The Prime Minister’s recent announcement is welcome given school sport and PE’s value to our children’s lives has long been overlooked. The result is poor provision in most state schools due to pressures on budgets and time and the loss of specialist PE teachers.
Access to high-quality sport and PE in schools is certainly urgently needed to reduce health inequalities and in particular, to address the mental health crisis facing children and young people. It also aids cognitive development and academic performance. There has never before been such a vast divide between the quality of sports provision in private versus state schools.
We welcome the specific reference to girls because:
- For girls, sport and PE has been particularly undervalued
- For over a third of girls (37%) school is their only opportunity to access sport
- 24% fewer girls than boys play team sport, missing out on vital life skills
- The mental health of young woman is in crisis
Girls face unique and compounding barriers in PE, from limiting gender stereotyping to fewer opportunities, and from female puberty (managing periods and breast health) to restrictive uniforms. Blanket inclusion will not help girls. They need change; they need their own space.
If we want to close the gender gap in physical activity, we must go further. Too many girls are failed by the current system. And equal access in name does not guarantee equal experience. A one-size-fits-all approach risks reinforcing inequalities.
We are calling for:
- Single-sex opportunities: Early gender stereotyping means most boys are taught they must win in sport and skilled up, whereas most girls are taught sport doesn’t matter for them and start school less skilled in catching, throwing, kicking and hitting a ball. Poorly managed mixed-sex provision in primary and secondary school means unequal participation and outcomes. Girls’ self-belief in sport halves during primary school, whereas for boys it is unchanged. Our research shows that girls are more willing to participate if boys are not watching or dominating the space.
- Better teaching about the biological differences between the sexes and puberty embedded in the Curriculum. Even before puberty, boys have greater strength, stamina and physique than girls, but at puberty the difference becomes very significant. This and other aspects of puberty should be taught to all boys and girls. Female puberty creates a radically different sporting experience, often accompanied by shame, pain and self-consciousness. 71% of girls (even sporty girls) avoid sport and physical activity when on their period. We call for compulsory, well-structured teaching about puberty in PE at Key Stages 2 and 3.
- Better training of teachers to recognise the different needs of girls and boys: train teachers to recognise how stereotypes and biology interact in the PE setting and how to plan lessons that support girls differently to boys, without limiting ambition for either. PE is often where the combined effects of bias, skill gaps and puberty are most keenly felt.
- Uniforms matter: schools must introduce active uniform policies to remove physical and psychological barriers to movement. For girls, dresses, skirts and shoes can hinder running and free play.
The investments planned in facilities will only benefit girls and women if gender budgeting is followed through and monitored so that government investment provides at least as much benefit to girls and women as boys and men.
Women in Sport wishes the Lionesses every success in their upcoming Euros tournament and welcomes their ongoing voice for equality for girls and women in sport.
Too many girls are missing out the joy of sport and its benefits to their mental and physical health, academic and career achievement.
Stephanie Hilborne OBE, Chief Executive of Women in Sport
Stephanie Hilborne OBE, CEO of Women in Sport said:
“It is encouraging to see girls explicitly recognised in this strategy which is a vital step in the right direction. Too many girls (now women) have already missed out the joy of sport and its benefits to their mental and physical health, academic and career achievement. This political will for change must be reflected in time for PE, budgets for specialist staff, teacher training and puberty education being more effectively positioned in the Curriculum. We must stop pretending that girls and boys are the same. The impact of female puberty and limiting gender stereotypes are massive, making single-sex sport and PE very important. Women in Sport looks forward to working with government and partners to ensure these reforms are grounded in the reality of girls’ lives so that no girl is left behind.”
