We’ve lost half a billion school days in the last year as schools have been closed for weeks on end and children sent back home, often to do little more than watch TV or play computer games, sitting sedentary for hours. Some schools have become Zoom academies with lessons beamed through yet another screen.
A few weeks ago, I swapped my rugby shorts for a suit and tie and marched into Downing Street with a copy of a new report on reforming sport in our schools. This report was put together by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) and makes the case for extending the school day and sporting facilities.
The grim reality is Britain has an appalling social divide when it comes to sport. As the CSJ report shows, children at fee paying schools do three times as much sport and PE as their state school peers. There’s a lot of levelling up to do to extend school sport and the facilities that go with it to more of our children, particularly youngsters at risk of being left behind.
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