All young people should have the opportunity to live healthy and active lives. A positive experience of sport and physical activity at a young age can build a lifetime habit of participation, and is central to meeting the government’s ambitions for a world-class education system.

At Spa Academy, we believe PE & Sport plays an important part in making our vision a reality for every pupil, with the potential to change young people’s lives for the better.  We must use Sports Premium funding to make additional and sustainable improvements to the quality of PE and sport we offer our pupils. We use the Primary PE and Sport Premium to:

• Develop or add to the PE and sport activities that we already offer
• Build capacity and capability within our academy to ensure that improvements made will benefit pupils joining our academy in future years.

We welcomed the Government’s announcement from June 2013 to provide additional funding to improve the provision of PE and Sport in primary schools and to increase the amount of money in 2017/2018. We are committed to using this resource to develop high quality PE lessons alongside providing all our children with greater opportunities to take part in sporting competitions.

Physical activity has numerous benefits for children and young people’s physical health, as well as their mental wellbeing (increasing self-esteem and emotional wellbeing and lowering anxiety and depression), and children who are physically active are happier, more resilient and more trusting of their peers. Ensuring that pupils have access to sufficient daily activity can also have wider benefits for pupils and schools, improving behaviour as well as enhancing academic achievement.

PE and Sport Premium Funding

This is additional funding for schools and the amount is calculated by the number of primary aged pupils (between the ages of 5 and 11) at the annual census in January. All schools with 17 or more primary aged pupils  receive a lump sum of £16,000 plus an additional payment of £10 per pupil. 

At Spa Academy, we continue to develop the PE curriculum, providing a rich, varied and balanced provision with resources enhanced, providing quality staff CPD and high quality teaching and learning for all children.

How schools must use the Sports Premium

Schools should use the premium to secure improvements in the following 5 key indicators:

1. Engagement of all pupils in regular physical activity by:

• providing targeted activities or support to involve and encourage the least active children 
• encouraging active play during break times and lunchtimes                                               
• establishing, extending or funding attendance of school sport clubs and activities and holiday clubs, or broadening the variety offered 
• adopting an active mile initiative

2. Profile of PE and sport is raised across the school as a tool for whole-school improvement by: 

• encouraging pupils to take on leadership or volunteer roles that support sport and physical activity within the school
• embedding physical activity into the school day through active travel to and from school, active break times and active lessons and teaching

3. Increased confidence, knowledge and skills of all staff in teaching PE and sport, for example by:

• providing staff with professional development, mentoring, training and resources to help them teach PE and sport more effectively to all pupils, and embed physical activity across your school
• hiring qualified sports coaches to work alongside teachers to enhance or extend current opportunities

4. Broader experience of a range of sports and activities offered to all pupils, for example by:

• introducing new sports and physical activities (such as dance, yoga or fitness sessions) to encourage more pupils to take up sport and physical activities 
• partnering with other schools to run sport activities and clubs
• providing more (or broadening the variety of) after-school extra-curricular activities after school, delivered by the school or other local sport organisations

5. Increased participation in competitive sport, for example by: 

• increasing pupils’ participation in the School Games
• organising, coordinating or entering more sport competitions or tournaments within the school or across the local area, including those run by sporting organisations.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pe-and-sport-premium-for-primary-schools#about-the-pe-and-sport-premium