School under fire after banning FOOTBALL from playground over health and safety fears

Plymouth School of Creative Arts in Devon, which have been placed into special measures by Ofsted, has said that limited outside space is the reason for the move.

The school’s building does not have fields but has two concrete playgrounds that are shared by students of all ages.

Thomas Marshall, a student at the school in Plymouth has started a petition in order to have the ban removed.

He wrote: "Secondary school students at Plymouth School of Creative Arts are currently banned from playing football in either provided playground, as the floors are concrete and the fences are too short.

"Unfortunately, Plymouth School of Creative Arts does not provide a field, or any land of grass, for its students to play football at either break or lunch times.

"We believe the school has a duty to its students to provide a space which enables them to be able to play football every day.

"With the growing mental health crisis in this country, and the studies linking exercise and engaging in sports as a factor that can contribute to positive mental health, we believe Plymouth School of Creative Arts are neglecting their responsibility to support their students mental well-being.”

Thomas believes that the school is filled with children from working-class families, and believes the school needs to adopt “working-class traditions”.

We believe the school has a duty to its students to provide a space which enables them to be able to play football every day

He added: "It's no secret that working-class communities are full of children that enjoy nothing more than kicking a ball around for hours on end.

"We echo this in the light of working-class boys massively underachieving in education over the past five years.

"By signing this petition, you state that you believe Plymouth School of Creative Arts should provide a space for it's secondary school pupils to play football daily."

The school said it allowed football to be played in the school hall twice a week and allowed older students to leave the premises at lunchtime with parks, where football can be played, within walking distance.

A spokesman said: "By way of context, we are an 'all through' school, which means we have students aged four years to 16 years old.

“As a city centre school, we have very limited outside playground space (although all of the outside space we do have has been developed as a playground).

"We're also very keen to encourage active participation in sport, and have an enthusiastic PE department that has developed a well-supported school football team.

"The current restriction on break/lunch time football has been made solely on the grounds of safety – as the limited playground space is shared in part with younger students.

"We have, whenever possible, aimed to support and encourage additional opportunities for football using additional resources and locations when available."

The petition currently has just over 300 signatures.



 



 

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