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Should Classroom Teachers be Paid for Coaching Games?

Posted Thursday, 18 November 2021

When organised games first came to prominence in independent schools in the 19th century, the first coaching workforce was male classroom teachers. Games enthusiasts who had played football and cricket at school and university and believed in the educational benefits that participation allegedly developed. Specialist teachers of PE were more...

Why do so Few Teenagers Love Running ?

Posted Tuesday, 9 November 2021

Primary school playgrounds are full of children running around. It’s a default state that brings smiles to red faces. Adult mass participation running events, including the flagship Parkrun and Race for Life, are equally popular. This evidence would suggest that running is a popular activity which brings joy to many...

The Most Difficult Issue in Independent School Sport

Posted Tuesday, 2 November 2021

There is wide consensus amongst those involved in sport in independent schools of the most difficult issue they face. It is the same all over the world. No discussion of frustrations gets far before agreement is reached that intrusive parents are the worst aspect of the job. It wasn’t always...

The Most Difficult Issue in Independent School Sport

Posted Tuesday, 2 November 2021

There is wide consensus amongst those involved in sport in independent schools of the most difficult issue they face. It is the same all over the world. No discussion of frustrations gets far before agreement is reached that intrusive parents are the worst aspect of the job. It wasn’t always...

Permission to Play Rugby, Sir? Maintaining Schools Rugby in a Landscape of Choice

Posted Tuesday, 2 November 2021

Permission to Play Rugby, Sir? Rugby Football has had a long and prominent place in the history of schools. The assumption that all boys would play the full version of the game was historically unchallenged: many took part in full contact Rugby several times each week. Many boys fell in...

Is There a Place for Mixed School Sport?

Posted Wednesday, 6 October 2021

Co-education was late to the educational party. Almost all of the early schools were single sex, with the foundation of many boys’ schools having a fifty year start on the girls. Even when comprehensivisation brought mixed schools to the state system in the 1970s and 80s, physical activity was very...