School Sport Survey results: A once in a generation opportunity if we work together

Results show more than half of all children in Wales are at risk of not meeting physical activity guidelines, with 66% of these not taking part in a club sport setting regularly.  

This means that for over 15 years, since this survey began, the percentage of children who are regularly taking part in sport and physical activity has remained at a broadly similar level. 

As has historically been the case, where children live, their race, if they have a disability, their family income, and whether they can access affordable opportunities, all play a part in how likely they are to be taking part regularly.  

• 47% of boys are taking part club sport more than 3 times a week, compared with just 39% of girls.   
• 45% of children without disability are taking part club sport more than 3 times a week, compared with just 39% of children with a disability. 
• 51% of children from the least deprived communities are taking part club sport more than 3 times a week, compared with just 35% of children from the most deprived. 

Once again, the evidence is providing a compelling case for action. But it's not action that sits with the sport sector alone.  It's collaborative action that must come from across Government and multiple sectors. Sport can deliver a healthier population, a stronger economy and communities, and a modern, thriving and confident nation.  

But to achieve this, we need to make physical activity everyone's business. We need every area of the new government to be thinking about how they can benefit from and support an active nation.  

We need sport, schools, health, communities, transport, local partners and government to come together and work differently, aligning policy and investment to remove the barriers that are stopping people from being active. 

We need, as the Cabinet Minister for Culture and Sport has said, for sport to be at the heart of our vision for Wales. 

We have captured the views of more than 120,000 children across Wales, which is a wealth of insight to work with. They have told us what they want to do more of, what stops them taking part and what is important to them when taking part. 

We also have a clear ambition from our government, and the potential to make fundamental differences to the way that we deliver with the development of the new Culture and Sport strategy. We must grasp this opportunity. 

Importantly, we would be building from strong foundations. We have such committed people, incredibly strong partnerships and genuinely world-class expertise in sport. And we know that we can make it fun and welcoming, which makes children want to come back.  

But our current way is not reaching every child. To make a real difference, sport must be easier to access, in more places and in the right places. This means we need to be innovative and work with non-traditional providers, as well as updating our own offers.  

Wales is quite often referred to as a small and mighty nation. Interestingly, in this sense, our small size could work to our advantage. It can make bringing the relevant areas and people together quicker, it can help us to become coherent, it makes the collaborative concentrated approach we need easier to attain. 

But that advantage is not automatic. It depends on leaders across government and other sectors choosing to work towards shared outcomes rather than seeing physical activity as a separate concern.   

A challenge for the new Culture and Sport Strategy will be in its ability to affect decisions beyond sport itself. Can it lead to every sector asking; what could being more active help the people we serve achieve, and what can we change to make that possible? 

For education, health, transport and local partners, that means considering opportunities to be active when shaping policy, services and investment and not seeing them as a responsibility that sits elsewhere.   

That different way of working is already taking shape. Together with colleagues in public health and education, we are working on an approach that places physical activity at the heart of a child's day. We believe that by working with schools, we can unlock the potential to create a more active nation.  

Crucially, this initiative is about more than PE. It connects how children travel to school, how they can be active in lessons, and after-school activities, links with local clubs and ways for families to be active together.  

It helps more children see that being active is for them, and it's having a positive impact right across school life. Long-term sustained funding into such initiatives will help to make the changes we want to see. 

Getting more young people more active will help prevent ill health, improve their life chances, strengthen communities, support our economy and help to enhance our national identity. 

We can do it, if we all work together. Not doing so is not an option - that will simply be letting this and future generations down.