sportbible logo

To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Secondary School Students Start Petition To Lift Football Ban During Breaks

Secondary School Students Start Petition To Lift Football Ban During Breaks

Students at Plymouth School of Creative Arts use football games as a way to de-stress from the pressure of exams

Rebecca Shepherd

Rebecca Shepherd

Anyone else remember being at school? Who are we kidding, course you do. As soon as the bell rang for lunch time you'd run outside (regardless of the weather) to have a kick about with your mates.

Well, one school in Plymouth has put a ban on football being played on the premises which students say is having a negative impact on behaviour.

Plymouth School of Creative Arts imposed the ban claiming that they have 'limited outside playground space' and have put these measures in place as a 'safety' precaution.

Now, pupils have started a petition, asking the school to lift the ban. Currently they have accumulated over 220 signatures and are aiming for 500.

Speaking to LADbible one student, who we have decided to keep anonymous, explained that everything started five of six months ago.

The pupil went on: "The school has two playgrounds - both of which are concrete and have fences of 10 to 15 foot - and a sports hall. We had always been allowed to play football in the playground, with people bringing in their own footballs.

Stock image of football.
PA

"We would play in groups and big games of 15 aside, like most schools. It all changed when the teachers imposed a under head height rule. The rule was repeatedly broken because the game was never consistently monitored by a member of staff.

"For example, on Monday a member of staff would supervise (as they were meant to every day) but then the other days of the week, no one would supervise. Then came a massive break down in communication between staff and students, with some staff saying we could play, and some saying we couldn't.

"Then the ban was imposed because of the head height rule being broken, although we tried to argue that it wasn't regularly supervised as it should have been. We suggested they start supervising it and just stopping people from playing if they broke the rule. They refused.

Plymouth School of Creative Arts.
Google Maps

"Despite having a sports hall, they would only permit us 20 mins a week to play football in there. Eventually, sports hall football began getting cancelled because of 'meetings and staff illness' and so we were left with nothing.

"As the frustration grew, we begged that they take a member of staff to a local park so we could play there. They refused that. Down the line, students started getting frustrated as the de-stressing from exams tool that is football, was now taken away from them. We would then get in trouble for being too loud inside.

"We tried explaining 'We have nothing else to do, lets us be loud and play football in the playground and then this wouldn't be a problem,' but the staff wouldn't acknowledge what we were saying."

In a statement to LADbible, the school said: "By way of context, we are an 'all through' school, which means we have students aged four years to 16 years old. As a city centre school, we have very limited outside playground space (although all of the outside space we do have has been developed as a playground).

"We're also very keen to encourage active participation in sport, and have an enthusiastic PE department that has developed a well-supported school football team.

"We've made sure that there are opportunities for students to use our sports hall at lunchtimes twice a week to play football (when it's not in use for other curriculum activities), and an active football club (which supports the football team) is run one evening a week; both lunchtime and after-school football sessions are supported by staff.

"Older students are also able to leave the school grounds at lunchtime, and there are park areas to play football within easy walking distance.

"The current restriction on break/lunch time football has been made solely on the grounds of safety - as the limited playground space is shared in part with younger students.

"We have, whenever possible, aimed to support and encourage additional opportunities for football using additional resources and locations when available."

Featured Image Credit: Google Maps

Topics: Football News, Football, School, UK