Professor Laura McAllister addressed delegates at the General Teaching Council of Wales’ annual Wales Education Lecture earlier this month. Her full speech is below.
General Teaching Council for Wales – Wales Education Lecture 2013, at the National Museum Wales
Monday October 21st 2013
I am reminded of being a young, raw PhD student about to give a joint conference paper with an older (and ‘old school’) academic colleague. As I prepared to speak, he said: "Don’t worry, you go on and do your best, I will pick up on all the areas you don't get quite right..."
I am an academic, a political scientist and a sports leader. I hope those professional experts in the audience will forgive a certain lack of expertise on education but I can assure you I make up for that with my desire and commitment to improving how sport and physical activity can shape and benefit our pupils’ lives.
In the same spirit of self-deprecation, I have been told that I am unusual, that is:
· unusual as a female chair of a sponsored body
· unusual as a practising academic, simultaneously holding such a significant, high profile external role in public life
· and unusual to be a woman at the highest echelons of governing sport.
But then, I think we should celebrate the unusual!
We are all products of our upbringing. I was born and brought up in Bridgend, with my mother's family all coming from Nantyffyllon in the Llynfi Valley.
There were many prominent influences in my life, including my mother who encouraged us as children to reach for the stars. Financial riches and privilege were not what made you a success. Hard work and determination and self-belief were. You never said ‘I can’t’ to my mother and we were told we could achieve whatever we wanted to in life.
Her father-my grandfather-was another important influence. Not least because it was he who introduced me to his two passions (two things which, I believe, have defined me as a person): politics and football.
My grandfather was a miner and a Lodge Official in Coegnant Colliery in Maesteg. I remember him taking us as small children to NUM meetings and prominent political gatherings. I was too young to know who the men (and they were all men) speaking were or to understand the meaning of their great oratory.
I was a small child running around in the corridors and playing hide and seek. But I gathered enough from the atmosphere in those halls to see that this was a community taking control and trying to shape its own destiny, and education featured large in this.
He also took me to my first Cardiff City game at Ninian Park at the tender age of three. I was hooked, not just on supporting the Bluebirds (and they will always be the Bluebirds!), but on the game of football and sport more generally. I loved watching, but I enjoyed playing far more.
I can still feel that thrill, that exhilaration, the pride and fun of playing netball, rounders, hockey, and above all for me, football.
My own exposure to sport at primary school was entirely positive (and not in schools with fabulous facilities incidentally. These were the days of Welsh language units).
What I did have there, were amazing teachers, one in Trelales who was passionate about netball. She was also a club coach who tried to engage all children, however good they were and coached us with compassion and commitment.
Then later, in Bryntirion Comprehensive, we had two hockey internationals as teachers who (apart from trying to persuade me that my sporting future lay in hockey, not football-they didn't have much success with that one!) showed all pupils, both the inclusive spirit of sport but also the simple pleasure and satisfaction it brings, whether one is good or indifferent.
By the way, no-one is 'bad' at sport in my view- there is a sport or activity out there for everyone, and success depends on how you measure it. Often, fun and enjoyment is the most important measurement.
My experiences, and what I have seen subsequently, underlines that you-the teachers- are the sporting magicians.
You weave your magic in the classroom, on the playground and the pitch, and ‘abracadabra’- if it’s done right, you create a child hooked on sport for life...
Of course, the flip side of that is that with a less magical performer, children can be put off for life, with the wonderful opportunities and life chances that sport brings snatched away before they can experience the joy and benefits of being fit and active.
Because I was encouraged to be confident in my ability to play, I enjoyed it. Ability, confidence, enjoyment- a recipe that is a big theme in our recent research with children and young people, and one that I shall return to later.
Because the truth is, that this is a simple formula that applies to most areas of life- we like things we can do and feel confident doing. Things which expose our weaknesses and foibles, the brave amongst us undertake for self-development and personal growth-but many of us file away as untouchable.
And translate that confidence ‘recipe’ into childhood and even more so, the delicate and sensitive world of adolescence.
I was a ‘sporty’ child with supportive parents who loved sport themselves. Not all children are in that fortunate position. But all children have a right to enjoy sport and to experience good quality sport and PE in school. This is not something that should be left to chance. All of us involved in the provision of sport and educational opportunities for exercise have a duty to make sure EVERY child has the opportunities I did.
You will gather that I am very taken with that language: the discourse of rights, duties, responsibilities. We serve the young people of Wales because they are our future and the future can be a very different place for them.
