State school students want more activities private schools offer – study
The Guardian | Richard Adams | Education editor | 29 June 2015
Children on free school meals among those with the fewest opportunities to be involved in school-led charity work or events such as horse riding
Students in state education in the UK say their schools fail to provide enough middle class extra-curricular activities such as debating, volunteering or camping compared with their peers in private schools, according to a study backed by the Scout Association.
The survey of 1,000 pupils in secondary schools across Britain found that pupils in the state sector had less access to such activities outside the curriculum, but that the pupils themselves were eager for more.
Children on free school meals were among those with the fewest opportunities to be involved in school-led charity work or outdoor events such as horse riding, but were in fact more likely to be involved in creative activities such as art or drama, as well as sport.
While more than 85% of pupils at fee-paying schools said they took part in extra-curricular activities through their school, just 72% of pupils at state secondaries and primaries reported they did.
As a result, around three-quarters of state school pupils said their school did not provide enough in the way of debating, volunteering or outdoor experiences other than sport, compared with less than half of those at independent schools.
The survey comes in a report published by the thinktank Demos, which claims “large numbers of young people in the UK – particularly from disadvantaged backgrounds – do not have enough opportunity to take part in non-formal learning and are therefore at risk of not developing key skills important for success.”
A survey of teachers for the report – funded by the Scout Association – found that nearly 90% of teachers blamed lack of time for being unable to provide extra-curricular activities.
