The landscape of primary PE. Perspectives of children, headteachers and external providers.

<p dir="ltr">In recent years, schools have become increasingly subject to privatisation agendas (Evans and Davies, 2015) and a growth in outsourcing (Sperka and Enright, 2018). Concerns have long existed with primary Physical Education (PE) in particular (Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) 2013; 2023), and specifically regarding who is best placed to teach the subject in primary schools (Parnell et al. 2017). Research has reported a range of different individuals being employed to teach curriculum PE and Randall et al. (2016) explained it is commonplace for PE lessons to be outsourced to external providers (EPs). More recently, Randall (2023) argued that a precedence has been set for sports coaches, specialist teachers and other activity providers to be the main curricular PE deliverers. Indeed, Allen, Quarmby and Dillon (2023) cautioned that the use of EPs to deliver primary PE is showing no signs of slowing in England. Primary PE is an under-researched area (Smee et al. 2020) and little is known in research about outsourced PE (Randall et al. 2016), views of headteachers (Jess et al. 2024) or the impact EPs of the subject have had on children. The purpose of this research was to explore the nature of outsourced PE and the experiences of children.<br><br>The research took place in 3 different primary schools in the South of England with 34 pupils (aged 9-11) in total. A participatory approach underpinned the study, where the participants were provided with the opportunity to communicate their perspectives of outsourced PE through a range of methods. This approach was aligned with a children's rights agenda in attempt to provide the children with an opportunity to express themselves in a manner and environment in which they were comfortable. Posters were the main artefacts created by the children which acted as prompts for conversations over a period of seven weeks spent in each school. The headteacher (n=3) and EP (n=3) from each school was interviewed using a semi-structured approach to interview to further explore the nature of outsourced PE.<br><br>The findings of this study highlight that a diverse range of EPs are teaching curriculum PE, yet there are similarities as far as their qualifications are often limited to National Governing Body (NGB) qualifications. EPs appear to delivering curricula dominated by sports skills and team games within their lessons as curricula are dominated by notions of competition and overcoming others. Children appear to be learning that being successful in PE is underpinned by competitive success, teaching them to value physical characteristics and the ability to perform sports skills successfully. The findings indicate assessment practices are unclear in primary PE, resulting in the outcome of competition becoming an informal form of assessment, informing childrens' views on who is the best. Competition appeared to hold value for the headteachers and EPs, the latter who may be able to justify their use value, through pupil performances in competitive team sport.</p><p dir="ltr"><br>This research makes a number of recommendations for a range of parties involved in PE. This research is timely, considering the British Government are reported to be publishing initial recommendations following a Curriculum and Assessment Review in 2025. In future iterations of the National Curriculum for Physical Education (NCPE), it is recommended that clearer guidance and greater emphasis on areas other than sports skills and team games would support the delivery of a broad curriculum in schools. The introduction of Physical Education and Sport Premium (PESP) funding over recent years has allowed headteachers to invest in areas they consider to be important in relation to physical education and school sport (PESS), however there has been little accountability for how this has been spent. Should more stringent accountability measures be introduced by future Governments and greater focus placed on this by Ofsted would help ensure PESP funding is spent on supporting school PE as intended. Given that EPs appear to be routinely delivering curriculum PE, it is recommended that EPs need to place greater focus in their practice on the individual needs and competencies of the children they teach. The growth of EPs delivering PE has resulted in children's experiences of PE closely resembling competitive sport, raising questions about where the E from PE has gone. In this sense, PE as a subject continues to evolve, making the voice of key stakeholders vital in shaping the future of subject, and providing headteachers with valuable guidance on the impact of outsourced PE.</p>