The Review is an opportunity to unlock the power of physical activity and it is crucial for our sector’s voice to be heard.

Through increased PE, school sport and play we can improve wellbeing, learning and development, and support children and young people to achieve at school and in the future.

To help encourage submissions, we have produced a summarised version of our overall response, which you can find below.

If you would like to add your voices to ours, you can do so by following these simple steps:

• Open the call for evidence response portal (via this link)
• Complete the ‘About You’ section, entering your details
• Under Section 2 (General views, curriculum, assessment and qualification pathways) respond to Question 11.

Please tailor the suggested content below as you see fit, including with your own personal reflections and case studies.

Thank you.

Suggested content:

Children and young people are in the midst of a wellbeing crisis.

Not only are they unhappier and unhealthier than previous generations, but it is affecting their school experience and outcomes.

This includes poor attendance and behaviour challenges, low resilience, dysregulation and missing interpersonal skills.

Daily physical activity, play and sport play a fundamental role in developing children who are happy, healthy and ready to learn, and schools are best placed to reach every child.

The Curriculum and Assessment Review is an opportunity to fully unlock the potential of physical activity to support wellbeing, belonging in school and engagement in learning, broader personal development, through the development of  essential skills, attitudes and vales.

Greater physical activity at schools including through PE, sport and play has widespread support:

• 91% of primary aged pupils and 63% of secondary aged pupils say being active helps them to learn
• Two-thirds of teachers (66%) feel sport and play helps young people have better concentration and learning
• 92% of parents believe sport and play are important parts of every young person’s education and development

https://www.youthsporttrust.org/news-listings/news/curriculum-and-assessment-review 

Now is the time to act in response to the evidence and put physical activity at the heart of education, giving every child an active start in life.

This can deliver better outcomes for education and wellbeing and develop positive habits for the future.

Building on support from teachers, parents and children alike, a new approach should:

• Put physical activity including PE and school sport at the core of a broad and balanced curriculum, with provision reflected in the new Ofsted score card
• Support schools to contribute towards 60 active daily minutes for every child, through two hours a week of PE, active breaks throughout the day and a universal co-curricular programme offering enrichment in sport, music, the arts and other activities
• Develop a reimagined PE journey across each key stage supported by effective assessment and accountability measures to ensure it is intentional, supports the education of the whole child and has high value within every school
• Harness the power of sport to develop employability/life skills and civic responsibility among young people.