The Sports and Physical Education Association (SPE) is launching its new election manifesto calling on the next government to make good the inequality in primary and secondary PE funding and provision.
SPE Chair Beth Tarry, says: “The general election on 12 December represents a chance to demand that the next government elevates the status of PE in secondary schools so that every young person in the UK has access to excellent sport and physical activity provision.”
The SPE are asking the next government to:
- Extend the ringfenced ‘sugar tax’ funding for sport in schools to include secondary schools as well as primary to ensure that all children aged 11-18 have access to the appropriate level of quality physical education
- Raise the profile of PE in secondary schools such that it is as valued a discipline as any other school subject and ensuring adequate resources are in place to do so
- Implement the necessary processes to empower and enable secondary school staff to once again prioritise physical education in their timetables
- Ensure that this renewed emphasis on secondary PE is sustained by implementing regular audits on the national state of physical education in secondary schools
“Childhood inactivity is one of the chief causes of spiralling childhood obesity and poor mental health among teenagers,” says Beth. “We are witnessing a national crisis; the time teenagers spend playing sport and exercising at school is shrinking. The result is an entire generation of young people who are being denied the essential benefits to their wellbeing of sport, physical activity and exercise.”
Read the full manifesto here.
Please share this manifesto on your social media channels using #Election2019 and #ChildrenAtTheHeart. You can also download and print a copy to give to election candidates in your area.
