PE & Sport Strategy for Young People - About us - North Oxfordshire SSP

PE & Sport Strategy for Young People

In 2002, DCSF and DCMS launched the National PE, School Sport and Club Links (PESSCL) Strategy and began to transform the landscape of PE and sport in schools.  Through it we have created a national structure whivh enables more children and young people to take part in a wider range of sports for more time.

Nationally the percentage of 5-16 year olds participating in at least two hours of high quality PE and sport each week has grown from approximately 25% in 2002 to 90% in 2008.

Building on this success, the Government want us to go further and ensure that sport becomes a natural part of every young person's life.  In order to achieve this it has introduced a new strategy - PE and Sport Strategy for Young People - and committed a further £755 million over the next 3 years.

The new strategy will be informed by the views of children and young people themselves, and will help to create attractive, innovative opportunities for young people to get engaged with sport, and clear pathways for them to pursue their chosen activity.

The aim is to create a world class system for PE and sport for all children and young people, which will stimulate and increase their participation in sport, and sustain it.

Central to the PE & Sport Strategy for Young People is:

• a new '5 hour offer' for all 5-16 year olds.  This will increase the number of 5-16 year olds taking part in at least two hours high quality PE and sport each school week, plus offer new opportunities for them to participate in a further three hours each week of sporting activity, through school, voluntary and community providers.
• new opportunities for all 16-19 year olds to participate in three hours each week of sporting activities through their colleges or in local clubs.

The benefits of the new strategy will not only be realised in the sporting arena.  We know that being involved in high quality PE and sport has a number of other positive outcomes.  In young people it leads to:

• Increased involvement in a healthy, active lifestyle
• Leadership skills that can be transferred to everything they do
• Increases in positive behaviour
• Increased confidence and self-esteem, leading to better attitudes to learning
• Citizenship qualities - many young people involved in sport become involved in volunteering opportunities

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