How Much PE in Schools?

[CathedralHugger]

How much time is typically allocated to PE? One local primary provides their reception class with just one PE lesson a week. It doesn't seem enough, especially for such young children. What's the standard? How does it change as children progress through primary and into secondary? How do private schools compare?

The school that I teach in only has one PE lesson a week for Reception children because they have constant access to our large outdoor area where they can practise their gross motor skills every day. Once they no longer have this in Year 1 they have two PE lessons per week.

1 lesson a week for EYFS and 2 for everyone else. They are free-flow all week so are in and out of the outside area all day anyway.

2 lessons is the usual in KS2 which I don't think is enough.

My DS is in Reception and has one PE lesson a week but they spend every lunchtime in the playground. It seems like enough to me and I wouldn't want them to sacrifice some of the other activities they do (music/drama etc) for another PE lesson. They have 2 or 3 a week when they get older.

Once a week at DS's school and at the school I teach at too. At both schools there is only one in year 1 and 2 too.

Outs is the same as described by @Pinniemummy above. Plus playtime once a day, and the little bit of time left at lunchtime after they eat (which encourages them to bolt their food unfortunately as the lunch queues take so long because there aren’t enough dinner staff). It’s not enough, but until and unless the National Curriculum changes to start putting more emphasis on physical activity, it won’t change. It’s a shame as a lot of children seem to learn better when they’ve had more exercise, otherwise they’re bouncing off the walls!

Once a week all through primary here but they made it a longer session/all afternoon.

About 2 hours a week in state primary iirc. DD's school had almost no outside space so they did things like gymnastics, kung fu and boxing! Oh and they did swimming for an hour a week in Y4.

Secondary (state comprehensive), DD does 3 hours a week of PE, but she does an extra session as has a weird timetable, everyone else does 2 hours unless taking PE GCSE.

But they have a huge after-school sports offer so she stays late twice a week in winter and 3 times a week in summer. After school sessions are about an hour long. Lots of kids also do sports clubs out of school especially if they are serious about it.

Private schools have MUCH more sport normally. My prep had 1 hour of PE a week, but then sport 4/5 afternoons a week and matches on Saturday. My secondary (boarding grammar) was the same.

DS's reception class have 1 (hour) PE lesson per week, plus 1 swimming lesson. However they also have forest school for our afternoon per week when they're outdoors and active, plus access to a large outdoor play area for an hour at lunchtime, as well as before school starts. DS comes home exhausted everyday so I assume he's getting enough mental and physical exercise 🤷‍♀️

Ridiculous amount of sports lessons when our DC attended an independent school. In Pre Prep a maximum of two lessons per week but at Prep level 3-4 sessions a week (PE, sports, swimming) Contact rugby in Yr4. Shorter terms and longer days, but when we switched to a state setting we discovered that the private school was behind on maths

Thanks everyone - lots of useful info there!

Do you think the different amounts of activity between state and private settings has any measurable effect on the pupils?

I agree that kids seem to learn better when they've had enough exercise @AllTheChaos.

But it's interesting what you say about sport eclipsing maths @Wolvesart! There's got to be a balance, I guess.

An hour a week. The provision isn't great (don't shout DH is a secondary PE teacher), budget/facilities / space make it hard to accommodate.

The privates here finish half day Wednesday for PE / fixtures but they go to school sat am

We have found it is practically impossible to fit in more than 2, 45 minutes sessions a week. The curriculum is just so full, there's hardly time to breathe let alone do PE!

Ours is swimming, horse riding and a choice of ballet or karate once a week and also sports twice a week.

Wow InTheRain that's rather civilised.

I think that’s more than enough at any level of school

🤣 It does sound quite civilised doesn’t it but I’ll confess that the main appeal is that everything is done at school so no need to organise clubs and play taxi service on the weekends.

Mine had 1 session in reception (was told it was because they did lots of physical activity everyday -not just pe).
Y1-6 2 sessions a week.
Y7-9 2 sessions per week.
Y10-11 1 session a fortnight if on academic pathway and taking 9 gcses, 1 a week if not on academic pathway (this is the only bit I disagree with I think it would do dc good to do weekly pe still).

State primary was 1 session per week plus optional club 1 session after school.
Private secondary is double games 3 times a week + double PE twice a week. Rotation of sports for girls: netball, hockey, cricket, athletics, running, swimming, football, lacrosse and tennis throughout the year.

Y1-6 two 1 hour sessions a week. Plus playtime and lunchtime in the playground with climbing frames, adventure playground, equipment and team games(football,basketball etc). Some classes do some extra tennis sessions or life skills sessions. This alternates throughout the year.

EYFS only have 1 regular PE sessions, but they're outside every day regardless of weather playing and learning different skills .

In Reception DD did PE twice a week. This was in 2018. DS was in Reception last year and didn't do PE at all.

Now in Y1 and Y5 they both do PE twice a week. This year DD's class is doing dance and football, and DS's class is doing gymnastics and then just general PE (which is often Cosmic Yoga on wet days!). I think in Y6 they do basketball for one of the lessons, and one year DD did tennis.

This.

Private school - 2 PE/ week + swimming + forest school + longer lunches and break times outside. I think they get 2+ hours of physical activity per day before any after school clubs. I think sport provision increases at each stage - so at y3 I think they add in a games day? Mine are not especially sporty, but I think time to move is so important at this age.

i also love that they spend time outside every day - weather needs to be absolutely dire before they move indoors- which is quite different from their previous state school where kids were kept in at the first sign of precipitation. I think the difference is probably being able to expect all children to have proper, high quality weather gear that they can store permanently at school