Primary PE and Sports Premium doubles to £320 million

The department of Education has doubled the funding that primary schools receive to improve the quality of their PE and sport provision from £160 million to £320 million a year, and have now published details of the individual allocations at school level.

For quick reference, we have pulled off the allocations for Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland Schools - see the attached PDF document below.

They have also published their funding guidance for the scheme alongside case studies showing how some schools have delivered a real impact for pupils through sports and physical activity.

The PE and Sport Premium is part of a series of programmes led by the department to improve healthy lifestyles among pupils and tackle childhood obesity. As part of the Childhood Obesity Plan, the Department of Education are working with other departments and agencies – including the Department of Health and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport – to make sure children are healthy and active.

Minister for Children and Families Robert Goodwill said:

"We want to make sure all children have a healthy and active lifestyle and it's vital that we encourage this in our classrooms. That's why we have doubled the Primary PE and Sport Premium to £320 million per year to improve the quality of PE and sport in our schools. I'm also pleased that more pupils will benefit from our new £100 million Healthy Pupil Capital Fund, which will help improve facilities, such as sports halls and playgrounds."

Public Health Minister Steve Brine said:

"Investing in school facilities such as sports halls, playgrounds, kitchens and dining facilities will undoubtedly make a significant difference to children's health across the country. The school environment is critical in shaping a healthy lifestyle, which is why we are using the money from the soft drinks industry levy to double the PE and sport premium. This is another positive outcome from our world leading Childhood Obesity Plan."

Healthy eating, physical activity and sport not only help tackle childhood obesity, but can also have a positive impact on pupils' behaviour, attendance, concentration and attainment, helping children to reach their potential.

The government is delivering a series of actions to improve children's health. Alongside the doubled PE and Sport Premium, they are investing £100 million through the Healthy Pupils Capital Fund to facilitate improvements to children's physical and mental health by increasing and improving access to and use of relevant facilities, such as kitchens, dining facilities, changing rooms and sports facilities.

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

New Online Reporting

For the 2017 to 2018 academic year, there is a new condition requiring schools to publish how many pupils within their year 6 cohort are meeting the national curriculum requirement to swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres, use a range of strokes effectively and perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations. This condition has been added in response to recommendations from the Swim Group, who reviewed curriculum swimming and water safety in primary schools. You can get advice and resources to help deliver swimming lessons successfully in primary schools.

New Accountability Reviews

Accountability reviews will be carried out after the April deadline for schools to have published details on their websites of how they have spent their premium funding. We will sample a number of schools in each local authority, with the schools chosen based on a mix of random selection and prior non-compliance with the online reporting requirements.

For more information on the Primary PE & Sports Premium, guidance and local case studies take a look at our dedicated web pages.

(Source: Gov.uk)