A common mistake schools make when it comes to spending their PE and sport premium is to simply facilitate more sporting activity for already sporty pupils. It seems to be an obvious way to get more hours of physical activity into the OFSTED portfolio - but we all need to work harder to get the impact we need.
The evolution of the PE and Sport premium has been an interesting one to watch. Initially introduced in 2013 on the back of the much lauded London 2012 Olympics it was trumpeted as 'Olympic Legacy' money - with the target of inspiring and creating the next generations Jessica Ennis, Mo Farrar or David Weir. It would create more competition, open children up to new sports and give them the pathways firstly to grassroots clubs and then onto elite training. The swell of pride we all got from watching home grown stars (effectively our sons and our daughters) dominate on the world stage was quite incredible and it created a feel good factor that we wanted to bottle. More importantly from a political point of view, it showed the significant impact successful sports performance can have economically, as it raises our profile across the world and drives inward investment - companies want to be associated with successful people and places.
In reality it wasn't really new money at all; it was an all too familiar re-allocation of the existing funding which had previously been employed to build and run School Sports Partnerships, which were quickly dismantled as political will changed. The real difference was that instead of the budget being allocated by Partnership development managers and School Sports co-ordinators it was now given straight to head teachers to spend. The problem was that when it was introduced it came with very little guidance. Primary schools were slightly flummoxed by their new budget of £8000 and £5 per pupil and rushed to spend it quickly and with little focus. Minibuses with no one trained to drive them; inappropriate curriculums; unqualified coaches; obscure equipment for rarely played sports and expensive training for unmotivated staff were hastily bought in. In the early stages of the funding lots of money was spent without much thought given to the impact it was having. It was a wild west landscape without adequate regulation. Thankfully, some two years in, and under pressure from AfPE and Youth Sports Trust, the government issued clearer guidance - and it's been further defined in the last month to coincide with the doubling of the PE and sport premium. All primary schools with over 16 pupils now receive £16000, +£10 per pupil a year and this is in place until at least 2020. In April, they’ll also receive additional funds from the Healthy Pupils Capital Programme (early estimations are that this will be around £4000).
This is a significant amount of money and as you'd expect with it will come increased scrutiny. The money is ring-fenced, but it’s objective has now been brought into sharp focus – it must have definite impact on improving the health of our children and schools will be held to account on their performance. In the very near future I am certain we will see schools given a ‘requires improvement’ inspection rating because they cannot demonstrate the difference they are making to pupils attitude to exercise. It’s clear that these are difficult times in schools, with teacher stress levels on the rise and staff turnover at an all-time high and I doubt that this new responsibility will help matters in that regard. This means that as a community of educators we all have to work much harder to help schools achieve these targets. Every child should be doing 30 minutes of physical activity a day at school and then the same at home. It’s partly about changing and challenging attitudes of parents and that’s never been an easy task.
Schools should be employing their funding with great care – they need to analyse existing patterns, track participation and make incisive interventions, much as they would do habitually in other subject areas. It’s now much more about targeting the spending and proving it’s impact and doing this in a cycle to maintain progress. I was asked by a head teacher recently if they could use the funding to pay for some playground lines. ‘Only if you’ve identified it as something that would increase activity and if you are prepared to measure its impact’ I replied.
The most important thing to understand, and I believe this should have been made clearer throughout the timeline of this funding, is that this is a health agenda. Schools have now been given the responsibility of keeping their pupils out of hospitals in the years after they leave. The obesity ‘timebomb’ as it’s phrased is on the horizon and the only way to diffuse it is to metaphorically remove the fuse at source; we must engage children in a positive attitude to physical activity and a healthy lifestyle in the early years when they are forming their opinions. Children who care about their health go on to be adults who care about their health.
How serious is the problem? According to recently published NHS figures, in 2015/16 over 1 in 5 children in reception, and over 1 in 3 in year 6 were measured as obese or overweight. That’s a terrible decline during their primary years.
So how do we buck the trend and get our children to love being active? How do we reach the hard to reach, engage the non-engaged and how do we create an environment with positive role models, self-challenge and motivation in which the youngest pupils associate enjoyment with physical activity? It’s not easy, but clearly it’s important and the money is there to help.
Firstly, schools need to be able to map what is happening. Then they need to track activity and spot patterns – if your data shows that your year 2 girls are not taking part in any activity outside their PE lessons then you must work hard to find an activity that will engage them. If the data shows that there is a need for something to attract pupils who say that they ‘dislike PE’ then why not set up a walking group where they can chat to their friends in an informal, non-competitive session? You can measure their steps with pedometers (which you can buy with your funding). Show them it can be fun and you might create a good attitude towards walking which they will probably take on through their lives. In doing that you have truly begun to physically educate them.
We’re working with lots of schools who are trying to adapt to this challenge and we’ve also been talking to key stakeholders in education to come up with a best practice model. It’s not one size fits all, but does give schools a way to look at the bigger picture in a less daunting, less finger wagging way. Considering the best time of day to engage which pupils has been one successful strategy and many schools are now adding breakfast clubs and targeting pupil premium and hard to reach families using the power of sport and a healthy breakfast as an enticement. It’s too early to be sure, but anecdotal evidence suggests that this is improving attendance and reducing lateness which of course has a direct impact on the academic performance of those pupils – after all you can only teach them if they are there. It’s rare to find a school where improving attendance wasn’t one of the top priorities, so this is an example of how the PE and sport premium can be employed to have a positive effect on the wider school. If you can prove that happens watch how quickly staff attitudes change to physical activity. It’s not just about spending either, it’s about reinforcing the message that a healthy lifestyle is important. Maybe some staff fitness sessions would help too? If you can prove you have created a more positive mindset amongst the children’s role models I personally think that is a great start.
Clearly, there will always be a place for traditional sports, dance sessions and school teams and it’s equally important that we don’t forget to cater for this large audience – it’s perfectly legitimate to allocate funding for this - but it’s important to remember that you will be assessed on what you are doing to engage every child and how you are creating a positive mind set when it comes to being physically active.
As a sector we have quite a task on our hands but there are a multitude of ways to remove the barriers and it’s about being clear, creative and practical. In doing that, maybe we can start to diffuse the bomb together.
