What is the primary PE & sport premium?

This is ring-fenced funding (£320m per year) available for primary schools to improve the quality of the PE and sport activities they offer their children.

• Funding is based on the number of pupils in years one to six.
• In schools without year groups (for example, in some special schools), pupils aged five to 10 attract the funding.
• Schools with 16 or fewer eligible pupils receive £1,000 per pupil.
• Schools with 17 or more eligible pupils receive £16,000 and an additional payment of £10 per pupil.
• Schools receive 7/12ths of funding in October/November and the remaining 5/12ths in April/May.

How can you use it?

To make additional and sustainable improvements to the quality of PE and sport on offer. In many cases, schools use the funding to develop their outdoor space, train staff how to deliver more sports and active-based learning or hire professional sports coaches to work with staff and students.

Recording and reporting

A big part of the Primary PE & Sport Premium is an obligation to record and report progress. This is done through Ofsted inspection and self- assessment.

There are five key indicators where schools should expect to see improvements:

• The engagement of all pupils in regular physical activity.
• 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. 

Making the most of funding

Plan it out! We recommend a four-step programme. Ask yourself:

• Where you are now ? What do you offer and where are the gaps?
• What are you going to do ? Create an action plan and have clear timescales so you know what needs to be done and when.
• How effective is your spending ? Record the impact of this work. Our measures can be qualitative and quantitative.
• How sustainable is this spending ? Will there by the same impact in one, five or ten years? what equipment works best?

The best outdoor space designs combine equipment, zones and landscaping that have multiple purposes. Your play and sports equipment needs to work across the ages.

Resources
When planning PE and sports focused grounds, the first place to start has to be the National Curriculum for Physical Education. For guidance on what types of equipment work best for this funding, for KS1 & 2 active spaces, download our advice guides.

Top tip
London Sport has excellent guidance for schools on planning out how to get the most from this funding. 

www.playforce.co.uk

CASE STUDY

Mission Grove Primary School

Mission Grove has a proactive approach to getting children active; staff understand the correlation between sport and activity and learning success. But as a city school, making the most from outdoor space was a fine balancing act.

Their brief was simple - they needed a space that would work for every age, offering both play and opportunities for more structured sports and games. Finally, they wanted a space that would help children make the transition from play to sport, in preparation for secondary school.

Playforce created two distinct zones:

• Zone 1 with flexible equipment focused on activity.
  This included a climbing wall traverse, trapeze swing with balancing rope, tunnel challenge, wobble walkway, web climber and scramble wall. Plus, geo climbing boulder as well as a play lawn, safer impact surfacing and benches. Every piece of equipment was chosen because it could be used in different ways, for different outcomes and by a wide range of ages. Each could be included within guided sports and games activity or used for free play. Children could develop physical literacy understanding as well as risk boundaries, in a fun and stimulating environment.
  
  
• Zone 2 - a more traditional sports space.
  This included a multi use games area (2m x 32.5m x 17.5m), with recessed goal ends, basketball hoops and single access gate with all-weather overlay surfacing. Here children could take the physical literacy skills they had developed in younger years on into more traditional sporting activities. This process helped to prepare them for the transition to secondary school and to see sports and active play as something fun.

Sports Leaders scheme

This initiative that has made a big difference at Mission Grove. Once children reach Year 4, they can become a Mission Grove Sports Leader. Sports Leaders run lunchtime Change4Life games and activities in the playground for children from Reception to Year 4. The scheme, which uses the MUGA and the range of equipment in the play zone, is designed to involve children in inclusive group games and to develop leadership skills. Mission Grove has 35 Sports Leaders and a further 40 trainee Sports Leaders. To qualify, children must complete an application form, attend weekly meetings and undergo training.