BLOG PROMPT: Sport in schools: character-building or crushing? BoJo and David Cameron speak out

[ElenMumsnetBloggers]

Greetings, bloglings. This week's blog prompt is the London Mayor, Boris Johnson, who's fighting for sport to stay on the school curriculum. When David Cameron and Michael Gove decided to scrap the two hours' of compulsory sports lessons that pupils do each week, because the PM said it was being filled with 'Indian dancing lessons' (no, really), BoJo publicly disagreed. In fact, said Boris, state school kids should do two hours of sports lessons every day - like they do at Eton.

Does this smell like political posturing to you, or does Boris Johnson have a point? Do you have fond memories of school sport? Did P.E. make you who you are today, as BoJo claims? Or did you hate sport at school and think it should be optional?

Cue some Olympic-medal-winning posts please. On your marks...

I hated PE! I hated netball, I hated swimming, running, jumping and all things sporty. I wore green mascara (it was the in thing in 1975, trust me....) and I didn't want it running down my face (I was 13!) so I would claim to have my period each and every time we were asked to don our hideous black swimming costumes. My mum had bought me a 34A, I never did grown into it. Eventually, my teacher figured NOBODY could have four periods every month and got really mad with me, saying she still had to teach, even when she had hers. Finally, a brainwave........I asked my piano teacher to write a note to school. She said 'Fiona has a very special talent and under no circumstances should she play netball as a broken finger could mean the end of her career in music......'. It worked! I was allowed off netball sessions forever more...........fandabidoubledozi!!

It's so interesting. Eton etc makes DC a liability - for BoJo it's a badge of honour.

Christamighty, 2 hours compulsory sport a DAY? How did they find time for fagging/bullying/practicising their booming voices?

I don't agree with BJ much but I do on this one - if we want to tackle the obesity problem in this country (1in 4) then this is certainly a good start - however I think we need more - the sport needs to be targetted sport with proper coaches who know what they are doing and can spot talent - with respect, most primary school teachers just don't fall in this category. At present if a child wants to take up a sport seriously in this country they have to do it out of school hours and they have to have parents who know how to get the proper coaching plus have cash to spend on it - this isn't right and it often (not always) prevents kids who come from backgrounds that are not privileged from getting to national level. I have been down this road with my daughter for the past 2 years - my daughter at 7 is a competition squad gymnast - her gymnastics is well in advance at what she gets taught at her school. She has been tipped by her gym as having potential to get to national and possibly international level. If she had come from a less privileged position would she have been spotted? Its doubtful. I just wonder how many potential Olympians there are out there who have just not had the opportunities to excel that they should have been given. i was lucky enough to go to a school not dissimilar to BJs. We didn't do 2 hrs a day - we did about 6/7 hrs a week - but as a result I don't think any of us were obese. Gosh, I think I better blog on this topic instead as I'm going on a bit. Sorry!

I hated rounders and netball at school and did wish we had better selection of sport options. As a girl I never got to play football or cricket at school which was such a shame! I totally agree with Bojo - state school kids should do lots of sport too and there should be less demanding sports options available for kids who maybe aren't so gifted at team sport (fencing or step classes or table tennis or gym or something). Eton has got this one right.

I blogged about how they should bring back competitive sport this week.
castawaywithdreams.wordpress.com/2012/08/09/the-olympics-and-bringing-back-competitive-sports/

I hated sport at school cos I was lazy. I would hate it to be removed from the curriculum though, as I'd like my daughter to be fitter than I am. I also love the sense of achievement it engenders when you do get it right.

I was friendless through most of school, so found team sports difficult. Doing difficult things prepares us for life though.

I do believe that competitive sport teaches kids great lessons and I do think that schools without competition and a good range of sporting activities are the poorer for it.

Some children are not natural sportsmen/women, and it's cruel to force them to do so much PE at the cost of other subjects. I hated PE. I was slow at running, I couldn't swim and I couldn't hit a ball to save my life. It was torture and I would rather have been reading a book.

I do think sport should be compulsory in schools, but it shouldn't be torture for those who are no good at it. Keep the highly competitive stuff for the sporty kids who enjoy it, and have a lighter more enjoyable and perhaps non-competitive option for the less sporty kids - maybe gentle aerobics or Zumba. All kids need some form of exercise, and should be encouraged, whatever their ability.

I hated sport for the first few years of secondary school, as it was all hockey and athletics, and I was no good at those. Then, in form 3, we did badminton. I was ok at it, and really enjoyed PE from that point.

I agree with Primrose123. Sport should be compulsory and at least one session a day (DDs in their "outstanding" primary do 2 max 3 sessions a week, one of those is dance which seems to get dropped at any opportunity, eg the hall is busy!)

But it is also unfair on primary teachers to expect them to be amazing sports coaches too. I mean flipping eck they are expecting superman/woman. Each school needs dedicated sports teacher(s) who aren't also trying to run a form.

