Big Way Of Life

According to Dr Andy Franklyn-Miller, who chaired the recent London conference of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine, children are being let down by a failure to give PE the same priority as other curriculum subjects.

He told the BBC that future sporting success depends on the introduction of a new sports curriculum that cultivates what he calls "physical literacy".

He said: "Let us achieve future success now by building in a PE curriculum that embraces push, pull, squat, brace, rotate, accelerate and change of direction."

He went on to argue that there should be compulsory tests for these skills at key stages, just as there are for subjects such as maths and English – and that these tests would help identify pupils who need extra help and those who may become future sports stars.

His proposal, with its emphasis on competition, was met with skepticism from teacher's unions and by baroness Sue Campbell, chief executive of the Youth Sport Trust, all of who voiced concern that rigorous testing in PE could have a negative impact on some children.