OFSTED and Physical Education

Well, the wide awake club, aka OFSTED, are at it again. As readers of this blog know by now, OFSTED has a habit of making periodic scandalous discoveries about education in the UK. They usually never explain why or how they suddenly unearth these horrendous malpractices, but at least we know how long it has taken them to find out that many children in the state education system are not getting the physical education (PE) they deserve. As Richard Garner observed in last Thursday's Independent:

"PE lessons in more than a quarter of Britain’s schools involve so little physical activity they fail to improve pupils’ fitness at all, a highly critical report has found."

What Mr Garner does not tell his readers is that OFSTED took FOUR YEARS to arrive at this conclusion - still, at least they haven't rushed to make their judgement. Unkinder commentators might point out that OFSTED are supposed to have their podgy fingers on the pulse of education and wonder why it took them so long to alert the public of this disturbing situation. Without these "discoveries", there would be no need for OFSTED, but that is another story.
Now, as it happens, I have more than a passing interest in PE, having been a co-ordinator in this subject in several primary schools over the years. While no fan of OFSTED, I have some sympathy with Richard Garner when he says:

"Ofsted, the education standards watchdog, accused teachers of taking the “physical” out of physical education by talking too much in lessons and not involving children in enough strenuous activity to build up their stamina or strength."

There is an element of truth in this, but it fails to account for the reason why so many teachers feel that they have to teach in such a way. This does not happen because schools and teachers choose to follow this procedure; it happens for several reasons:
1. Teacher training, which, in some teacher training establishments, emphasises the explanatory side of PE rather than the physical.
2. Pressure from above to attain academic targets, which leads some schools (especially primary schools) to neglect PE and other non-core subjects.
3. Dreary and uninspiring PE schemes of work, which are often unrealistic and boring for pupils AND staff.
4. Financial constraints on schools, which have led to many schools selling off their playing fields, and to "prioritise" at the expense of PE. Schools have been castigated by OFSTED for not teaching their children swimming - no mention is made of the fact that some schools simply do not have the money to afford swimming instruction.
 Strangely, Mr Garner and OFSTED do not take these factors into account. This is grossly unfair, as the problems OFSTED highlight are not, in my view, the fault of the schools under discussion. Teachers in schools have to follow their school's PE scheme; the school follows LEA guidelines; the LEA follows DES directives. The blame for the latest OFSTED shock-horror expose lies elsewhere, but OFSTED are not likely to attack their government bosses.
As a practitioner, I have experienced all 4 of these factors, the most significant being the schemes of work. Some Educational Gymnastics schemes require children to contort their bodies in all manner of unnatural shapes and move in bizarre ways that are about as useful for improving children's fitness as giving them doughnuts and coke in the afternoon. When I taught such lessons, I always tried to incorporate a game of some kind. When OFSTED were visiting, however, I followed the plan strictly! I did not realise that the inspectors might be thinking that the children were not getting fitter for following the plan laid down from above - and which they seemed to approve. Having said that, some OFSTED inspectors do not seem to be up to assessing PE anyway, as a Daily Mail article about OFSTED inspectors puts it:
"One PE teacher was reportedly told that their lesson was ‘unsatisfactory’ as there were ‘children doing nothing at some points in the lesson’.
The decision was overturned after it was pointed out that the pupils were fielding in a cricket match."

My personal view is that all PE - gymnastics, dance, games, etc, should be relevant and enjoyable. Yes, children need to get fitter, but the change needs to come from the top down - simply moaning about schools is not the answer, and is extremely unfair. Yet again, I ask: when schools are feeling the financial pinch, why have there been no cuts in the OFSTED budget?