The South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire winners in the Yorkshire Primary PE Awards 2020 have been announced.
The annual awards celebrate schools who can demonstrate the impact they have had on their pupils through spending their Primary PE and Sport Premium grant, effectively.
The PE and Sport Premium is designed to help children get an active start in life, supporting primary schools to improve the quality of their PE and sport provision so that pupils experience the benefits of regular exercise – from becoming healthier both mentally and physically, to improved behaviour and better academic achievement.
Schools self-nominate for the awards in any of four categories, with the winners from the four Yorkshire counties going forward to a Yorkshire Awards, taking place online in October. A panel of experts from organisations including the Association for Physical Education and the Youth Sport Trust assessed the record number of applications and decided on the winners.
The South Yorkshire winners are:
Whole School Improvement – E-Act Pathway Academy (Sheffield)
The school has transformed its PE, school sport and physical activity over the last two years. The school has invested in equipment to provide pupils with the opportunity to take part in a wider variety of activities. The school has seen a significant increase in pupils taking part in extra-curricular activities, with pupils and their families now getting involved with community sports clubs and events. Ofsted highlighted how pupils have opportunities to contribute to school life and commended what has been done during a detailed look at PE in the school.
Innovation – Darton Primary School (Barnsley)
Darton Primary School worked alongside Totally Runable to benchmark their pupils sporting ability through a ten-minute challenge run, while also asking pupils to self-assess their own confidence in sport. Despite many girls outperforming boys in the challenge run, they rated themselves less sporty than the boys. The school has used whole school assemblies to address stereotypes in sport, and have seen an increase in both girls and boys taking up sports traditionally associated with the opposite sex, such as football and cheerleading.
Sustainability – Woodseats Primary School (Sheffield)
The Daily Mile initiative was introduced at the school to promote independence. The school introduced an inter-school challenge to maintain children’s interest and to allow them to set personal challenges. Staff reported that pupils returned to class more focussed and with an improved attitude to learning.
Active Schools – Laithes Primary School (Barnsley)
A survey showed that Laithes Primary School had a high proportion of pupils who were inactive outside of school. With Barnsley having one of the highest rates of cardiovascular disease in England, the school set about introducing more activity into the school day, and making children aware of the importance of their activity levels. Each class was provided with three pedometers, which led to an increase in activity levels as classes competed to be the most active in each week.
The West Yorkshire winners are:
Whole School Improvement – St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School (Leeds)
The school identified a group of pupils who were passive learners, and although well-behaved, lacked the energy and engagement to achieve their potential. After observing more engagement in PE lessons, the school introduced activity into other subject lessons. The school has recorded improved engagement and attainment in all subjects across the curriculum, and higher activity levels for all pupils – not just those initially identified.
Innovation – Gawthorpe Community Academy (Wakefield)
During lockdown, Gawthorpe Community Academy offered pupils four active Zoom calls a week, meaning those both at school and at home could be part of the same lesson. As well as activities such as dance, weekly active challenges were linked to parts of the curriculum in other subjects.
Sustainability – Warwick Road Primary School (Kirklees)
Warwick Road Primary School have introduced a number of new ways that allow children to be active throughout the school day. New after school clubs and more competitions allowed all pupils to take part in at least one additional activity a week. On the back of feedback from pupils wanting more competitive opportunities, the ‘Active Award’ has been created.
Active Schools – The Academy at St James (Bradford)
Olympian, James Kirton, will announce the overall Yorkshire winners, live on YouTube on Tuesday 13 October.
For impartial support and advice on how to effectively and sustainably spend your Primary PE Premium, get in touch with alex.ogden@yorkshiresport.org
About the awards
The Yorkshire Primary PE Awards are coordinated by the Active Partnerships operating in the county – Yorkshire Sport Foundation (South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire), North Yorkshire Sport and Active Humber. The award categories are based on five key performance indicators set by the Department for Education linked to the Primary PE and Sport Premium. The categories are:
Whole school improvement
For improving whole school outcomes through PE, school sport and physical activity (PESSPA). Ideas and initiatives that have used physical activity to successfully achieve a wider impact than on just PE, sport or health. For example how has physical activity or sport improved attainment, behaviour, attendance or any other whole school priority?
Innovation
For ideas and interventions that have not been tried or tested before. This is not for an off-the-shelf resource but should demonstrate creativity by a teacher, school or group of schools to improve outcomes for pupils through PE, sport or physical activity.
Sustainability
For activities or interventions that will last the test of time and not require constant funding. There is an expectation that some initial funding may have been required to start the programme, however there must be evidence that costs will be covered elsewhere or significantly reduced to sustain the activity in the long term.
Active Schools
For schools that have embedded physical activity in their ethos and throughout their systems. This must include evidence of how pupils are regularly active throughout the day including before and after school, lessons and play times.