WHAT IS ‘PE AND SPORT PREMIUM’ FUNDING?

All young people should have the opportunity to live healthy and active lives. A positive experience of sport and physical activity at a young age can build a lifetime habit of participation, and is central to meeting the government’s ambitions for a world-class education system.

Physical activity has numerous benefits for children and young people’s physical health, as well as their mental wellbeing (increasing self-esteem and emotional wellbeing and lowering anxiety and depression). Children who are physically active are happier, more resilient and more trusting of their peers. Ensuring that pupils have access to sufficient daily activity can also have wider benefits for pupils and schools, improving behaviour as well as enhancing academic achievement.

Primary PE and Sport Premium is an initiative that aims to help increase and improve the PE and sporting opportunities for children. It was first provided in the 2013/14 academic year, following on from the success of the London Olympics, and the current government has pledged to continue this funding until August 2024.

PE and Sport Premium funding is provided jointly by the Department for Education, the Department for Health and Culture and the Department for Media and Sport.  It is ring-fenced, meaning that it can only be spent on the provision of PE and sport in schools.

The Government believes that headteachers and school leaders should decide how to use the funding for PE and Sports in school. They are held accountable for the decisions they make through:

• The performance outcomes of all pupils compared with their peers
• The Ofsted inspection framework, under which inspectors focus on the attainment of pupil groups, in particular in those areas where specific funding has been provided
• The reports that schools are required to publish online for Parents (see below)

Last academic year, all primary schools continued to receive sports funding.  Here at Weeton St Michael's Primary School, we used the funding effectively to ensure that standards of learning and achievement in PE and Sports were raised and that all children developed a positive attitude towards sports and physical exercise.