Yesterday, the Government announced funding for the next 2 academic years for both the Primary PE Premium and the School Games programme. This is something that I have lobbied government for previously, and which I have been happy to support in collaboration with the Schools Active Movement board.
The full package includes:
· Over £600 million across the next two academic years (2023-24 & 2024-25) for the continuation of the Primary PE and Sport Premium – a funding commitment to improve the quality of PE and sports in primary schools to help children benefit from regular activity
· Schools to deliver a minimum 2 hours of curriculum PE – with more support being offered through a refreshed School Sport Action Plan
· £22 million for two years of further funding for the School Games Organiser network (SGO) - Annually the 450 strong SGO workforce supports 2.2m participation opportunities for children including 28,000 competitive school sport events
· Equal access to sports in school – offering girls and boys the same sports as the new standard practice
· Up to £57 million funding for the 'Open Sports Facilities' programme - to open up more school sport facilities outside of school hours especially targeted at girls, disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs
· A new digital reporting tool for Primary PE and Sport Premium – to support schools in using the funding to the best advantage of their pupils
· Expansion of the Schools Games Mark - to reward parity of provision for girls
The Primary PE and Sport Premium is designed to help children get an active start in life by improving the quality of PE and sports in primary schools. Headteachers can choose how best to spend this funding including on teacher training, offering more opportunities for pupils to take part in competition and widening the range of sports for both boys and girls.
Schools will receive updated guidance this summer setting out how to use the funding to the best advantage of their pupils. A new digital tool will be introduced for schools to report on their spending of the Primary PE and Sport Premium and allow the Government to understand where further guidance is needed. Schools will also be asked to offer a minimum of two hours curriculum PE time, and Government will provide support on how to do this through the upcoming refresh of the School Sport Action Plan.
Alongside this work, Ofsted will be publishing a report into PE in the coming months, which will inform future inspections and set out what they believe is possible in terms of offering high quality PE and equal access to sports.
The Government is also providing security for the School Games Organisers (SGO) network, with the commitment of funding until the end of the summer term 2025. The 450 strong SGO workforce offers over two million opportunities to participate in competitive sports.
The programme delivers on the Government’s ambition to ensure that all children and young people, no matter their background, can be active.
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