Letter:How to make a sporting nation

Sir: Having been a physical education teacher for 30 years I know that if we want a healthy, active, vibrant, successful sporting nation then physical education has to be given better status in schools. School governors view physical education as an optional extra. Headteachers consider it the "below stairs" alternative activity. Ofsted inspectors do not afford physical education the respect that a subject which reflects and promotes the active, positive attitude of a fit person with high self-esteem should merit.

Good fitness practice and breathing techniques are a national joke, as is the hard, sometimes onerous physical work that has to accompany them. Childrens' fitness levels are at an all-time low in this country. With youngsters no longer playing outside, and probably only taking exercise if accompanied by caring, active parents, without dynamic input through physical education things will only get worse.

Every time there are international competitions and we are seen to be light years away from the professional standards and financial structuring of the rest of the world there are howls of disbelief. We still live in the days of the gentlemen and the players, and think we have a divine right to win.

Sporting success does much for the morale and self-esteem of the nation. It does not detract from academic standards. Well managed, it augments them. Let us put credibility into physical education in schools.

POPPY COPE

Sandy, Bedfordshire