Angela Watkinson

Conservative Party | Upminster

School Sport

Angela Watkinson (Upminster) (Con): I begin by apologising to the Minister for unintentionally missing the beginning of his speech. Despite that, I hope that he will join me in congratulating two schools in my constituency. Coopers' Company and Coborn school achieved specialist sports college status about two years ago and Emerson Park school achieved it more recently—the London borough of Havering has a good reputation for school sport.

I worked in a special school for many years, where one of my responsibilities was running a riding for the disabled group. Some of the children were heavily disabled wheelchair users and others had invisible disabilities such as diabetes and epilepsy, but they all participated in the riding for the disabled group. The freedom that comes from being mounted on and controlling a horse is unimaginable for children who are unable to walk in other circumstances. That non-competitive sporting activity was extremely worthwhile.

I also took the children swimming. Once children who are unable to walk are in the water, they experience freedom and can exercise in a way that would otherwise be impossible. Once a year, I used to organise an inter-special schools swimming gala for about eight London boroughs. The gala was competitive, and I used to announce the children's names and the lane in which they were swimming. After each race, the children would come up to the table and ask, "Which school won? What was my time? How did we do? How many points has my school achieved?"

After many years, somebody decided that competitive sport was not good for those children, and a non-competitive annual gala was introduced. The first year was such an anti-climax: I announced the children's names and their lanes, and they gave their all to get from one end of the pool to the other—children who cannot walk swim surprisingly quickly because their upper-body strength is high—but it was pointless to reach the other end first. The children came to the table and asked, "Who won? Did I win? How many points does my school have?" The event fell flat, and the children did not get half as much enjoyment from the non-competitive gala as they did from the competitive gala. The gala continued to be held in a non-competitive spirit for a time, but interest waned.

Sport is not only a question of getting fit or being part of a team. One of the most important lessons in life is learning to win and lose with good grace, and school sport is the most important vehicle for teaching children that essential life skill.

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