On Saturday, the Department for Education confirmed plans to continue the annual £320m of funding for primary school PE, sport and physical activity.
This comes after the government’s commitment in the school’s white paper to provide children with a ‘richer’ school to help improve educational outcomes.
Full details are available now on the Association for PE and Youth Sport Trust websites.
What is the Primary PE and Sport Premium?
The premium funding supports schools to make additional and sustainable improvements to the quality of their PE, sport and physical activity provision in order to help children achieve their 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day. Schools are responsible for trying to provide 30 minutes of physical activity during the school day with 30 minutes recommended to take place outside of school. Schools will receive £16,000 and an additional £10 per pupil on roll.
What can or can’t schools spend the money on?
The funding is ring-fenced for schools to spend on additional and sustainable improvements to their PE, sport and physical activity provision. Expenditure must meet one or more of the Key Performance Indicators outlined within this reporting document and schools must use this template to report on the rationale and impact of their spend.
The government is clear that schools must not use the funding to employ coaches or specialist teachers to cover PPA time, fund capital expenditure or to teach the minimum requirements of the national curriculum.
Further guidance on how schools can utilise the funding is available on the government website.
A ‘Top Tips’ document has also been written to support schools to spend the funding in line with guidance.
How we can help
To support schools to spend their allocation effectively, DfE have commissioned 43 Active Partnerships to employ specialists in this area. As the Active Partnership for South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, Yorkshire Sport Foundation offer free and unbiased support to help headteachers, PE leaders and governors plan their Sports Premium budget effectively with a professional perspective of what is available locally and nationally.
We work with many schools across the two counties who are improving physical activity behaviours amongst their pupils and families through effective expenditure of the premium funding.
Burton Road Primary in Barnsley and Academy St James in Bradford were recently accredited through our newly launched Physical Activity Centre of Excellence programme. Simply click on the links below to access more information, including podcasts, about the interventions they have implemented.
Much of our work with primary schools includes supporting Headteachers and PE leaders to embed physical activity strategically and sustainably through the Creating Active Schools Framework through ongoing CPD and bespoke support. If you would like to find out more about how the framework can support your schools to get children more active then please visit the Creating Active Schools website or the Yorkshire Sport Foundation website.
We also deliver Level 4/5/6 national PE qualifications to help upskill the workforce. This is one of the most effective and sustainable ways of using the funding and our next Level 5 course begins in January 2023 at the fantastic Carnegie School of Sport at Leeds Beckett University. Find out more information on how to book a place.
If you require any free and neutral support around your school’s PE, Sport and PA offer then please don’t hesitate to contact our Education consultant Alex Ogden at alex.ogden@yorkshiresport.org