Edinburgh's independent schools snap up city pupils' sports slots

Council not allowing after-school sport

Independent school pupils are getting to play after-school sports while state school pupils are not

STATE school pupils in Edinburgh are missing out on sport as independent schools take their slots at city playing fields.

And budding stars will lose out to their independent sector counterparts when it comes to selection for international competitions, one parent and coach has warned.

The city council has not allowed after-school sport to resume since pupils went back and PE lessons are held outside. But mother-of-two and volunteer netball coach Lisa Sutherland says most independent schools have returned to normal.

“None of the state schools, primary or high, are getting after-school sports, but a lot of the private schools are getting outdoor sport, so there’s an inequality there,” she said. “As soon as schools went back you could see the stark differences.”

The council says its pause on extra-curricular activities is to reduce the mixing of “bubbles” and unnecessary adult interaction with pupils, as well as to understand the impact of the return to school on the virus.

Ms Sutherland said: “I understand the situation, but the trade-off is the long-term health consequences and the unintended consequences of shutting down sport indefinitely.

“They haven’t been doing physical activity since March and the problem is they might not bother going back. The benefit of sport for social and mental health is well evidenced.”

And she spelled out how the independent schools were getting an advantage.

“Boroughmuir High School hockey club cannot train at Meggetland, yet their school PE is happening there. So then the private schools are taking the Meggetland slots. So you have all the private schools playing four or five times a week,

“And as the council sports academies - which provide extra training for S1 and S2 pupils - are also not happening, this means that only private school children will have the chance to successfully trial for developmental pathways to district and national team selections for u14/16/u18 sports in Scotland and this is just not fair.

“The kids that are really good at sport now - who would be selected to play for Scotland at the Commonwealth Games, are not going to be able to compete with the private school kids in the same sport because they’re going to have just better fitness, better training opportunities.”

Tory councillor Phil Doggart spoke of the “frustration” of coaches who had contacted him at “discovering the pitch slots they would normally use had been filled by the independent schools”.

He said: “The council should be reconsidering its approach to school sports. Governing bodies have spent a lot of time working on guidelines for sport to return. If the council is not providing sport the physical wellbeing gap is going to widen between the independent schools and the council schools.

A council spokesman said: “We’re fully committed to restoring extracurricular activities as soon as possible and have drafted proposals for their safe and phased introduction. We hope to implement them soon as long as there is no change in national Government guidance.”

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