Schools sports scheme at risk in cuts (From Oxford Mail)

Schools sports scheme at risk in cuts

12:20pm Thursday 28th October 2010 in News By Sam McGregor

Carl Hamilton

THOUSANDS of children in north Oxfordshire could miss out on extra-curricular sports activities as a result of Government cuts.

In last week’s spending review, Chancellor George Osborne announced that Department of Education funding for school sport partnerships would be dropped from next March.

The decision has left a question mark over the future of the North Oxfordshire School Sport Partnership, which works with 18,500 children, aged from five to 19.

Up to 35 full-time and part-time staff, including sports co-ordinators and coaches who work with 57 schools in Banbury, Bicester and Kidlington, face the axe.

The Department for Education currently gives the scheme £250,000 a year, and it attracts other grant funding from the National Lottery, Sport England and other sports bodies of up to £40,000.

Carl Hamilton, development manager for the partnership, said: “The danger is if this funding goes, the profile will no longer be there and a lot of schools, particularly primary schools which don’t have specialist teachers, will put other things in place of sport.

“The reason why the Government put funds in initially was not for the sake of sport, but there was so much evidence that physical education helped raise attendance, improved behaviour and self-esteem, developed leadership skills, tackled the obesity problem and got children off the streets by giving them something worthwhile to do.”

When the partnership was set up six years ago, only 25 per cent of north Oxfordshire children took part in at least two hours of sport a week. The figure is now 90 per cent.

The partnership runs lunchtime and after-school sports activities, inter-school competitions, teacher training, and has forged links with local sports clubs Mr Hamilton, who is based at the Blessed George Napier Specialist Sports College, in Banbury, has appealed to schools and firms for support.

Education Secretary Mich-ael Gove said: “After seven years and £2.4bn investment from the Government and the Lottery, the department expects all schools to have embedded the good practice and collaboration developed over this time.”

Bicester Conservative councillor Lawrie Stratford, a governor at Bure Park and Glory Farm primary schools, said: “Money is going to be extremely tight.

A lot of schools are going to have to make choices, ‘do we teach maths or do we teach them how to play football?’ “People will have to think ‘what did we do before the council-funded projects?’”