Not investing in School Sports Partnerships will prove an own goal

The announcement about competitive sport in primary schools is a red herring. Almost all primary school children are already engaged in some forms of competition. But School Sports Partnerships, which promoted and organised inter-school competition, and specialist support for primary schools, are being closed down. And teachers in primary schools do need help to deliver a range of sports, as their skills are generalist not specialist.

The problem is that only the best pupils can be selected for the school team, or even the class team, and we need to promote sport for all. Children need to be exposed to a variety of sports to help them choose one that they enjoy. Again School Sports Partnerships provided outreach support to primary schools and this has been cut.

The Prime Minister is simply being disingenuous when he says that the two-hour target was being seen as a maximum. It was an aspirational target that could be reported on by head teachers to governing bodies and Ofsted.

What's needed is a properly thought-through debate about what we are trying to achieve and why, and what incentives and structures we need and should invest in. The previous government did not get it all right but the basics were in place, from primary to elite sport, as we have seen.

What we don't need are knee-jerk responses based on anecdote and unsupported assertion, or evidence from a tiny number of schools. How many schools, after all, rely on Indian dance to deliver the whole of the physical education curriculum? My guess is none at all.

So let's have an honest debate - an inquiry that includes schools, clubs and sports bodies.