Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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518. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to recruit full-time PE teachers at primary school level. [24578/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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It is my Department’s position that all fully registered Primary teachers are qualified to teach the full spectrum of the Primary Curriculum, including Physical Education (PE). Primary teachers undertake elements of PE as part of their initial teacher education.

Currently, PE is one of seven curriculum areas within the Primary School Curriculum, introduced in 1999. The PE curriculum seeks to satisfy the physical needs of the child through a consistent and comprehensive experience of movement and play that challenges the child to realise his or her individual physical potential. A minimum of one hour of PE per week is recommended for all primary school pupils. It provides a balanced range of activities for children through the six strands – athletics, dance, gymnastics, games, outdoor and adventure activities and aquatics. Within each of these a variety of activities is provided that can enable the school to plan a balanced physical experience appropriate to the needs and abilities of each child and to the circumstances and environment of the school.

Under the review of the curriculum at primary level there have been calls for increased time to be allocated to existing curriculum areas such as Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) and to PE. These are reflected within the draft Primary Curriculum Framework (PCF) which was published in February 2020 for public consultation until December 31st 2020. Phase 2 of the consultation on the PCF will commence in autumn 2021 when teachers, school leaders, parents and learners will be consulted.