I took this hugely, prestigious position (as I say to colleagues at Sport Wales, tell me a job better than this one -- sport and in a country where sport runs through our DNA - what could be better?) because I wanted to embrace that responsibility. It came with some professional cost. I remain a full-time research academic and have to juggle the demands of a University environment with a sporting diary that is full, varied and challenging. But I really wouldn't have it any other way.
Can I make a confession? I have had a Damscene conversion from ‘elite’ sport to a focus on children and schools. I came into this role as a former international athlete. It was the elite side that fascinated me. I am still excited by our challenge of winning more medals per capita than any other nation in the world at next year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. But in truth, the real legacy I now want to leave from my time in charge is a school sport system that is radically different, one that engages, enthuses and includes every child.
Sport is about performance and podiums but it is about standing on personal podiums, not just the usual ones. As my good friend, Tanni Grey-Thomson memorably once said whilst we were discussing Olympic and Paralympic legacy: what we need is more people who are rubbish at sport! Beautifully expressed, but I entirely agree with Tanni’s sentiments...
Tanni is one Welsh woman who has stuck her head above the parapet and continues to lead by example and inspiration. We need more like her to become the next generation of Wales's leaders. More women will bring diverse life experiences and different personal qualities, like self-awareness and emotional intelligence.
Despite some beacons of breakthrough like the gender-balanced Assembly we had in 2006, which registered Wales as a world leader in political equality, the current picture remains unedifying: Women are under-represented in the UK Parliament, where only 20% of MPs are female; only 4% of the top 50 company bosses in Wales are women; and while women dominate the teaching profession (three-quarters), they only account for around 18% of university professors.
Under a quarter of our local councillors are women, only 3 women CEO of our sports governing bodies.
Women’s voices need to be heard in every sector. In our own, I take the challenge of narrowing the gap between girls’ and boys’ sports participation very seriously indeed. How ridiculous would it be if we were attempting to narrow that gap such with no input from girls and women themselves?
And yet, that is the sorry picture in many parts of public life.
Our research with girls and young women has demonstrated a real enjoyment of physical activity in primary school, but one which slowly erodes over time. Most that we spoke to expressed a real regret at dropping out of sport and a sense that they were too unskilled or unfit to return.
All of this further underlines that, if we can get the offer in schools right-particularly in secondary school-we have a real opportunity to halt the decline in participation and to narrow the gender gap.
And a critical factor for girls is confidence again.
We women know all about issues of confidence for they are at play throughout our careers.
How many talented female colleagues and friends do you know who lack the self-confidence and belief to put themselves forward for roles? And even when we get to positions of power, how often have we all thought ‘am I up to this’?, ‘When will I be found out?!’
Of course, there are lots of components to confidence and self-belief, but it is hard to argue that physical confidence is not one. Being body confident can generate a profound, wider impact on a young girl’s aspirations that will last her a lifetime and, I hope, broaden her horizons in all aspects of her life.
As women leaders, we must take our status as role models very seriously.
Leadership is about authenticity, not perfection, and the best role models are those who are imperfect, warts and all. For girls, seeing us-ordinary women- in positions of authority is significant in itself.
No-one knows all of the answers, and not one of us can enact change alone. This is a team effort and that team needs to be varied, diverse and innovative. And to achieve that diversity we need to break down the barriers we know also limit the participation and inclusion of BME communities. Just like many other areas of Welsh life, sport needs to continually ensure that we reflect the rich diversity of our society, to harness and develop everyone’s talents.
I believe passionately in the value of continuous improvement, which involves in regular self-analysis and self-criticism.
I expect Sport Wales to challenge old assumptions and practices in sport, never accepting second-best, driving the aspirations of the nation, but not just for the few but for every single child in Wales.
I also firmly believe that we improve organisationally and progress through recognising our flaws and exposing them. But, in so doing, we take on the duty to change. Our work to modernise and diversify the Board of Sport Wales is just the start. Our mentality must be that of the athlete and the coach- the race, the competition, the match ends when the whistle is blown or the finishing line crossed. Then it is about more training, more challenge, the quest for improvement, the next competition and a bar set even higher.
I am very proud of where we are now but I want us to become an exemplar organisation that is driven, aspirational and most importantly, successful in a way that makes a real difference to the people of Wales. Our ambitions are high and challenging, but I much prefer that to setting the bar low and happily ticking off goals that achieve little beyond their current reach. What Wales needs now is certainly not more of the ‘status quo’.
