There needs to be "a big cultural change" towards sport in schools if Britain is to capitalise on Team GB's Olympic wins, David Cameron has said.
Meanwhile Education Secretary, Michael Gove, has approved the sale of more than 20 school sports fields in the past two years, official figures show.
These sell-offs come despite the coalition's pledge to protect school playing fields in England. (Two years ago, the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition agreement said the government would "support the creation of an annual Olympic-style schools sport event to encourage competitive sport in schools, and... seek to protect school playing fields")
Joined up Government any one ?
:sad:
Approved the sale of being the key words. No defender of the Gov here but I doubt any schools have had the fields forcibly removed from them. More like its beneficial for them to sell them off so they did whilst arranging alternative possibly better facilities elsewhere.
Tweeky,
from a couple of examples seen, sold for housing and a 5-a-side firm, just leaving the school with play grounds basically.
So, has any school actually had its school playing grounds completely removed from them?
Or is it just a case of sensationalism?
Seriously, where are these schools? and is it a case of selling off excess space?
Or is it a case of having their grounds shared with other organisations, such as nearby schools?
'....an annual Olympic-style schools sport event'
These surely already happen - they certainly do in Athletics and other major sports, just not in one competition. I am really into sports, however, I don't think its a good idea to have a PE lesson everyday - its way more important that we have scientists/engineers than top quality sports people.
However, going back to the topic of school playing fields - the high school I went to had huge fields, still does. However, when i was a kid these were open for anyone to use out of school hours. Now they are all fenced in and nobody can use them. Moronic really.
i am not sure about the selling off of school sports fields, but what i do know is that Rod Liddle usually talks a whole lot of common sense so in this article today, his comments scream out help. The comment about his kids schools attitudes to winning, as in how they ran half way and all walked hand in hand together to the finishing line, so as that everyone was a winner is utter teacher madness.
but his comments at the bottom of his article about the facts of playing fields, is good enough for me.
" Soon after Jessica Ennis won her gold medal for Team GB, it was announced that one comprehensive school in London, the Elliot School, was to sell off six tennis courts and a football field.
There’s the Olympic legacy for you.
Since the Tories took office, 22 schools have sold their playing fields, despite the Prime Minister insisting that this would never happen ".
in london where space is at a premium and house building seems to take priority over almost anything, where indeed is Cameron's promise that no school playing fields would be sold? unfortunately local councils do have the power to sell the land without national governments interventions. once the land has been sold there is no going back, and near to where i live open spaces are at a premium and kids usually have little choice other than to play on the streets.
a succession of governments have sold the kids down the river, and it is only because of lottery money that we are seeing the current crop of success. i believe that sport should be on the curriculum as much as maths and english is. but in many areas if that were the case where would the kids go that was local to there school? the last olympics stats regarding medal winners and there school backgrounds, indicating that you were more likely to be a success at sport if you came from a private school was startling, but at least that has changed this time around and once again not thanks to the government but to the great national lottery.
we have a sports minister, so where the fecking hell is he? once the olympics have been and gone, i hope there will be a lasting legacy and that it will be compulsory for every child at school no matter what there ages, to do a minimum number of hours playing sport. is that a reality or a fantasy?
Once again though Star no mention of alternative arrangements? Sound like sensationalism. My Mum grew up in the 50's her school had no field and no playground yet the school and my Mum played Hockey, Tennis, went swimming and running as well as more I probably don't know. A lot of schools don't have a Swimming pool, don't mean the kids don't go swimming though.
Sorry for sounding cynical, but I seriously have doubts over some of these claims. To be honest those doubts are based solely around politics, timing and an inherent mistrust of sensational news, not hard facts.
However, what politician is going to go on record claiming such things, knowing that somebody somewhere in the press is going to leap all over it.
In all seriousness how many of these 20 or so 'playing field sell offs' were already in the pipeline before the change of government? How many are a result of land changes? How many leave schools with no playing fields at all?
In Exeter there was a major school rebuilding and refurbishment programme a few years ago. Almost every school was refurbished, or completely rebuilt. Some land changes occurred, for instance a comprehensive school was completely rebuilt from scratch 3/4 of a mile from where it originally sat for 60 odd years. The previous school site and it's playing fields were sold on to a Catholic organisation that now runs the school and it's playing fields privately. Yet this site was on the supposed list of 'sold of sites'.
Another area I know off was sold off to make room for an athletics track, rugby ground, BMX track and indoor and outdoor bowls. The athletics track/facilities are the same ones that one of this years Olympians, Jo Pavey, trains on, and every local school is given use of the facilities by Exeter City Council who own the site. So it's not all doom and gloom.
I accept that there may well have been 20 or so playing field areas sold off amongst the thousands of schools that we as a country maintain, but would someone please look behind the conveniently well timed and sensational headline to get at the facts?
The Government of today had to make choices. Whether I agree with them or no is irrelevant.
I cannot speak for where you are, but here in Exeter it was a complete school redevelopment programme as I said before, not just secondary schools.
However, you do raise an interesting point. Given the complicated arrangements that often embroil public land use, (planning permission, zoning, other facilities etc) is it not possible that some plans for these 20 or so playing fields amongst our thousands of schools are a legacy from the last government?
Oh by the way the Department for Education now say there was one more, so a total of 31
(to date)
'School playing field sell offs' is a great headline, but what does it actually mean?
Well in short local authorities usually own the land and they apply to 'the school playing fields panel' within the Department for Education to dispose of the land. Disposal can mean a variety of things for example changing the use of the land from a grass patch to a new science block counts as a disposal. Leasing/selling it to a third party, such as a leisure chain, and then continuing to use the land also counts as a disposal. As well as the most commonly thought of method; selling the land to someone else to build on it.
SO, now we have some idea what disposal means and the process it must follow lets look at the figures.
Originally the government released figures that 21 playing fields had been disposed of, this figure then increased by 9 more, then a further one to a total of 31. On the face of it this doesn't appear to be very joined up government if they don't know what they are talking about and have to keep changing things. However there is more to this story...
The guardian newspaper obtained figures as part of a freedom of information request to the government. The FOI request asked how many applications to dispose of school playing fields have been received and approved by the government since May 2010. The answer was 21. 14 Of these had been because the schools had closed, and four more had occurred because schools had merged.
Within a few days a further 9 applications were added to this list. However these applications had been received by the previous government and due to the time it takes to investigate the present government was in power to approve the application only. Some of these applications were received in 2009 and one in 2008, long before the current government took office and outside of the dates in the original FOI request.
The 31st school that has now cropped up is a school in Newquay, Cornwall. In this case the school actually owns the land and does not have to follow the disposal process.
I'm not a particular fan of the Government or the Guardian, but a straight question was asked and a straight answer received.
TRUELY I WAS WORRIED FOR UK AFTER CHINA BUT HOWEVER TEAM GB DID FANTASTIC SO DID ALL THE HIDDEN WORKERS AND THE ARMY OF VOLS THAT DID THIER IMPORTANT PARTS
