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Read this article, written by a student for their secondary school newspaper.
More swimming lessons in school-time!
For ages, my friends and I have asked why P.E. seems squeezed out of the curriculum; as if it is a second-class subject to more 'academic' ones like maths and science. Even when we do P.E. and lessons are not cancelled in exam periods or for other 'more important' things, we only get to go swimming in Year 7 for half a term. That's six lessons. Six lessons in five years. How stupid is that?
I asked Mrs Brute, head of P.E. in our school, why this was the case. She said that “Swimming lessons are expensive and older students often don't want to go. Rather than waste money, we bought three trampolines for the sports hall instead.” A good answer, you might think. But ask yourselves this: is a trampoline likely to save your life?
A recent survey for the Amateur Swimming Association discovered that 51% of seven- to 11-year-olds could not even swim the length of a standard pool. I know this is talking about primary school students, but if we get barely any lessons in secondary school, how are we supposed to improve on this? There are three main reasons why we need more swimming lessons:
1. Exercise - To combat obesity. This is a major problem amongst teenagers today.
2. Lifesaving skills - We live on an island, we go to the beach or use swimming pools on holiday.
3. Cost - Yes, it may be expensive for the school, but it is MORE expensive for us out of school. Schools have budgets for stuff like this. We don't need any more trampolines!
So fight with us to stay healthy - sign our petition today!
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