A fact-finding visit to see how school pupils are keeping fit with sports has been made by Tower Hamlets councillor Danny Hassell.

The cabinet member for children saw the Greenhouse Sports charity project in action at St Paul’s Way Trust School in Bow Common and how it improves behaviour.

“The programme helps them to be active and develop life skills like teamwork and communicating,” he said afterwards. “It’s important to improve physical activity with role models to widen their horizons.”

The programme involves coaching for 600 pupils with extra-curricular sports activity in seven Tower Hamlets schools.

Half the pupils targeted by the sports charity were previously deemed inactive, having exercised less than two days a week. The active programme cuts their truancy and improves classroom learning and behaviour, researchers at Loughborough University have found.

Greenhouse Sports works with 50 schools in 17 London boroughs, mainly in deprived areas like the East End, using coaching and mentoring to break down social barriers to sport.