Sports Premium Funding – How Should You Spend It?

How to spend your Sports Premium Funding

Gavin Williamson has today (Sunday 5 July 2020) confirmed that funding for the PE and Sport Premium, which was doubled in 2017, will once again continue at this higher rate of £320 million next year. It builds on the ambitious School Sport and Activity Action Plan launched last year and underlines the importance of PE and sport in the Government’s manifesto.

The Department for Education has also confirmed today that any PE and Sport Premium funding from the current academic year (2019-20) that schools were unable to use as a result of the coronavirus pandemic can be brought forward to use in the next academic year, giving school leaders an opportunity to develop or add to their existing provision, or to make improvements that will benefit pupils joining the school in future years.

New Opportunities

A major aim of the Sports Premium Funding is to provide a broader range of sports and activities to all school pupils and this should lead to an increased participation by all children.

Use it to:

Bring in providers who will work alongside your teachers to develop current PE and sport opportunities (make sure these are all-inclusive activities where possible)
Start up new activities in PE, sports or dance to encourage more pupils to take part in physical activity (again, be careful not to add a new sport that only appeals to a small number of children)
To provide all-inclusive activities that will involve even the least active children

Don’t use it for:

It can’t be used to meet the minimum national curriculum requirements; the purpose of the Sports Premium Funding is to expand and improve current sport and PE opportunities.

How can we help? A-life health & fitness workshops provide an engaging and (importantly) all-inclusive opportunity for ALL children to explore new ways of being active both in school and out of school. Our Staff PE Training session also provides teachers with new ideas for teaching PE and improving their sport provision and includes a pack with all these ideas for using in ongoing PE lessons.

2. Sustainability

The guidelines state that the Sports Premium Funding must be used to make additional and sustainable developments to the quality of PE and sport. You must also work to ensure future pupils who will join in the years to come will benefit from any improvements you make.

Use it for:

Select providers that offer sustainable resources and teaching

Don’t use it for:

One-off activities that offer nothing new

How can we help? Our workshops develop throughout the age groups, meaning that pupils will progress with their physical skills and abilities as well as their understanding of the importance of being active in everyday life, so important for sustainability. Many schools book us year after year to keep the momentum going and ensure all pupils are given the opportunity to participate and develop through our programme. To continue the teaching after our initial visit, our Staff PE Training session provides teachers with a sustainable tool for continuing to improve their provision of PE and sport. We also offer free lesson plans for teachers to use after our visit and our online 7 Day Challenge continues the learning for the whole family.

3. Staff Training

Another aim of the Sports Premium Funding is to increase the confidence, knowledge and skills base of all teaching staff in delivering PE and sport lessons. Guidelines recommend at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day for all children and young people (age 5-18), at least 30 minutes of this should be at school. However, many teachers have only received a few hours of PE training and are not confident in teaching the subject, which can lead to the majority of the PE lesson spent being inactive and unengaging.

Use it for

CPD sessions – Staff training, mentoring and resources to develop staff skills to teach PE more effectively

Don’t use it for:

Employing coaches or PE teachers to cover PPA time (this would come out of your core budget)

How can we help? Our after-school Staff PE Training sessions provide staff with professional development, mentoring, training and resources to help them teach PE and sport more effectively. From basic warm up ideas to team games, to skills sessions, our A-life team will provide plenty of activities and ideas to inspire and equip staff as they go back to their classrooms and deliver PE. Due to the nature of this practical session, we also find that this CPD training soon becomes a team building and staff bonding session as an extra benefit. After the session, we will provide a pack containing all the ideas (and many others) that we covered in the session.

So where should you spend your School Sports Premium Funding?

It would make sense to use a company who can provide an all-encompassing and all-inclusive day of sessions for children, to peak their interest, but one that can also work alongside the teachers to develop their knowledge, confidence and skills with CPD training. A-life has been delivering cross-curricular Fitness Sessions and Healthy Workshops in schools for over 13 years along with Staff CPD PE Training to provide a sustainable solution to the declining health and fitness levels of school-aged children.

Our expert coaches can advise and work alongside teachers to improve their current programmes, make PE lessons more interesting and get all children involved – even the least active ones. A-life approaches health and fitness from an all-rounded approach, to inspire children, families and teachers to lead healthier, more active lives.

Our Healthy Workshops really get to the heart of the issue, to help children understand why and how to keep active and look after their bodies and the importance of developing healthy lifestyle habits including, sleep, food choices, how the body works and much more. Once they understand why it is so important to lead an active, healthy lifestyle, they are much more likely to make changes to their own lifestyles. These sessions are informative, engaging and accessible for all abilities, we also ask schools to invite parents and provide parent workshops as an additional option (we can see 300 children in a day for this one).

In our Fitness Sessions we can teach up to 420 children in a day meaning it is very cost effective, schools are often surprised how even the least active children get moving and are left inspired and excited to try new sports and activities outside of school hours. Children are motivated by fun, if a PE lesson is not fun, the children are likely to get distracted and there will be more class disruptions. We are often told that there is a dramatic reduction in class behaviour issues when we visit because the children are so engaged with the activities. Research shows that PE at primary school shapes the way children view sport and exercise for life; some studies have concluded that by the age of 7 years old many children have already formed habits and preferences over being active or sedentary, that will affect them for the rest of their lives.

Our Staff PE Training sessions provide staff with professional development, mentoring, training and resources to help them teach PE and sport more effectively. They provide schools with a sustainable tool to continue to improve their provision of PE and sport.

We are a Healthy Schools London approved supplier and you can also find us on the London Sport Suppliers Hub. Have a look at our Booking A-life page to see how we can create a bespoke timetable to fit your school’s requirements. Get in contact and we can discuss the options and provide a sustainable solution for your school. Have a look at our promo video to see the sessions in action.

Get Healthy. Get Active. Get A-life.