An £18 million fund to improve sports facilities in primary schools has been created using Lottery funding, with selected schools set to receive an average of £30,000 each.
It comes alongside news that the £150-million-a-year School Sport Premium, also aimed at primary schools, is to be extended for another year and will now run until 2015/16.
Both the announcements came as part of chancellor George Osborne’s Autumn Statement, which was delivered to Parliament last month.
Much of the national press coverage last month focused on the news that free school meals are to be extended to cover every pupil in reception, year 1 and year 2 from September 2014.
However, Mr Osborne also unveiled that from this spring, an £18 million fund will be open to applications to improve sports facilities in primary schools, with the aim of benefiting both school children and the wider community.
Mr Osborne also hopes that by extending the £150 million School Sport Premium until the 2015/16 academic year, schools will be able to “put in place longer term plans to improve their PE and sport provision”.
The School Sport Premium is funded jointly by the Departments for Education, Health, and Culture Media and Sport and was initially intended to run for two academic years – 2013/14 and 2014/15.
Schools with 17 or more eligible pupils receive £8,000 plus £5 per eligible pupil, while schools with 16 or fewer eligible pupils receive £500 per eligible pupil.
Primary schools are required to spend the additional funding on provision of PE and sport, but have a certain amount of freedom as to how they achieve this.
Since September 2013, Ofsted has increased its focus on PE and is to report later this year on the first year’s expenditure under the scheme.
Meanwhile, Sport England is to launch the £18 million Lottery-funded Primary School Sports Facilities Fund to “Improve sports facilities in primary schools, to benefit both school children and the wider community”.
In administering the fund, Sport England has said that priority will be given to primary schools that have “little or no outside space which can be used for PE or sports sessions”.
It will be open to receiving expressions of interest from schools between February and March, with assessments taking place from April to June. Decisions will be announced in July, with work in the successful schools to begin immediately.
It comes after a consultation involving 3,000 primary schools found that many of them have “very little or no outside space which can currently be used for PE or sport”.
A Sport England statement said: “Having the space to play sport as a child is vital in ensuring that more young people are active and that is why we’re investing
£18 million of National Lottery funding to improve primary school sports facilities.
“The Primary School Sport Facilities fund will be similar to our Inspired Facilities programme. Schools are expected to receive on average £30,000 to spend on a range of specially created packages which can be tailored to meet their needs.
“The Fund will help provide outdoor multi-sport areas which can be used both within the curriculum and out of school hours. As well as helping provide sports facilities, staff and volunteers at the school will receive information on how best to use the new facilities and equipment to help children get active.”
Sport England is to publish selection criteria in February but has already said that applying schools must be able to show that they have little or no outdoor space which can be used for PE and sports sessions, but that there is capacity for improvement. It gives the example of a school that may have a concrete playground which could be turned in to a multi-sport area. Schools applying will also need to demonstrate a “commitment to PE and sport”.
Schools interested in receiving further details when they become available in February, should go to http://bit.ly/ISjAtH or email primaryschoolfacilities@sportengland.org
Free school meals
Meanwhile, the government has confirmed that the plans to extend free school meals to all pupils in reception, year 1 and year 2 in state-maintained schools from September 2014 will not affect current eligibility for the Pupil Premium.
Pupil Premium funding currently goes to any child entitled to free school meals, among other criteria, and is to be worth £1,300 per primary school child from 2014/15. However, this will not be extended to cover all pupils in reception, year 1 or year 2 alongside the free school meal plan.
The government has said that it is to provide an additional £150 million in capital funding to ensure schools can “build new kitchens or increase dining capacity where necessary”.
This is confirmed in the Autumn Statement, which states: “The government will provide access to expert help and advice for schools that need the most support. The government will also provide capital funding to increase capacity in school kitchens.”