter to 11 per cent.

A total of 14 schools were failing to provide two hours a week in 2007/08, rising to 17 for last year.

Notable improvements have come at Kelford, Winterhill, East Dene Junior and Infant and Wales Primary.

The revised target for 2011 is to offer five hours of sport and PE a week for 80 per cent of five to 16-year-olds—two hours in lessons plus a further three.

Rotherham Borough Council began a review of PE across the borough last summer.

The main problems in hitting the targets include cost and a lack of skilled PE teachers at primary schools.

Councillors raised concerns in June, worried that failing to meet the grades would have a negative impact on the fitness of youngsters and reduce the authority’s assessment score.

The review said: “The aim has been to examine to what extent schools in Rotherham are providing high-quality PE and sport for five to 19-year-olds in line with indicators in the Government’s Public Service Agreement.

“There are some inherent difficulties in achieving the targets set out.

“These include some secondary schools only allocating 50-minute sessions for their classes and therefore two sessions total 100 minutes and not 120 minutes.”

It added: “There is some debate whether PE theory classes should or should not be included in the data and the data cannot reflect what standard is being attained by schools.

“The availability of skilled primary school PE teachers was also an issue, as was the need for and cost of sports equipment.”

The report said that a lack of distinction between physical education and sport was a cause for concern among teaching staff.

Timetabled PE sessions focus on the “development of personality” through activities, movement and games with health a key factor.

Sport is considered to be about competition and specific skills.