Commenting on the government's announcement of an £88m funding package for youth services, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said:
"Increasing access to sport, the arts and extracurricular activities will be music to the ears of NEU members, their students and families. For too long, these services have been viewed as prime areas to cut back, at the cost of developing community, connection and opportunity amongst our children and young people. It is excellent to see this government take a different stance and invest in the next generation.
"The government should now also look towards school curriculum and assessment. Embedding a range of learning experiences - within the school day - is the best way of reaching every child and young person. However, performance measures such as the EBacc and Key Stage 2 SATs are pressuring schools to narrow the curriculum and only prepare students for tests and exams, at the cost of a wider curriculum and variety of learning experiences. To address this, these arbitrary, unnecessary performance measures must be ended.
"Providing a wider extra-curricular offer is a great step forward. We look forward to the outcome of the Government’s ongoing curriculum and assessment review and urge them to use it as a turning point for re-establishing a broad and engaging offer within the school day."