….. have I mentioned I was on TV?

I recently had the opportunity to take part in a UK Parliament House of Commons Education Committee enquiry into school sport. Anyone who knows me will be aware that I am passionate about sport for young people and I welcomed the opportunity to give evidence to this committee. I was free to speak my mind and had no employer or political masters preventing me from saying it as I see it! You can see the written report below, and view the BBC Parliament footage (which was broadcast live). Jonathan Edwards, Olympian and triple-jump World Record holder, speaks very eloquently later in the enquiry and says that he too can say what he likes whereas some of the panel have been “minding their Ps and Qs”. He thinks it was a very bad decision to dismantle School Sport Partnerships. He also raises the very relevant point about needing a way to measure PE outcomes. We live in an age when schools are judged by league tables and these are based on results of public exams. As there is no current way of measuring the effectiveness of teaching PE and sport, physical education is not included in the league tables. And if PE and sport are not included then these are never going to be priorities for schools to devote time and resources. “As a society we have to decide how much we value sport and physical education”.

School Sport following London 2012: No more political football – the published report.

BBC Parliament TV coverage – it is all a very interesting debate, but if you just want to see me on TV then you might prefer to fast forward to 50″. Jonathan Edwards speaks from about 1′.40″.