Was the NAS involved in reforms to the school PE curriculum?

I doubt that the reforms to the PE curriculum are inspired by Hitler Youth although I can see a distant parallel between the two. As I previously said, they were pushed through by public school educated sportsaholics. Luke Jackson mentions the pointlessness of team sports in his book. He regularly participates in Taekwondo.

If the NAS has not involved themselves in the consultation then they have failed in their game. One bugbear of many parents of children with ASD are the annual school sports days with races that turn out to be public humiliation events for children who are not athletic. There is no legal requirement for schools to hold them because they are not part of the National Curriculum which also means that children legally have the right to opt out of them if they wish, but the NAS has not challenged schools over sports days or raised awareness with parents that they are optional activities. Head teachers who hold the attitude that taking part is more important than winning really get on my nerves. Schools don't do maths or science tests then afterwards circulate the test papers amongst parents and relatives to humiliate the children who are useless at maths and get questions wrong. Such an activity would cause outrage in Britain so why should sports be exempt?

There is another side to this, without wanting to overstate the similarities, but it is nevertheless something to be concerned about.

The perverse ideas of the *** about racial purity and fitness was in a large part a product of the youth fitness programmes across Europe, including the UK, in the 1920s and 1930s.

These were set up with good intentions to help inner city dwellers, deprived backgrounds etc achieve better health, morals and purpose. They were run as camps, with walking and running in the hills, and lots of team games. In Germany this gave rise to a lot of notions about the better classes of fit people. Organisations like Hitler Youth started as youth fitness programmes.

It may seem a colossal jump to compare this with the Government's initiatives for more competitive team sports, but the rehetoric is very similar. And while the TV adverts show a mix of ethicities shouting "rugby, football, raise your game" there's a risk it is just tokenism. The lack of awareness of disability issues other than just those met by paraplegic sport, may be a little more than just oversight.

There are undertones to all this that make it sound less like combatting overweightness in some school kids, and more about some kind of selectivity. I suspect the people behind this are not what most people would regard as morally sound.

The cynic in me says that our current crop of cabinet ministers are dominated by public school educated sportsaholics. It is plausible that the Olympics last year fuelled support for more competitive team sports in the school PE curriculum in the minds of politicians, but I believe that there was also a move towards it during the John Major era.

I'm of the opinion that school PE lessons primarily based around competitive team sports will increase child obesity rather than reduce it because it will disenfranchise children who are not team sporting types, many of which will evade lessons. Has any serious research been carried out into children who dislike team sports identifying reasons why?

Disability and sports generally means traditional disabilities like wheelchair users or blind people rather than ASD or dyspraxia. I don't think that the Youth Sports Trust has any knowledge of these conditions and their effects on children in PE lessons.

IntenseWorld said:

People are naturally in-built with some degree of competitiveness, some more than others and will all find their place naturally within society according to what they can manage and what their desire is.  Forcing children to be competitive if they are not naturally is stupid.

It's a common mistake to think that competitiveness and sports are synonymous where children who are not good at sports are not competitive and vice versa. There are many competitive activities that are not of a sporting variety although schools rarely venture into this area.

It would help if NAS made a direct approach to Youth Sports Trust as they seem to be pivotal to Government Policy, and their advertising campaign must cost a great deal more than most charities can afford.

Unfortunately they have no email or on-line form - you have to write to them at Loughborough University. I was tempted, started a letter, then thought....this isn't down to me. This is something for NAS.

As I said above, they have Inclusivity on their website, hence all the different ethnicities in their adverts, but nothing at all about disability. What's the message here - they're a group for able people only? Young disabled try elsewhere? Its pretty shocking that they are clearly advising Government Policy but ignoring the DDA and all other legislation including the Autism Act.

Competitive sport doesn't have to be teamwork, although it mostly is. I could throw a javelin or discus or shot put, and was good at long jump at school. That's individual competitive.

But I couldn't do team sports. As Intenseworld mentions, I ducked if the ball came near me, found the close contact and noise distressing, and I couldn't follow the rules, or keep track of what was going on. Being tall and well built I was forced into playing forward, until I convinced them I couldn't and was sent cross-country running where, unlike the other skivers who went somewhere to smoke, I did do a lot of running. I also couldn't follow cricket - fielding - when every bird flying over I reacted to as if it was the ball.

I've been pressured into tennis but haven't a clue, and I cannot catch a ball or anything thrown. My coordination is disasterous and I've poor hand/eye coordination.

