Sports Premium
The government provides funding to schools specifically to support primary school sport. The funding is jointly provided by the Departments for Education, Health and Culture, Media and Sport, and will see money going directly to primary school headteachers to spend on improving the quality of PE, sport and physical activity for all their children.
Schools with 16 or fewer pupils will receive £1,000 per pupil. Whereas, schools with 17 or more pupils will receive £16,000 plus an extra £10 per pupil each year. Here at Shoscombe Church School, that will mean around £16,890 this year. The money can only be spent on sport and PE provision in school. Allocations are calculated using the number of pupils as recorded in the January census.
Purpose of funding.
Schools must spend the additional funding on improving their provision of PE and sport, but they will have the freedom to choose how they do this. Shoscombe Church School is choosing to invest the funding in the following ways:
- hiring specialist PE teachers or qualified sports coaches to work with primary teachers when teaching PE
- supporting and engaging children through offering after school clubs with various physical focuses
- paying for professional development opportunities for teachers in PE and sport
- providing cover to release primary teachers for professional development in PE and sport
- running sport competitions / increasing pupils’ participation in taking part in public performances
- buying quality assured professional development modules or materials for PE and sport
- offering PE opportunities off site enabling children to access equipment that is not typically accessible in school
- update school sports equipment
- improve children’s recreational opportunities and play at lunchtimes
Accountability
There are 5 key indicators that schools should expect to see improvement across:
- The engagement of all pupils in regular physical activity – the Chief Medical Officer guidelines recommend that all children and young people aged 5 to 18 engage in at least 60 minutes of physical activity a day, of which 30 minutes should be in school
- The profile of PE and sport is raised across the school as a tool for whole-school improvement
- Increased confidence, knowledge and skills of all staff in teaching PE and sport
- Broader experience of a range of sports and activities offered to all pupils
- Increased participation in competitive sport
Schools are held to account over how they spend their additional, ring-fenced funding – to make additional and sustainable improvements to the PE, sports and physical activity offered. As part of their role, governors and academy trustees should monitor how the funding is being spent and determine how it fits into school improvement plans and assess the impact it is having on pupils.