Sport Wales has two objectives: some might only think of ‘creating a nation of champions’- that we are just about high performance sport and winning medals.
But our ambitions are so much more than that. Our second goal, ‘getting every child hooked on sport’ is the more critical. Yes, by scattering seeds in the garden we will grow more talent to give our small nation an even greater sense of sporting pride on the international stage, but more importantly, it will drive opportunities and aspirations for every child to find their personal podium, whether that be in sport, in work, or in life more generally.
I’m not sure about you, but I, for one, am tired of being told of Wales's limitations.
We're "a poor country, an unhealthy country-with an obese, poorly-educated population, lacking in entrepreneurial skills and with an under-developed private sector."
Say it enough and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, especially for our young people.
And anyway, it is not what I see: I see a creative, enterprising, friendly people, passionate about this beautiful nation of ours, where the quality of life is so high, our scenery quite simply breath-taking, the proximity to the coast almost uniformly easy. An arts scene the envy of much bigger countries, some fabulous schools, colleges and Universities and some exciting, new, Wales-based business start-ups.
Add to that a fine sporting tradition, framed by a devolved government that has in its grasp the potential to show we are a small, smart successful nation in control of its own destiny.
All that will hold us back is a poverty of ambition because, whatever you think of the devolution settlement that we have in Wales (and my views are fairly well-documented), we already have the tools to develop uniquely Welsh solutions.
And that will not be following Michael Gove’s odd and backward-looking commitment to prep school-style, competitive sport, but a forward-looking, Welsh perspective that views our children’s experiences in school and in sport more inclusively and far more holistically.
Anyway, enough about my views, what about the people who really matter...?
This is the new Physical Literacy video that we are delighted to launch this evening.
It is so important that we listen to the voice of young people. It is not us telling you that schools are the key site for improving the sporting skills and health of our nation.
I will refer frequently to the voices of young people tonight. I am convinced that we need to understand their needs in order to better serve them, for they are our masters. You will hear frequent references to Young Ambassadors, who actively promote and organise physical activity in schools and represent their peers. You will also hear about the Sport Wales School Sport Survey.
The School Sport Survey, released some ten days ago, was the biggest ever such survey in the world.
Nearly 40% of our young people spoke. The sheer scale of the Survey is breath-taking- 110,000 children, over 1,000 teachers and over 900 schools responded.
I hope this demonstrates our commitment to listening rather than preaching. The findings have provided us with some incredibly rich data - detailed and forensic, local and national information on young people’s attitudes towards PE and sport.
But gathering the information is the easy part. Our duty now is to listen to these opinions.
The video we just saw has been designed to help clarify and simplify for the teaching profession, parents, sports coaches, everyone what is meant by the term ‘physical literacy’.
There is much misconception and therefore, some understandable reluctance to fully embrace the concept of physical literacy. Yet, when explained in simple terms, it is really so obvious.
Physical Literacy is about providing children with the motivation, sense of enjoyment, confidence and capability to understand how to use their body. It is child centric, aligned with our Welsh approach to educating children in the fullest, most rounded sense, and as the School Sport Survey makes clear – it is a very successful approach.
Physical literacy, like literacy, is a journey through childhood. Instead of learning basic grammar and reading skills which then allow children to read books and sites of their choice, we teach basic catch, jump and co-ordination skills to building each child’s confidence and appetite to pursue a sport or physical activity of their choice. It is about making the whole experience enjoyable, allowing every child to find their own level of competence and confidence. Providing pathways from school to the wider sporting community, whether for simple fun playing with friends or developing a talent to Olympic standard.
I have five propositions that I intend to put to this distinguished audience:
1. healthy habits learned at a young age last a lifetime (hooked on sport);
2. schools are the site for the most important interventions for all children (captive audience/whole school approach);
3. Physical Education must be an enjoyable, high quality experience for all children throughout their school lives (PE core subject);
4. sport is for all of us throughout our lives, for the talented and for fun, in the playground and on the podium;
5. sport is a hugely powerful, currently under-utilised health lever.
Let me take the first two propositions together:
Sport Wales, as an organisation, is driven by the desire to change culture. One single obese inactive child is one too many. Sport's power comes from its reach and appeal. Children have more positive role models from sport than from any other sector- Gareth Bale, Becky James, Jade Jones, Leigh Halfpenny.
These are the right kind of role models, selling the right message- showing that it’s cool to be fit and healthy.
But it will take more than role models. The scale of the issues we face means that everything we do now has to be about positive interventions.
