Every primary school in the UK should have a specialist PE teacher, experts in school sport have told an Education Select Committee inquiry into the 2012 legacy.
Representatives of Sport England, the Association for Physical Education and the Sport and Recreation Alliance said teacher training for primary school teachers should cover sport as well as core academic subjects.
“If we’re talking about sustainability, the best thing you could probably do is to have a specialist PE teacher in every primary school by building it into teacher training,” Andy Reed, the chairman of the Sport and Recreation Alliance told MPs.
Another major point recommended by witnesses was the need to develop stronger links between schools and community sport providers to make sure pupils do not “drop off” from playing sport when they leave schools.
Former Olympic champion and triple jump world record holder Jonathan Edwards also spoke to the committee and described the controversial decision to axe School Sports Partnerships as a “very bad decision” which “wasn’t well thought through”.
The question is what a Primary PE specialist is?
1. Primary generalist teachers with a undergraduate degree in sport wil classify themselves as a Primary PE specialists.
2.Coaches who are part of a sports company will classify themselves as a Primary PE Specialist.
3. Secondary PE teachers who have committed many hours in school sport partnerships.
A true PE Primary Specialist is a QTS registered PE specialist for both Primary and Secondary. A teacher who can differentiate throughout the key stages in all physical activities as well as cognitive, social and emotive domains.
Curiously enough this status is available for foreign PE teachers who receive QTS status for both Primary and Secondary Education equivalent to their degree status from their country of origin. This includes Scotland.
Curiously enough this is not possible in England. Without this PE Teacher qualification and corrosponding adequate training with commitment to practical work and integrated placements thoughout undergraduate and post graduate teacher training PE in the UK will continue to suffer, especially in Primary Education.