Instead of the usual netball, hockey, football which only suits a minority of highly co-ordinated highly sporty kids, they should also introduce more variety in sports and allow more choice. Yoga, taekwondo, badminton, zumba, boxercise, volleyball, body balance, circuits... whatever it takes to get kids enjoying it. I classify myself as sporty now but wasn't really in school (too short for netball, a crap swimmer). It took some expensive tennis lessons and a great gym to get me interested.

I also think Bex66 has hit the nail on the head. To be good at sports, excluding football, maybe swimming, you need to be caught early and developed. DH joined a rowing club aged 25. The coach said if he had got him 10 years before he could have been international. Shame he didn't go to Eton eh?

I blogged about this issue back in February. pint-sized-rants.blogspot.fr/2012/02/rant-about-school-sport.html

I think cutting funding for sports is pretty disgusting - and I say that as someone who hated doing sport at school. Can't say I agree with BoJo either though - two hours a day would have been torture for me.

I totally agree with it, although I also like Primrose's idea. Children should be encouraged to do more exercise and if they are discouraged by competitive sports then individual stuff like dance should be made more available.

Competitive sport doesn't have to be a hotbed for bullying behaviour - that is usually entrenched in the school itself. I went to a girl's school school with a horrible bullying problem, so I dreaded hockey, netball etc because it was so catty. When I switched schools, to a friendly and laid back comprehensive, I started to really enjoy competitive sports because there was drive and determination but much less edge. Happily competitive rather than bitchily so.

ladysybil some children aren't natural mathematicians or writers but it's ok to 'force' children to do these subjects everyday!

if the Tories are so keen for school children to become sporty then WHY THE FUCK HAS GOVE SOLD OFF SO MANY STATE SCHOOL PLAYING FIELDS??????

It has to begin, first and foremost, with the dismantling of lies and hypocrisy. Until then noone is listening.

Maths and English are basic skills though, Weathers. It's important to know how to write a job application or balance your weekly accounts though, isn't it?? I can't say it's important for a child to learn how to play tennis.

Yes the children must run around, it makes them better in the classroom.

Allow a choice between energetic sports and gentler sports, rather than crude boy-girl division.

I was always forced to do gentle 'girls' sports. Boring! What I wanted was to do competitive sport to a high level.

PE seems to be one of the few subjects at school where there seems to be little or no differentiation.

At primary school the whole class does the same activity, regardless of ability. This doesn't usually happen with other subjects.

My 12yr-old has poor motor skills and co-ordination (due to SN) but still spent the first two terms of Yr7 in the same PE group as those who were good at sports. During the final term, the strugglers were put together in a separate group and worked on building up fitness, and working on basic skills. For the first time in his life, my ds actually looked forward to his PE lessons rather than just viewing them as something that he just had to do.

By all means encourage sport, but let children do it at a level that is appropriate for them. Some will be ready for inter-schools competitions. Others may still be working on throwing and catching.

Maybe they need to have specialist primary schools as well as specialist secondary schools? This much sport would torture some children.

I'm not a natural sportswoman - I wish I'd been made to do more at school (though back then we did a reasonable amount). I wish I'd been made to do a cross-country run every week so I actually got fit.

DD is not a natural either but fortunately her schools - private then state - have made the general lessons enjoyable for all and supplemented with lots of clubs for anyone who wants them. It is evidently entirely possible to cater to all abilities - ones like her on the one hand, others who compete at local, regional and even national levels.

It would be good if activities other than the standard athletics and team games could be made more accessible to a wider range of people. Not sure how that can be done.

I agree with coppertop. I think sports is the only subject where kids get written off at a very young age and get no help to improve. Maybe if the kids who are not naturally sporty are helped to improve their co-ordination / balance etc rather than being left on the sidelines not getting a chance to even touch the ball and being bullied, they might enjoy sport a bit more.

I remember being crap at gym in school so i practised at home until i was one of the best in the class. Where has the competitive spirit gone in this country? Parents need to encourage their children to practise outside of class. Stop relying on teachers to do all the work! I ended up doing nothing to do with sport when I got older but did extremely well at the career path I chose because I was taught to always try your best and if it?s not good enough, try again and again! No one tailors life to suit your needs.

I was never good at sports but I really enjoyed PE. Our sports were basketball, volleyball, badminton, table tennis and running. I think the key for me was being able to choose which sport. While we all had to jog to warm up, we then go to our chosen sport for that hour that day. it was always fun competing amongst friends with occasional external comps.

I think having competitive sports in school is great. It helps people work harder and it really feels good when you win something you work hard for. It also help one learn to be a gracious loser from a young age.

My dd is in gymnastics. She's become more confident after she started. She's competitive enough but if her teammate did well/better, hugs and praises automatically come out of her mouth. She's learning to cope with disappointment and working hard so that the next comp will be better.

Good sportsmanship, learning to cope under pressure, and staying healthy can be gotten from a competitive sport.