Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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984. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if there are guidelines regarding whether schools should stream school sports groups based on ability; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38080/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The DES does not have a policy that streams students/pupils into ability groups for sports based on ability.

All PE lessons are normally mixed ability. Differentiation should be based on the outcomes of teaching and learning and should ensure that all students are sufficiently challenged and can experience success at their particular level.

Students/pupils with special educational needs (SEN) for example should be fully included within PE lessons and challenged to achieve to the best of their ability. Some mixed schools occasionally offer separate PE activities for boys and girls in some year groups, particularly at senior cycle in post-primary schools where more independent learning opportunities are often provided. But streaming on the basis of ability rarely takes place and is not part of DES policy.

With regard to school teams which are extra-curricular etc., then there can be 'streaming' of sorts. A school might have two teams entered in a school sports competition for a similar age group, for example, one of whom might be at a higher standard than the other.

There is considerable international research regarding a phenomenon known variously as the 'relative-age effect' or the 'birthdate' effect which suggests that physical activity should group children with regard to their developmental age rather than their chronological age as there can be a wide disparity in physical size, for example, between two 11 year-old girls or two 13 year-old boys depending on whether they are pre or post puberty. This is particularly relevant with regard to contact sports. A qualified PE teacher would be expected to be aware of, and take account of, such aspects during a PE lesson and arrange groups within a class to reflect this.