The Olympic legacy: schools sports needs funding not rhetoric

http://www.guardian.co.uk/teacher-network/2013/jan/28/olympic-legacy-school-sports-need-funding

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Is the government doing enough to support school sports and promote the Olympic legacy? When reading this question one thing automatically stands out like a sore thumb - the phrase "doing enough". As a trained teacher of physical education and someone who is exceptionally passionate about school sport, I fail to see the government doing anything to support and develop school sports and the Olympic legacy.

2012 was undoubtedly a very successful year for sport in the United Kingdom, filled with many highlights. The triumph of the London Olympics is something I, along with many other British citizens, are very proud of. Astonishingly I have read recently that the government are cutting the funding given to certain sports that didn't achieve medals during the Olympics; this is outrageous. How on earth is a sport supposed to develop its facilities, increase the number and quality of coaches and promote opportunities when its funding is being taken away?

For years the government has been concerned about ensuring children take part in healthy and active lifestyles and ensuring that levels of obesity are minimised, which is great and something I passionately believe in too. However, the government seems to believe it will all be possible while cutting funding for school sports yet again. This will have a massive impact on school sports and the Olympic legacy as more and more children will drop out of participating in curricular and extra-curricular sport and exercise. I personally believe funding should be made available to place physical education specialists within primary schools in a full-time, permanent position, rather than the occasional coach who will take maybe two hours of extra-curricular 'club' per week.

Lord Sebastian Coe has provided a number of youths and adults with inspiration that sport and exercise can provide motivation and enable success. Cutting funding and overlooking sport and physical education within education is an awful mistake. I personally believe Michael Gove has no clear sight or objectives concerning PE and school sport and it is having a negative impact on the children currently in the education system. I would like to see some clear objectives and statements from the government on what it is exactly they are doing. It would certainly make interesting reading.

<em>Nathan Walker is a PE teacher currently working for Randstad Education, a teaching supply agency. He has taught PE in a number of schools in Devon, as well as working at International Summer Schools in Oxford and Hertfordshire. </em>

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