Children have returned to school unfit after missing out on exercise during lockdown, PE teachers are reporting.
According to a poll of PE teachers and school leaders by the Youth Sport Trust, 73 per cent report children have returned with low levels of physical fitness.
One teacher said that children were struggling to complete short bursts of activity without becoming out of breath.
Teachers say the situation has been exacerbated by new Covid safety measures, which have made school life more sedentary.
Logistical challenges
For example, many headteachers have placed restrictions on children’s movement around the school site, with some pupils not even moving between lessons.
Logistical challenges such as cleaning equipment, social distancing, staying in class bubbles and running staggered break and lunch times have imposed additional barriers on delivering PE.
Combined with teachers’ cautiousness, it has led to some schools teaching less or even no PE at all this term.
In secondary schools, over a fifth are offering less timetabled PE than pre-Covid, with around a half of all schools delivering less extracurricular sport in the autumn term. Around four in 10 schools say they will offer no extracurricular sport.
‘What we have feared’
Ali Oliver, chief executive of the Youth Sport Trust, said: “What we have feared most is becoming a reality, children’s lives have been disrupted by the pandemic and now their usual play and activity habits continued to be inhibited. As they return to school, we are seeing all sorts of issues present themselves from anxiety and depression to low physical fitness and self-confidence.”
“Many schools have been working really creatively to ensure young people access daily physical activity, weekly Physical Education and after-school sport. However, our insight reveals that too many schools are struggling with the confidence to resume or are prioritising other subjects – with the challenge greatest in secondary schools, where over a fifth are offering less PE than before COVID.
She added: “The wellbeing of our children must be a national priority right now. If we want to help children ‘catch up’ in the classroom we need to ensure they are active every day and are learning important life skills through PE that they can draw on to help them cope in the classroom and beyond.”