SCHOOL sport is to come under scrutiny as government curriculum advisers investigate how sporting standards can be raised.
Ministers would like every pupil to spend at least two hours a week engaged in sport - including PE lessons and out-of-school activities.
The advisers have launched a national consultation to find out how some schools have been successful in encouraging more pupils to play sport.
The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority wants schools to respond to a questionnaire about how much time their pupils spend on PE and their efforts to boost participation and performance.
Officials hope the investigation will help themto spread good ideas to other schools.
A survey by Sport England, the former English Sports Council, found that children are now spending less time on sport than ever before. Just 11 per cent of children aged six to eight spent two or more hours a week in PE lessons last year, down from 32 per cent five years ago. The survey also found that 20 per cent of pupils aged nine to 11 have two hours of PE weekly. In 1994 it was 40 per cent.
Any school can respond to the consultation which ends on June 26. The questionnaire is available on www.qca.org.uk
Visit www.sportscore.co.uk, the on-line magazine for youth sport backed by The TES
