Teachers should be more aware of sporting potential, a report says

Specialist sports colleges should get better at noticing under-achievers with abilities, it argues.

Good schools organised sport within and outside the curriculum and arranged homework schedules around training, the education watchdog Ofsted said.

But few teachers "fine-tuned" PE lessons to find hidden talent.

'Stars of the future'

Good schools had strong links with local clubs and organised nutritional training, Ofsted found.

The report - on the part of the national school sports programme which is intended to develop high-fliers - was released to coincide with the Olympic Games in Athens.

Ofsted said that while just over half the specialist sports colleges it visited had systems for identifying high performers that were at least good, the same was not the case for under-achievers.

Most schools assessed their pupils in terms of the school, regional and national standards.

Ofsted's criteria for finding hidden sporting talent included quick mastery of a sport's technical aspects, good decision-making and adaptation of technique in high-pressure situations.

It also singled out the ability to work independently and take the initiative.

Chief inspector David Bell said: "The start of the Olympics highlights how important it is to ensure that youngsters with a special talent for sport are given every opportunity to realise their potential through PE and school sport.

'High standard'

"These talented pupils could well be our sporting stars of the future."

A Department for Education and Skills spokesman said �1bn had been spent on developing school sport since 1997.

It was on track to meet its target of 75% of all pupils participating in two hours of PE and school sport each week by 2006, rising to 85% by 2008.

The spokesman added: "Teaching is of a high standard and we are working with schools to help teachers identify and nurture talent at all levels."

The sports minister Richard Caborn told the Today programme on BBC Radio Four the government was investing heavily in sports facilities.

"We are investing something like three quarters of a billion (pounds) over the next two or three years, particularly through local education authorities."

The Liberal Democrats have called for PE teachers to be replaced with "PE coordinators", who would work across an area rather than a single school, specialising in one or two sports each.

The party's culture, media and sport spokesman, Don Foster, said: "Britain may potentially have the fastest man or woman on earth over any distance,.

"We may have record breaking athletes, swimmers, tennis players - indeed we may have the best sports men and women in almost any sport one might care to mention.