By Mark Kenny, via email

Last week I attended the Merton Primary Schools Tag Rugby Finals at the Tooting and MItcham Hub.

Organised by the Merton School Sport Partnership, it has run for many years, involved most Merton primary schools and has consistently produced entertaining, skillful and very competitive matches.

As I watched, I wondered how long this and other Merton sports competitions would survive with their funding now reliant on schools dipping into their hard-pressed budgets.

I suspect not much longer.

I also asked myself where is the Olympic legacy, six months after London 2012 Games, for Merton's primary schools?

The answer seemed simple - there isn't one!

The day before the tag rugby tournament, Ofsted published a report titled 'Beyond 2012 - outstanding physical education for all - Physical education in schools 2008-12'.

It stated in relation to primary schools: "the impact of school sport partnerships in maximising participation and increasing regular competition was clearly evident in the vast majority of schools visited."

The present Government has, of course, scrapped the Partnership funding, offering no alternatives, and many have folded with the rest beginning to struggle.

The report went on to mention: "professional development and training provided by school sport partnerships had increased subject leaders' knowledge and understanding of self evaluation, action planning and curriculum development and empowered them to lead improvements to PE."

In fact, the report constantly refers to the success of the partnerships and recommends a "commitment from the government to invest in a new strategy for PE and school sports."

Sadly it appears the Government is prepared to let all this good work go to waste.

I call upon our local Conservative MP Stephen Hammond to read the Ofsted report, endorse it and call for a reintroduction of the funding for school sport.

He could even attend a partnership event: the tag team I coach won last weeks tournament and now will be representing Merton at the London mini-games on Wednesday, March 27, at the Crystal Palace Sports Centre.

Our children deserve better than the paltry inadequate proposals the government has produced so far.


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