My son is at a state primary school in Year 5. Parents at my son's school have complained for years about school sports policy. There is not enough provision for all the keen athletes so the chosen few do everything and the rest get left out. Humiliating and counterproductive, and happening in virtually every sport at the school. I am trying to effect a change towards inclusion, but it's like turning an ocean liner.
It would help to have a sense of how things are run at other primary schools, so I would know whether the cut throat attitude of the Head of PE is the norm or is as out of date as I think it is.
A couple of months ago I spoke to the Head of PE about including more of the boys in the football teams and she said it wasn't worth her time to take the team to a match if they weren't going to win. Seriously, direct quote. I spoke to the headteacher (in the meantime, the PE head put my son on the team, possibly to shut me up, but it won't work!) who said she had to support her head of PE as long as she was upholding school policy. I said school policy needed to be changed then and she said she would think about it and discuss with the teachers. I don't think anything will be done though, as the head of PE has been there for ages and has a very strong personality. I am thinking of going to the governors next.
Does anyone have any advice about this? Maybe some materials I could use to back up my case? Getting good stuff from Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers already, but more ideas would be fantastic. Here is the situation as it stands:
The school prides itself on its good sports results and the head of PE believes the good results justify a completely ruthless attitude to team selection. Personally, I think it's mainly an ego trip for her more than anything.
The school sports teams are chosen for each match and then posted on a bulletin board for all to see. No attention is paid to effort or commitment, or trying to encourage all children to participate. Children end up feeling humiliated if their name is conspicuously absent from the list, losing confidence in themselves, and losing interest in even trying. Some sports have regular training sessions to which anyone can come and then the coach chooses the teams from the attendees. But the same children get in the team each time and the ones who are left out stop going eventually because it's just a source of humilation and they realize they aren't going to be chosen.
For the sporty children (especially for boys, many of whose social interactions are wrapped up in sports) if your friends and teammates are chosen to play in a match you feel genuinely humiliated as well as disappointed. And your friends feel guilty for being chosen when you weren't. Not nice for anyone, and completely avoidable.
The school has received the sports mark, whatever that means, so I think they believe they are doing things right. Meanwhile, excellent players are losing confidence from being told they don't measure up, older/larger children in the year group are consistently favoured over smaller/younger ones, and players who are just keen to have a go won't take the risk of trying for fear of not measuring up.
We have an obesity crisis in this country, with our children lolling in front of screens all day instead of developing a love of exercise to take into their adult lives. Sport is a great opportunity to teach children that if they practice something they will improve, that it feels good to achieve that improvement, that hard work pays off, that teamwork brings success and that physical activity is fun. Teaching these important things only to the naturally gifted seems frankly stupid to me.
There are kids like my son who love sport, and will make it a part of their lives right into adulthood. There are kids (like my other son!) who hate sport and will not make it a part of their lives no matter what. Then there is the vast middle ground: kids who are keen but not terribly coordinated. Kids who like sports but not contact sports, kids who have some ability but are the only one of their friends who want to play sports. To my mind, this big middle chunk is where most resources should be allocated. They are the ones who could be nudged in the right direction with a little well crafted encouragement. And they are the ones who are put off completely by a cut throat attitude.
I've watched these kids play football for 6 years now, and to be honest there is not a great deal of difference in ability amongst the really keen ones, who number about half the boys in the year. Some are a bit better than others, but not markedly so, and really any random 11 would be about as good as any other 11, assuming you have a decent goalkeeper. So there is really very little purpose in only letting the biggest ones play for the school. All it does is put off both good players and children who aren't too great but should be encouraged to enjoy sport.
All I'm saying is that a list should be kept of which kids show the commitment to come to the training sessions and work hard, and that these children should be assigned in turns to play in matches. This will be self-limiting only the ones who care enough to come to all the trainings will be in the running, and everyone will get a turn. Presto no hurt feelings and no irate parents. And I don't honestly think they would lose any more matches that way.
Sorry to go off on one, but I feel sure there is a better, fairer, more educational and equally competitive way to run things.
If you have an idea of how things should be run or how to get the school to change the policies, I would be very glad to hear it!