With 2024 being an Olympics and Paralympics year – the latter having just finished – it’s a good time to consider sports policy and independence.
Sport has long been one of the most important pillars of Wales’ cultural identity. As one of the main vehicles by which Wales acts independently abroad, sport also has some importance when it comes to “soft power”, “brand awareness” and low-level diplomacy (Part III).
That’s all well and good for athletes, governing bodies, sponsors and politicians – but what about the rest of us?
Part one (of three) will concentrate on sport and exercise as a public health matter.
In 2013, a Welsh Government Task & Finish Group chaired by Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson published a major report into the future of physical activity and PE in schools4.
The main recommendation was that PE should become a core subject (alongside, at the time, English/Welsh first language, science and maths) taught by specialist teachers.
The Situation Now
In 2019, the Senedd’s Health & Social Care Committee published a report5 on physical activity rates amongst children (Senedd Home summary).
The inquiry found a pronounced problem amongst secondary school-age children (11-18-year-olds), with low levels of walking and cycling, high levels of sedentary activity (such as excessive “screen time”) and a big split between the proportion of boys who enjoyed PE (64%) and girls (45%).
There were also concerns that PE was being squeezed out of the curriculum during GCSE years (Years 10-11) and replaced with (ironically) additional core subject lessons such as English and maths.
A major school sports survey undertaken by Sport Wales in 20226 revealed:
- There were positive views of the role PE plays in “maintaining a healthy lifestyle”, but views are far more positive in primary schools compared to secondary schools.
- Boys (67%) were far more likely to enjoy PE lessons than girls (49%) – and there’s a similar split in enjoyment levels for extracurricular sports and community sports.
- 39% of children took part in extracurricular sports at least three times a week (a Future Generations Act indicator). This is a 9% decrease since 2018. Similarly, there’s been an 8% increase in the proportion of children who do no or very little extracurricular organised sport (36%).
- Only 60% of schools have equipment which allows disabled and ALN children to take part in sport/PE.
- There’s a 15% gap in sports activity rates outside the curriculum between the least deprived (47%) and most deprived (32%) students. There’s a 20% gap between the least (65%) and most deprived (45%) when it comes to playing sports with a community sports club too.
- The five most popular community club sports amongst young people were football (61,000 pupils taking part), swimming (42,000), rugby (30,000 – presumably union and league combined), dance (24,000) and running/jogging (22,000).
The New Curriculum
The Welsh Government and other public agencies had introduced initiatives to boost physical activity in schools before the introduction of a new national curriculum.
This includes the 5×60 scheme to deliver extracurricular sport in secondary school; Healthy Schools (backed by Local Health Boards) which promote good diet and exercise habits; and Dragon Sport (aimed at developing motor skills amongst 7-11 year olds to boost confidence before being introduced to organised sports).
Within the new curriculum, “developing physical health and well-being has lifelong benefits” has been included as a core part (“what matters”) of the health & well-being area of learning7.
In practical terms, this is what pupils will be expected to be able to do at each progression step (which replaces key stages):
4. Schools & Physical Activity Task & Finish Group (June 2013). “Physical Literacy – an all-Wales approach to increasing levels of physical activity for children and young people”. Available at: https://www.gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2018-02/physical-literacy-an-all-wales-approach-to-increasing-levels-of-physical-activity-for-children-and-young-people-schools-and-physical-activity-ask-and-finish-group.pdf
5. Senedd Cymru (March 2019). “Physical Activity of Children & Young People”. Available at: https://senedd.wales/laid%20documents/cr-ld12369/cr-ld12369-e.pdf
6. Sport Wales (2022). “State of the Nation: School Sport Survey”. Available at: https://www.sport.wales/download/file/2116/
7. Hwb, Welsh Government. “Curriculum for Wales: Health & Well-being”. Available at: https://hwb.gov.wales/curriculum-for-wales/health-and-well-being/descriptions-of-learning/
