Headteachers will launch a national revolt today against plans to cut school sport as Michael Gove comes under intense pressure from inside and outside government to rethink his plans.
Sixty headteachers from across England have expressed their outrage at his decision to end the entire £162m budget for School Sport Partnerships (SSPs) in a hard-hitting letter to the Observer.
Their intervention comes as the head of the Canadian Olympic Committee also raises his concerns in a letter to Gove, arguing that with the 2012 London games approaching, it was vital that the SSPs should be kept in place.
The heads, many in charge of specialist sports colleges, which use the funds to provide coaches and expert help to other schools in their areas, decided to act after the Observer highlighted the effects of the cuts last weekend.
They describe Gove's move as "an ignorant, destructive and (even in terms of coalition policy) a contradictory and self-defeating decision. It is entirely unjustified educationally, professionally, logistically and in terms of personal health and community wellbeing."
They say the national network of 450 SSPs "is the most universal, long-term, community-centred and sustainable that we could have devised; in microcosm, it is the 'big society' in action".
They add: "To lose the School Sport Partnerships would be disastrous both locally and nationally ."
The letter will be a huge embarrassment to Gove, who has said he no longer thinks funding is justified because the scheme is too bureaucratic and does not deliver results. Instead he says he will leave it to headteachers to decide what sport to provide.
The education secretary claims that only one in five state schoolchildren takes part in competitive sport against other schools, but heads say this misses the point. The number of children doing sport in their own schools or in clubs has increased hugely thanks to the SSPs.
One headteacher, Liz Prior, from Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic primary school in Rottingdean, East Sussex, writes: "I plead with you on behalf of my school community to help us do something about the threat to the School Sport Partnership from the present coalition government.
"The SSP has literally changed our lives here in our small primary school over the last six years… we have never had the resources or expertise to offer our children the quality and diverse sporting opportunities both in school and in the local community that the SSP has brought."
Yesterday in a speech to Labour's national policy forum, Ed Miliband said that Gove's decision to cut funding for school sport displayed an "arrogance" that had to be challenged.
David Cameron is known to be concerned about the uproar and has been lobbied by heads in his own Oxfordshire constituency. A series of ministerial meetings have been convened to try to find a solution that will allow Gove to maintain the SSP network.
Gove has said he wants the £162m for SSPs replaced by a Schools Olympics with a budget of £10m, details of which have yet to be announced. The culture, media and sport secretary, Jeremy Hunt, the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, and the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, have all raised serious doubts about Gove's approach. The issue will be debated in the Commons on Tuesday.
Andy Burnham, the shadow education secretary, said: "With over 90% of children taking part in at least two hours per week, we have seen a school sport revolution, delivered through collective local action, often by volunteers. It's the big society in action before David Cameron even thought up the phrase."
Baroness Campbell of Loughborough, chairman of the independentYouth Sport Trust, which devised the SSP idea and was not consulted by Gove over his plan, said last night: "The School Sport Partnerships have been a wonderful example of secondary and primary school collaboration. Headteachers have been central to driving whole-school improvement using high-quality physical education and sport as the catalyst."
Gove's difficulties mounted as it emerged that Jean Dupré, secretary general of the Canadian Olympic Committee, wrote to him expressing "great regret" at the decision. He said: "As London 2012 fast approaches I sincerely hope a suitable solution can be achieved in keeping the SSPs in place."
Gove's office refused to comment on suggestions from teachers and others that he had never visited a school running an SSP.
8:41 AM
Ahtasham Malik
The forth day of the first test match of Ashes series at Brisbane belongs to England. It was day long struggle from Australian bowlers. Yesterday Australia got out and giving England 221 runs lead. On the forth day England level the lead of Australia and put 88 runs lead in-front of Aussies. They batted well and lost just 1 wicket in the day. Both openers scored centuries. One down batsman IJL Trott scored half centuries.
