Six out of 10 pupils in S1 and S2 at Stonelaw High in Rutherglen are far more unfit than their counterparts 15 years ago.
An identical fitness test carried out with 400 pupils shows that 40 per cent are as fit as those in 1989 but that the rest are way behind those who were previously at the bottom. They are 30 per cent more unfit, according to Alan Byrne, principal teacher of physical education, who describes the findings as “deeply worrying”. Mr Byrne says the school has tried for the past 10 years to vary the PE curriculum and provide attractive alternatives to traditional programmes in core time. He is now pressing for an extra period to work on aerobic fitness.
