Activity Alliance welcomes extra support for PE and School Sport
The Government has today announced a range of measures and associated funding to support school physical activity and sport. Activity Alliance welcomed the news, with a continued call for all investment to ensure disabled children are included in planning and all opportunities.
It includes £600 million of ringfenced funding to support primary school physical activity and sport. In addition, £22 million of funding for the nationwide network of 450 School Games Organisers.
The announcement states schools will be asked to deliver a minimum of two hours of curriculum PE. There is a commitment of up to £57 million in funding to be used to allow selected schools around England to keep their sport facilities open for longer for after-school activities. This is to be especially targeted at girls, disadvantaged children and children with SEND (special educational needs and disabilities).
Activity Alliance welcomes today’s news but joins calls for the swift publication of a coherent and joined-up strategy through a renewed School Sport and Activity Action Plan.
Responding to the announcement Adam Blaze, Activity Alliance Chief Executive said:
“We welcome today’s announcement and the impact it could have on all children, especially disabled children. It is fantastic to recognise the importance of children being active from a young age. It’s also a key moment to ensure that inclusion is at the heart of any future plan or opportunity. No child should miss out on the physical, health and social benefits of PE and school sport.
“The two-year funding settlement provides schools with some financial certainty, stability, and the opportunity to work towards truly inclusive school sport and activity. But insight shows us that disabled children continue to miss out on meaningful activity, and this undoubtedly affects their lifelong motivation to be active.
“My Active Future research clearly shows the imbalance between disabled and non-disabled children. That report showed one third of disabled children take part in less than 30 minutes of sport and physical activity per day during term-time (30% vs 21% of non-disabled children). Other evaluation and insight show us that enjoyment is a key factor in engaging more students, and feeling included is part of that.
“As the national charity and leading voice for disabled people in sport and activity this is a clear-cut opportunity to support disabled children to become as active as their non-disabled peers. The publication of a renewed School Sport and Activity Action Plan that outlines how this can be achieved is a necessary next step.
“Working alongside partners we have a wealth of experience in supporting and delivering programmes that can support this ambition. Our support on programmes like the Secondary teacher training and creating the Inclusion 2024 inclusive education hub has been extremely useful for teachers and school staff. While this has made significant impact so far, even greater investment will be needed for us to continue vital inclusive PE training and to support the school workforce.”
The full package announced today includes:
- Equal access to sports in school – setting out that offering girls and boys the same sports, where it is wanted, is the new standard.
- Delivering a minimum 2 hours of curriculum PE – with more support being offered through a refreshed School Sport Action Plan.
- Expansion of the Schools Games Mark – to reward parity of provision for girls – this kitemark scheme, delivered by the Youth Sport Trust, recognises schools that create positive sporting experiences across all sports for young people, supporting them to be active for 60 minutes a day.
- Over £600 million across the next two years for the 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.
- A new digital tool for PE and Sport Premium to support schools in using the funding to the best advantage of their pupils.
- £22 million for two years of further funding for the School Games Organiser (SGO) network. Annually the 450 strong SGO workforce supports 2.2m participation opportunities for children including 28,000 competitive school sport events.
- Up to £57 million funding for the opening school facilities to open up more school sport facilities outside of school hours especially targeted at girls, disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs.
- 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.