There is little point in addressing alone the symptoms of much deeper-seated problems. An attack on the causes is long overdue. Interventions on diet and obesity, levies on fast food and sugary drinks, might well be useful but only if we are simultaneously addressing the causes.
Serious generational change requires a 'Team Wales' approach, much as we shall take next year at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow as we try to reach that ambitious medal target. By the way, we are already outperforming our neighbours across the UK in this regard, so another bar-raising ambition.
We know that parents and families alone cannot address activity levels, requires a holistic and cohesive approach by education sector, parents, and partners (particularly those young people from disadvantaged communities where life expectancy and PE participation rates lowest).
Let us return to little Amelia's ‘fire us up’ statement from video.
Schools offer a ‘captive audience’ who will we know will try anything at young age, but become cautious and embarrassed at the fear of failure as they grow older. This makes it even more critical to develop their competence and confidence early on.
Moreover, young people from the poorest parts of Wales may have their best opportunity when they are inside those school gates.
That’s why it is paramount that every school provides its pupils with an engaging and enjoyable sports offer. I am delighted that two of the top ten schools in our survey that were ‘hooked on sport’ are from disadvantaged areas – that suggests this is not all about money and advantage, but principally about the commitment and ethos of the school.
Commitment is critical. I was recently told by our Young Ambassadors that most girls didn’t participate in school because the school insisted on sports attire which made the young women very self-conscious. One poorly thought-through decision, hundreds of girls turned off physical activity.
And, you’d expect me to say this, but I will not accept that sport is a boys’ and men’s preserve.
Getting more girls, and boys, engaged in physical activity and sport starts in school. The School Sport Survey also revealed lower participation rates in sport amongst children from BME communities. I suspect there are similar simple cultural issues which just need a more sensitive listening-ear to resolve. This is something Sport Wales will be addressing in detail with schools and other partners in the coming year.
This is because young people are not a homogenous group. If we’re to ensure that all young people are having frequent and positive experiences of PE and sport, then we need to better understand the differences between young people, their different motivations…
This means taking a young person-centred approach. Over the course of this next year, we will be developing a tool which will enable schools to better profile their pupil population, based on their sporting behaviours. Schools and Young Ambassadors can use this insight to undertake more targeted engagement with pupils with the view to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to undertake activities that they find enjoyable. If they enjoy them, then they will be hooked!
If they are ‘hooked’, we can then continue to nurture their interest and development through college and university, where so much good work is being done to increase participation. I addressed Colegau Cymru last year on this very point, because it is a further step in translating childhood participation rates in physical activity into adulthood.
Whilst we know that a young person is a staggering 195% more likely to be hooked on sport (taking part in at least 3 times of extra-curricular or community-based sport a week) if they enjoy school sport, they are 58% more likely to be hooked on sport if they are very confident in trying new activities without worrying. Ability is key, as it is Ability, Confidence, and Enjoyment are what it’s all about (ACE).
Every single PE lesson, every sporting opportunity should empower our young people. They need to be involved. They should feel motivated to come back for more. They are telling us that they want more opportunities to be active – we all know that three-year olds rarely keep still! Most young children arrive at school enjoying playing and being active, yet by the time they leave secondary school, nearly two thirds don’t enjoy it any more.
So, what can we deduce from this? School seems to be disengaging some of our young people from being physically active? I am sure we are unanimous that this is something that we must all work to change.
The challenge is to harness this for all of our children for the rest of their lives. This approach has been encouraged through our Play to Learn and Dragon Multi Skills where we play to children’s strengths, their urge to play and to learn new physical skills- a properly child-centred approach.
Sport Wales’s Physical Education and School Sports (PESS) programme has been a striking success story. The programme was originally designed to improve the confidence and competence of primary school teachers to deliver PE, and now is challenging the outdated orthodoxies of teaching competitive sport that were often found in secondary schools.
Estyn has highly praised the programme and its success is demonstrated in improved attainment at Key Stage 3.
And the recent School Sport Survey results revealing higher pupil participation and enjoyment levels indicate how successful PESS has been. Again, the outcome of a child-centric (or customer-led) approach to physical literacy, rather than just teaching sport.
However, PESS funding comes to end next year.
As we develop a wider Physical Literacy framework, to sit alongside Numeracy and Literacy frameworks, the key issues are accountability and measurement. No-one is currently held responsible for the physical activity levels of their students. With equal status, and assessed by Estyn, we could ensure every head teacher was obliged to develop plans to meet the standards of the best-performing schools.