Someone needs to persuade Government that many school children will have difficulty meeting this target. You have to allow for the fact that, despite Government claims they are aiming to diagnose from 3, many children don't get diagnosed until teens or later, and those not meeting diagnosis, who may still have problems, plus dyspraxia and some dyslexics.

The misery that will be caused to many schoolchildren by these blinkered giovernment tactics beggars belief. Because you can see underneath it "team games" writ large, rather than individual event competiveness - just the usual public school nonsense we've come to expect.

My youngest has just been diagnosed with hypermobility, so as well as having vestibular and proprioception problems this puts her at a disadvantage.  She also gets very upset at losing.

I remember at school being scared of the ball coming towards me and ducking every time and all my peers saying an annoyed "ooooohhhhh." in unison.  I remember being picked last for team sports.  I remember hating cross country running and hurdling.  I found stall ball and rounders really stressful.  I don't see why there needs to be competitiveness like that.

People are naturally in-built with some degree of competitiveness, some more than others and will all find their place naturally within society according to what they can manage and what their desire is.  Forcing children to be competitive if they are not naturally is stupid.

longman said:

However I think we need more information on this. I suspect NAS may not have been consulted, simply because the Government hasn't seen any issue.

It appears that it has escaped the radar of the NAS although I haven't confirmed it yet. There was a consultancy period before the reforms were implemented.

Does the NAS have any clear policies or recommendations on the school PE curriculum? If it does then they could lobby the government and stress that the reforms were implemented without factoring in a small but nevertheless critical section of the school community.

Not understanding the rules, lack of spatial awareness and ball skills are all bad enough, but the stick a child gets from the 'sporty types' is the last straw.

Part of the problem with school PE lessons is that classes are always mixed ability.

Having said this, one child I taught who has AS and ADHD was actually very good at football, so it is still important to look at individuals.

I suppose it's similar to how some children with ASD are good at riding bikes whereas others will benefit from bike training being part of the PE curriculum, and there has been some dismay that it isn't included in the reforms.

The Youth Sport Trust - I erroneously said Association above - has made a name for itself through the catch phrase "raise your game". They believe pupils learn better all round with a drive towards team sport ethos.

They are trying to take something forward from the London Olympics- which is a great idea - but I don't think they have the foggiest notion about disability. There is nothing on their website about disability - funny that - wasn't there a paralympics as well?

They have some content on inclusion. But they don't mean taking account of people with poor coordination as an excuse.

Why are they allowed to have a public website without reference to disability?

However I think we need more information on this. I suspect NAS may not have been consulted, simply because the Government hasn't seen any issue.

The current proposed policy initiated in 2010 is largely a reaction to the previous Labour policy in 2002 that was lumbering schools with way too much administration. Every pupil had to have a fitness plan, and had to be able to demonstrate originally 2 hours per week of fitness activity, later commuted to 5 hours.

The other problem with the now disbanded labour policy is that it addressed individual needs, so inclined to solo activities, and therefor undermined competitive sport.

This knee-jerk/backlash response intend to push schools to engage in competitive team games. But the proponents including the Youth Sport Association, see this as a return to the jolly old empire, public school, team work and competition makes us Brits tough etc etc.

I seriously doubt whether it has entered the heads of these advocates of competitive sport that anyone will suffer. Come on boy....get a move on...a little pain a lot of gain...  We are going back to the Dark Ages.

Also where are these team games going to be played? Most school playing fields have been sold off as housing land to help pay for school rebuilds - someting I think initiated by a previous Conservative Government. They are probably thinking of a few jolly old public schools of fond memory that still have their football and rugby pitches. But the capacity for all schools to reintroduce competive games on centralised common pitches just isn't there.

It isn't just about those diagnosed with autism or dyspraxia, but a lot of children who fail to meet the criteria for these diagnoses will still have difficulty meeting the challenge of a return to competive sport.

What is the Government going to do .....introduce a sport version of the Work Capability Assessment?   You, boy....you don't have gaze aversion, so we don't accept your autism as an excuse...10 hours a week extra team sports!

Public school..................................................................................

This sounds pretty serious. So I hope NAS is watching and comes back with answers.

My schooldays, in the sixties, were in a very team sport conscious school, dedicated particularly to rugby and cricket. Everything centred around interaction and cooperation, so gymnastics was taught at a team or paired participants activity.

As a poorly coordinated, noise shy, gangling specimen I couldn't comply with this, and was always "left outside" - not welcome in any team or pairing. That despite being pretty fit and able otherwise. I could do what was asked but disadvantaged any team on account of timing and grasp of rules.

Sad isn't it how Michael Gove just cannot resist meddling in things he doesn't properly understand.