Committee
Education, Culture and Sport Committee, 06 Sep 2000
06 Sep 2000 · S1 · Education, Culture and Sport Committee
Item of business
Sport in School
My report was nearly as long in the making as Mike Russell's report on film was. Perhaps we could have done a joint inquiry, Mike. It was a very interesting report to undertake. I am sorry that members did not get copies of it until Wednesday but, until last week, I was still completing a series of visits to inform the report.
Sport in school across Scotland is very patchy. There are some examples of excellent practice and some of not-so-excellent practice. Sport has managed consistently to undersell itself and the importance that it can have on the overall performance of students, academically or in relation to their health. That is still the case. Frequently, I have heard people talking about sport for sport's sake, and they do not yet appreciate how sport can raise achievement in schools. Used as a vehicle in the curriculum, it can help to maintain discipline, particularly among boys, acting as an incentive to participate in activities.
Sport can also improve young people's health. One thing that struck me in my conversations with primary teachers was the inability of children to play with each other when they first come to school. That is a sad reflection on the sort of society in which we live, shaped by the dominance of the computer games culture among young people and by parents' concerns about safety issues when they let their kids out to play.
There is much room for improvement. One of the most interesting visits that I undertook was to a school at Ashton Upon Mersey in Manchester. Twenty per cent of its places are grant-aided, but it draws 80 per cent of its pupils from a fairly typical council housing estate in the city. It is a designated sports college and manages to use sport across the curriculum in an imaginative and innovative way. I learned a lot from being there to see how that school has managed to use sport as a vehicle for academic achievement. The pupils' grades are up, their numeracy and literacy problems are down and discipline has improved.
The school is now also a designated beacon school, which provides a model for using sport positively. That model would not be right for every school in Scotland, but we could learn from it how to use all aspects of culture as vehicles for academic achievement. Conducting the inquiry has made me realise that sport is not the only aspect that we could use to do that. We also need to address the health needs of our young people.
Tension clearly exists between rolling out further elite schools, such as Bellahouston Academy, which concentrate on elite performers, and promoting community sports schools to raise overall achievement and produce new elite performers. However, I believe that that tension can be overcome.
I have made a number of recommendations, which I hope members have had time to consider. I hope that my report is a starting point, that it gives people a flavour of where we are and that we can make progress on the recommendations in order to move forward sport in schools.
I went into the exercise with the clear idea that sport was important, and have come out of it with a clearer idea of the importance of sport: it can be used as a vehicle for raising academic achievement and improving health and general levels of attainment in schools. We must consider how we can take forward sport in schools in Scotland in a more constructive way across the board, rather than the patchy approach that is used at present.
Sport in school across Scotland is very patchy. There are some examples of excellent practice and some of not-so-excellent practice. Sport has managed consistently to undersell itself and the importance that it can have on the overall performance of students, academically or in relation to their health. That is still the case. Frequently, I have heard people talking about sport for sport's sake, and they do not yet appreciate how sport can raise achievement in schools. Used as a vehicle in the curriculum, it can help to maintain discipline, particularly among boys, acting as an incentive to participate in activities.
Sport can also improve young people's health. One thing that struck me in my conversations with primary teachers was the inability of children to play with each other when they first come to school. That is a sad reflection on the sort of society in which we live, shaped by the dominance of the computer games culture among young people and by parents' concerns about safety issues when they let their kids out to play.
There is much room for improvement. One of the most interesting visits that I undertook was to a school at Ashton Upon Mersey in Manchester. Twenty per cent of its places are grant-aided, but it draws 80 per cent of its pupils from a fairly typical council housing estate in the city. It is a designated sports college and manages to use sport across the curriculum in an imaginative and innovative way. I learned a lot from being there to see how that school has managed to use sport as a vehicle for academic achievement. The pupils' grades are up, their numeracy and literacy problems are down and discipline has improved.
The school is now also a designated beacon school, which provides a model for using sport positively. That model would not be right for every school in Scotland, but we could learn from it how to use all aspects of culture as vehicles for academic achievement. Conducting the inquiry has made me realise that sport is not the only aspect that we could use to do that. We also need to address the health needs of our young people.
Tension clearly exists between rolling out further elite schools, such as Bellahouston Academy, which concentrate on elite performers, and promoting community sports schools to raise overall achievement and produce new elite performers. However, I believe that that tension can be overcome.
I have made a number of recommendations, which I hope members have had time to consider. I hope that my report is a starting point, that it gives people a flavour of where we are and that we can make progress on the recommendations in order to move forward sport in schools.
I went into the exercise with the clear idea that sport was important, and have come out of it with a clearer idea of the importance of sport: it can be used as a vehicle for raising academic achievement and improving health and general levels of attainment in schools. We must consider how we can take forward sport in schools in Scotland in a more constructive way across the board, rather than the patchy approach that is used at present.
In the same item of business
The Convener:
Lab
Karen Gillon has prepared a report for the committee on sport in school.
Karen Gillon:
Lab
My report was nearly as long in the making as Mike Russell's report on film was. Perhaps we could have done a joint inquiry, Mike. It was a very interesting ...
The Convener:
Lab
Thank you, Karen. Do members have questions or comments?
Mr Macintosh:
Lab
I thank Karen for her report, which I thought was excellent, and I agree with many of the points that were made in it. Having had a chance to chat with Karen...
Fiona McLeod:
SNP
I thank Karen Gillon for her report, which summarises well the position of sport, not only in schools but among young people in Scotland. We should be concer...
Cathy Peattie:
Lab
The report emphasises that there is an important issue about teenage girls. When girls get to a certain age, they no longer want to participate in sport. I a...
The Convener:
Lab
I do not want to repeat what people have said, but it is worth drawing together points that Cathy Peattie and Fiona McLeod made. Part 6.7 refers to the invol...
Fiona McLeod:
SNP
I do not want to be negative, but I would prefer to have a much more positive final recommendation, rather than a recommendation for another comparison with ...
The Convener:
Lab
You are right, but we should not close ourselves off from learning from the experiences of others—I do not suggest that that is what you are saying—so we sho...
Members indicated agreement.
The Convener:
Lab
Is it agreed that we refer Karen Gillon's report to the Parliament for publication as a report?
Members indicated agreement.