3. Key points of Baroness Tanni Grey Thomson's Task and finish group recommendation:
Let's cut to the chase.
When it comes to PE and sport in school there has been some unhelpful discourse...
How on earth is it acceptable to laugh off poor experiences of PE and school sport as part of life's rich tapestry?
It is one thing to talk about our own historic experiences of PE- we've all heard of 'brutal' PE teachers forcing children to run cross country in the rain, or allowing the ‘less sporty’ kids to be last picked in an exclusive team selection?
But hold on…
Would we allow such indignities and blatant inequalities to happen in other school lessons?
Happily, things are changing and there are shining examples of excellent practice out there, but our duty is to make sure that good practice is consistent and everywhere, not subject to the, albeit positive, whim of a motivated head-teacher. Integrating physical literacy into the training of new teachers would provide skills to enhance their confidence in engaging and enthusing students across all subjects.
It is worth reminding ourselves that physical literacy is about life chances. A young person who leaves school unable to read and write is no laughing matter. Neither is one ill-equipped to lead an active, healthy lifestyle. The only tears that should be shed with those old tales of PE nightmares are ones of sadness…
We have been set a critical and bold challenge by our Government. The Programme for Government states that physical literacy is as important as reading and writing. That was our challenge in Tanni's group - to translate that belief into reality.
After receiving in-depth evidence from a range of experts, the group unanimously decided to call for PE to be made a core subject in the curriculum, alongside English, Welsh, Maths and Science.
Let me be clear, this is not about more time. This is less about quantity, and all about status and quality.
So, why did we come up with just one recommendation?
Because anything less radical would simply address the symptoms.
The most effective way to deliver the recommendation is to give physical literacy the same status as numeracy and literacy, so that every head teacher would know that Estyn would assess the school’s performance. This would mean schools would be challenged if, for example, only 10% of their pupils were regularly active when other similar schools were achieving 80% participation rates. Although providing PE is a statutory duty, it is not a mandatory, and the Survey shows that time allocated to PE is falling short of the Welsh Government’s target for all pupils to receive 120 minutes of PE per week.
We are in tune with the profession too: 87% of teachers feel that more time should be devoted to PE at their school and 60% said that more time should be devoted to extra-curricular sport. 58% felt that their school regards physical literacy to be as important as numeracy and literacy, whereas 31% felt that their school didn’t regard it to be as important.
Young people know the issues, and they are able to articulate them so simply and frankly. Come along to the Young Ambassador conference this Wednesday. This is its fourth year, it is an ever growing event, its importance shown by the fact that this time it will be addressed by the Minister for Sport, John Griffiths.
Our 4000 trained Young Ambassadors in Wales (the most active part of the scheme anywhere in the UK) don’t hold back in their challenge to me in my role.
My challenge to you is whatever you role in education or sport: ‘are you making the most of these motivated, articulate and innovative young people?’
Because make no mistake, they must also be part of the solution.
So, now our young people have spoken. They have told us that what they want is:
PE and sport that is enjoyable, where they can develop their confidence and ability, where the young person is at the heart of school sport, and where school as at the heart of community provision.
4: Our connections with the health sector are currently immature and under-developed. Having said that, I am delighted that I have had some very productive meetings with our Health Minister, Mark Drakeford, who is a keen sportsman himself, and that I am a member of his joint ministerial expert group on physical activity.
But we need to act quickly not to lose these unique opportunities. Physical inactivity is recognised by the World Health Organisation and the UK’s Chief Medical Officers as one of the primary causes of premature deaths and chronic illnesses – therefore, increasing physical activity is critical to reversing current ill-health trends. Getting them young is the key…
The Minister, the Chief Medical Officer and the new Director of Public Health Wales all recognise the immense social and individual benefits to children if PE were to be given appropriate status in schools and quality improved further. It is much easier, and almost without cost to the public purse, to develop good habits in our young people, rather than wait until they are adults to change their way of life.
The 50% rise in children’s participation in sport frequency is one that we should be rightly proud of.
But just imagine if that could be translated into adulthood, a gigantic and life-changing stride towards creating a healthier nation.
I can see no other subject on the curriculum that can actually create the step change in the health of the nation we all want to see.
