Schools: Sports

Department for Education written question – answered at on 6 April 2016.

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Photo of Andrew Gwynne Andrew Gwynne Shadow Minister (Health)

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy that school leadership teams publish details of accidents and injuries and the findings of sports injury investigations in their reports to governors, parents and OFSTED/ISI.

Photo of Andrew Gwynne Andrew Gwynne Shadow Minister (Health)

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy that a prescriptive expectation of competent provision for the safety of children participating in school sports is formalised in the OFSTED/ISI inspection frameworks.

Photo of Edward Timpson Edward Timpson Minister of State (Education)

We want all children to lead healthy and active lives. We expect schools to be aware of the risks associated with sporting activities and to provide a safe environment for pupils.

Head teachers must take reasonable steps to ensure that staff and pupils are not exposed to risks to their health and safety. This applies to activities on or off school premises. We expect schools to be aware of their responsibilities on reporting injuries. Guidance can be found in the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) education information sheet: Incident reporting in schools, available at http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/edis1.pdf. The Department has issued advice to schools on health and safety, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-and-safety-advice-for-schools. The Association for Physical Education (AfPE) and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents also provide advice to schools on how to manage activities safely and reduce the risk of injuries and accidents.

The safety of pupils in regard to all the activities they undertake at school falls within the scope of inspection under both the Ofsted and Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) framework.

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