Promoting and sustaining high quality physical education and school sport through school sport partnerships

Abstract

School sport partnerships (SSPs) have been at the centre of a national strategy for Physical Education and School Sport (PESS) in England for the last seven years, aiming to improve both the range and quality of opportunities for young people to be physically active. While annual surveys show significantly increased opportunities for young people to be physically active, both in curriculum PE and outside of school sport ( Quick et al., 2010 ; The Loughborough Partnership, 2008 ), there has been less evaluation of the quality of these new experiences. This article draws on interviews with experienced coordinators across eight sport partnerships in the north of England and explores their perceptions of good practice in high quality PESS. Good practice was described as underpinned by educational rather that performance pedagogy, linked to wider whole school agendas, and sustainable (for example, through the continuing professional development of non-specialist primary teachers). The importance of providing activities other than traditional sport for engaging previously inactive young people was also recognized, although there was less evidence of an accompanying, innovative pedagogy.