Guide us O God to be the best we can be; in every thought, in every word and every deed
At St Mary and St Andrew’s we believe that all children are entitled to high quality sports teaching.
We have always made a strong commitment to developing children’s sporting abilities and believe that engagement and success in such activities directly benefits not only the health of our children, but also their self-esteem which in turn boosts academic achievement.
We believe that all children can achieve success in sport and so offer a range of opportunities which include social sports clubs and opportunities for the more able to represent school in team events.
As part of our commitment to healthy lifestyles and improving children’s sporting opportunities and ability we have recruited a full time Sports Apprentice (as of December 2019). This role supports pupil’s access to sport throughout each day, bolsters PE lessons and provides active playtimes five days a week.
Our Sports Apprentice successfully completed his L2 and L3 qualifications in Spring 2022. Since the release of new DfE PE funding in July 2022, we have been able to recruit the now qualified apprentice as a part time Sports Coach to support curriculum PE across all 7 year groups as well as host wider sports clubs and facilitate active playtimes, whilst helping to mentor young play leaders and upskill teaching staff.
As well as sports clubs offered by staff, we use the expertise of providers who offer specialist teaching in drama/dance, yoga, football, athletics and multi-sports. These are offered as after school clubs.
Click here for the Department of Education link to the Primary School’s Sports Funding page.
What is the Sports Premium?
The government has provided funding of £320 million per annum to provide substantial primary school sport funding. The funding is being jointly provided by the Departments for Education, Health and Culture, Media and Sport, and will see money going directly to primary school Headteachers to spend on improving the quality of sport and PE for all their children. Each school will receive £16,000 plus an extra £10 per pupil each year for the next two years. The money can only be spent on sport and PE provision in schools. Here at school we aim to make the sporting improvements (gained through the sports premium grant) sustainable through improving the skill set off staff by high quality CPD; the development of a sports apprentice to model and disperse sporting skills throughout lessons and playtimes; rigorously evaluate the effectiveness of services bought into/ collaborations joined and closely monitor the uptake and impact of sports activities on the positive well-being of the children
Purpose of funding
Schools have to spend the sport funding on improving their provision of PE and sport, but have the freedom to choose how they do this.
Possible uses for the funding include:
- 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
- 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.
Please read our report to understand how we have improved access to sport for all of our children and spent the centrally funded allocation.
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