New leap in school sport

12.04.42pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 15th Jun 2007

Schoolchildren in Richmond upon Thames are playing more sport than ever before, a survey by the Department for Education and Skills has revealed.

Provisional results show that 95 per cent of pupils in all 51 of the borough's state-run primary and secondary schools play at least two hours of high quality sport every week. This is almost a 30 per cent increase in three years and 10 per cent higher than one year ago. Last year the best performing local authority in the UK reported that 93 per cent of its pupils spent at least two hours a week playing sport. The borough improved in eight out of ten categories in the DfES survey which examines all aspects of sport provision in primary and secondary education. Last year a Sport England survey revealed that adults in the borough are the most active in England, with 30 per cent taking regular exercise.

Cllr John Coombs, Cabinet Member for Youth, Culture and Leisure on Richmond Council, said:

"The power of sport on young people's development cannot be underestimated. It not only teaches the value of teamwork, which can be transferred into all walks of life, but helps keep our youngsters fit and healthy. Sport can also have a massive impact on confidence and spur children on to greater academic achievement. These results are excellent news and a tribute to the hard work of the Richmond School Sport Partnership and its partners including the Rugby Football Union, the Richmond Sports Development Team and St Mary's University College. We are extremely proud of our performance which has enabled levels of activity to exceed anything that has previously existed. The groundbreaking Competitive Edge programme, which encourages more young people to take part in competitive sport, continues to be a resounding success. We are grateful to the many sporting celebrities who have shown their support this year, including Jonny Wilkinson, Dame Kelly Holmes, Steve Cram and Mo Farrar. However, our work is not done and with the 2012 Olympics on the horizon, we will continue investing time and money to boost access to sport for people of all ages."