PE & Sport Premium

The Purpose of the Funding

About the PE and sport premium

All children and young people should live healthy active lives. The UK Chief Medical Officers recommend that all children and young people should take part in moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity for at least 60 minutes every day. Children with special educational needs and disabilities should take part in 20 minutes of daily activity.

The Childhood Obesity Plan says that at least 30 minutes of daily activity should take place in schools.

Schools have a key role to play in achieving this aim. This is particularly true of primary schools where the foundations of positive and enjoyable participation in regular physical activity are embedded. All children should have equal access to high-quality PE provision and opportunities to experience and participate in a wide range of sports and physical activities. Academic achievement can improve in school because of the benefits children can gain.

Schools should use the PE and sport premium funding to help achieve these aims. It must not be used for core-type school activities. They should use it to make additional and sustainable improvements to the PE, sport and physical activity they provide, such as:

• funding high-quality PE and sport for at least 2 hours a week, complemented by a wide range of extracurricular sport and competitive opportunities
• providing or improving equal access to sport for boys and girls

Schools should prioritise PE and sport premium spending to improve in the following 5 key areas:

• increasing all staff’s confidence, knowledge and skills in teaching PE and sport
• increasing engagement of all pupils in regular physical activity and sport
• raising the profile of PE and sport across the school, to support whole school improvement
• offer a broader and more equal experience of a range of sports and physical activities to all pupils
• increase participation in competitive sport

How funding is calculated and the amounts payable for 2023 to 2024

Schools receive PE and sport premium funding based on the number of pupils they have in years 1 to 6. In cases where schools may not have set year groups (for example, in some special schools), pupils aged 5 to 10 attract the funding.

In most cases, we determine funding by using data from the January 2023 school census. For a new school, or a school teaching eligible pupils for the first time in the academic year 2023 to 2024, funding is based on data from the autumn 2023 school census.

For the year 2023 to 2024, the amounts payable will be:

• schools with 16 or fewer eligible pupils will receive £1,000 per pupil
• schools with 17 or more eligible pupils will receive £16,000 and an additional payment of £10 per pupil

Payment dates for 2023 to 2024

Maintained schools, including PRUs and general hospitals

Maintained schools, including pupil referral units (PRUs) and general hospitals, do not receive funding directly from the Department for Education (DfE). We give the funding to the local authority and they pass it on to the school.

We give local authorities PE and sport premium funding for maintained schools in 2 separate payments. They will receive:

• 7/12 of the funding allocation on 31 October 2023
• 5/12 of the funding allocation on 30 April 2024

Using the PE and sport premium

Any use of the PE and sport premium must be in accordance with the terms outlined in the conditions of grant document. This means schools must use the PE and sport premium to:

• build capacity and capability in the school and make sure that improvements made to the quality of PE, sport and physical activity provision now are sustainable and will benefit pupils joining the school in future
• develop or add to the PE, sport and physical activity that the school provides

Continued professional development

Schools should see the continued professional development (CPD) of teachers as a key priority to make sure that the future quality of the teaching of PE, sport and physical activity is sustainable. This includes providing staff with:

• professional development
• mentoring
• appropriate training
• access to external resources

We recommend that schools use established quality assured local, regional and national subject-specific and suitably qualified CPD providers.

Schools should monitor and assess the effectiveness of the CPD being provided to make sure that it is up to standard.

Other effective ways to spend the premium

Schools can also:

• embed physical activity into the school day by encouraging active travel to and from school and having active break times
• provide targeted activities or support to involve and encourage the least active children
• help to provide equal access for all pupils to the range of sports and physical activities that the school offers

Schools can also use the PE and sport premium to raise attainment in primary school swimming and water safety by funding top-up swimming sessions for those pupils that do not meet national curriculum requirements after they’ve completed core swimming lessons.

Sustainability

Achieving sustainable outcomes is key to any spending of the PE and sport premium.

Before making any decision on what the funding should be used for, schools (in particular, governors and trustees) should consider how the spending will benefit future pupils and what the lasting legacy of this spending will be.

Schools should focus their efforts on upskilling the whole staff workforce so that they feel confident and able to lead a PE lesson independently.

Use of external coaches

Schools may wish to engage the expertise of external coaches to offer their pupils a wider variety of sports. Governing bodies, trustees or proprietors should seek assurance that providers have appropriate safeguarding and child protection policies and procedures in place, including inspecting these as needed.