PE & Sports Funding
Developing PE at The Discovery School and
Primary School’s Sports Funding
What is the Sports Premium?
The Government is currently providing funding to spend on improving the quality of sport and PE for all children in Primary Schools.
The sport funding can only be spent on sport and PE provision in schools.
Purpose of the funding
Schools have to spend the sports funding on improving their provision of PE and sport. They have the freedom to choose how they do this.
Possible uses for the funding include:
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hiring specialist PE teachers or qualified sports coaches to work alongside primary teachers when teaching PE
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new or additional Change4Life sport clubs
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paying for professional development opportunities in PE/sport
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providing cover to release primary teachers for professional development in PE/sport
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running sport competitions, or increasing participation in the school games
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buying quality assured professional development modules or materials for PE/sport
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providing places for pupils on after school sport clubs and holiday clubs.
How have The Discovery School decided to spend the sports funding?
The PE leaders at The Discovery School have worked hard with the leadership team to develop a strategic plan for using the government’s additional sports funding to improve opportunities for children in the school. The plan has four key priorities:
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PE - To develop a curriculum that shows a progression in skills as well as strategic, tactical and creative thinking.
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Sport - To apply the skills and knowledge acquired in PE lessons in context through developing competitive sports opportunities within and between schools.
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Healthy lifestyles - To provide the knowledge and opportunities required to enable children to develop a healthy and active lifestyle.
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Leadership - To develop the leadership skills of the PE leads so that they can monitor and support the delivery of a high quality PE curriculum. To embed a PE and sports programme that will ensure that PE and sports continue to develop beyond the lifespan of the funding.
See below for more information about these priorities.
PE
To develop a curriculum that shows a progression in skills as well as strategic, tactical and creative thinking.
The Discovery School currently follows the 'Teach, Learn, Grow' PE scheme. To meet the needs of the individuals within their class, teachers differentiate the lessons within this scheme. Monitoring and assessment of these PE lessons is used to inform future CPD for staff and ensure standards across PE lessons remain high.
Sport
To apply the skills and knowledge acquired in PE lessons in context through developing competitive sports opportunities within and between schools.
The Discovery School is increasing its participation in sports and competitions. Recently, this has included participation in the Tonbridge and Malling District Football League, a boys only football tournament and a girls only football tournament, netball matches with local schools, a Commonwealth Games mini festival and a Tennis festival. Our provision of clubs has greatly increased since the funding started.
At lunchtimes we have a dedicated sports coach called Nathan, who comes into school to lead games for all of the children. During the term, each year group gets the chance to play organised sports with our sports coach. These include sports such as; rugby, football, rounders, cricket, netball and basket ball.
Healthy Lifestyles
To provide the knowledge and opportunities required to enable children to develop a healthy and active lifestyle.
As a school, we have a strong focus on educating and encouraging the children to make choices that will lead to them developing a healthy lifestyle. This includes a focus on both physical and mental health. To help inspire children to make these choices, we have invited different athletes into the school in the past and encouraged the children to participate in exciting physical activities. These events have all been very successful and have brought about changes in the children’s view of physical health as a result.
Leadership
To develop the leadership skills of the PE leads so that they can monitor and support the delivery of a high quality PE curriculum. To embed a PE and sports programme that will ensure that PE and sports continue to develop beyond the lifespan of the funding.
A proportion of the funding has been allocated to the development of the school’s subject leaders (Miss Harris and Mrs Moore). They have received high quality training on a regular basis. This has enabled them to support the staff in the school, provide their own training and, in turn, support the children's skills, knowledge and understanding in PE.
If you would like further information on the impact this plan is having on outcomes for the children then please contact the school.