All athletes come from somewhere and many of our top athletes say, as I did earlier, that school played a pivotal role in igniting their first passion for sport. Listen to what Rhys Williams, our Olympic 400m hurdler says here:
We cannot afford to let inspiration go to waste (and that means inspiration from teachers and athletes) if we are to continue to challenge for international honours across our sports. Each medal won brings with it a responsibility to the next generation that are watching in the stands. If a child in Chepstow or Caernarfon, Pwllheli or Pontardawe see Rhys or Dai Greene, or Becky James or Aled Sion Davies, and think, I want to have a go at that, we have a duty to ensure the opportunity is there to try a sport and then develop their ability. We should never forget that the innocent enthusiasm that children bring to sport. It is something we can all learn from and we should all leave our cynicism at the school gate.
There was considerable scepticism around the term Olympic “legacy”, but I know from what I’ve seen up and down Wales that children and young people were incredibly inspired by what they saw. They weren’t thinking, “This isn’t for me”, just “Can I have a go?”. It has also been remarkable how children have even embraced and enjoy playing Paralympic events. Our Welsh gold medallists, Aled Sion Davies, Josie Pearson and Mark Colbourne have told me of their surprise and delight visiting schools where disability sport is ‘mainstreamed’. We, in Wales, can take a particular pride in how we have invested and supported the growth of disability sport. Disability Sport Wales is now regarded as a world-leading example of how to engage and enthuse disabled people in the community, as well as developing talent to the podiums of the Paralympics.
Sat in classrooms this week are our sports stars of the future. Some of them will have obvious, natural talent, others may need help and coaching in order to realise their potential. How exciting and fulfilling a prospect is it that we are all encouraging the next Sam Warburton, the next Elinor Barker or the next Jazz Carlin? International success is wonderful and crucial but, once again, this is about every child reaching his or her personal podium.
Ultimately of course, the process of enacting change will be a political choice and we look to our leaders in the Welsh Government to implement the findings of Tanni’s pioneering report and to act on the voices of the young people we have heard in our survey.
Surely now there is consensus amongst experts and practitioners that high quality PE is the fundamental foundation stone for a healthier, fitter, active and physically literate population.
To those sceptical about Tanni’s recommendation, I would say: if you know of any better ideas, I for one would like to hear them.
And let me say:
· This NOT about putting one more subject into an already crowded core curriculum; it does NOT open a Pandora’s Box. This is about enhancing the profile, quality and status of PE;
· This is a fundamental principle about holistic development of health and intellectual well-being; we live in an era where young people face a future being less fit/more ill/shorter lives than their own parents. Can we really do nothing?
· This not only an educational and academic issue, this is a fundamental children’s rights issue.
Physical literacy is of significant, wider benefit to children and in their adult life. It supports the way other subjects are taught and delivered. It is also critical in developing key life skills that are vital in the work place, and when young people are involved in delivering opportunities themselves, relevant and valuable work experience by 18% if graduates had played sport regularly at university.
It has been a real privilege to give this lecture this evening. As I look out at this room filled with committed professionals, I know that each and every one of you here are personally and professionally committed to the future our children, the future of Wales.
65 years ago (the NHS is at last a pensioner!), a Welshman, Aneurin Bevan, had the vision, passion and commitment to improve the health of every citizen in our nation. His vision transformed our society, providing the life opportunities and aspirations which drove individual development and progress.
A seismic change for which we are all profoundly in his debt.
But let’s keep that terrifying truth that our children face a life of poorer health and lower life expectancy than their parents. Yet, within our grasp, at no additional cost and with minimal inconvenience, we in Wales can build upon that tradition of Nye Bevan.
We cannot afford to fail our children. In preparing them for a working adult life which becomes annually more sedentary, we need to prepare them academically and we need to prepare them physically. Can anyone here say we have a choice?
It is not up to sport alone to champion its magnificent and diverse benefits. In closing, I’d like to return to the points about duty and responsibility that I made at the beginning of my talk.
I am very clear that it is my duty to champion this vision at governmental level and I will leave no stone unturned in trying to realize that dream. However, the truth is that we all have duties to achieve these lofty ambitions.
You are the practitioners, it is your profession: and you have the power to influence what happens in your schools, colleges and universities.
I also said at the start: ‘who wants to be normal’?
I’ll make a plea: let’s not do the ‘normal’ things and follow practices that simply haven’t worked. We need to build on some wonderful practice in PE and sport and spread that to every school and every community in Wales.
Together, in the sporting spirit of Team Wales, we can act to change the lives of our young people and, in so doing, the future of our small nation.
Remember, sport is a cost-effective and highly potent policy intervention that can transform lives. Its value and leverage is a ridiculously well-kept secret, and I feel that it is time to let this powerful genie out of the bottle.
