Sports Funding 2023-2024
PE and Sports
Sports Funding 2023-2024
PE and Sports are an important aspect of life for all the children at Park Lane Primary School. All children have at least two sessions of high quality PE a week with opportunities to play sport competitively both in and outside of school. Membership of the Reading Schools Partnership allowed the children to compete in a range of activities and sports against other schools from across the Borough.
The high level of participation and quality teaching saw the school awarded the Sainsbury’s Gold Game Mark for the second successive year in 2023. This reflected the school’s commitment to the delivery of high-quality sports coaching and inclusive participation.
Please click here for our PE and Sports premium funding plan for 2022-23 or see the PDF below
PE and Sport at Park Lane
After school clubs, run by outside agencies, are well established at the Juniors and Infants.
Every day, identified children can participate in Sensory Circuits to support their transition from home and into their learning.
Additional clubs available from external companies include:
- Fencing
- Street Dance
- Football
- Multi-sports
- Frisbee
- Glee Club
The infants and the juniors also employ a local company who come in and teach PE and support with games at lunchtimes at the juniors.
In the Summer Term the infants ran a Belonging Sports Club which supported children who were anxious about Sports Day through additional practise and confidence boosting discussion. This allowed children who were less confident, or felt less acomplished in PE, to access their lessons and their sports day with a positive mindset.
National Sports Week is an integral part of the academic year at Park Lane and allows all children to participate in a different physical activity each day, delivered by local community specialists.
During sports week we offered a range of different sporting opportunities, before then ending the week with our annual sports day. This year the junior children enjoyed martial arts and lacrosse, while the infant children experienced cricket. A healthy and active lifestyle is also promoted through other avenues such as science topics, sports relief and fundraising for charities.
Funding
The PE and Sport Premium provides ring fenced money to primary school head teachers to improve the quality of the PE and sport activities they offer their pupils. The PE and Sport Premium provides primary schools with £320m of government funding to make additional and sustainable improvements to the quality of the PE, physical activity and sport offered through their core budgets. It is allocated directly to schools so they have the flexibility to use it in the way that works best for their pupils. The PE and Sport Premium survey highlighted the significant impact which PE and Sport has had in many primary schools across England.
Swimming
Funding is also used to provide weekly swimming lessons at Meadway Sports Centre. The Y5 children receive a one hour swim lesson on a Thursday morning. Each Y5 class will get a 10-week coaching block up until Easter 2024. After Easter, those Y6 swimmers who didn’t reach the national standard the previous year will have catch-up sessions. Of last year’s Y6 cohort, 80% achieved the National Standard.
The PE Hub
Part of the sports budget has been used to sign up for the PE Hub Resource which allows teachers from FS to Y6 to access high-quality lesson plans, videos, games and other resources in a range of sports. The lessons build a progression of skills throughout the year groups and builds on previous learning and understanding.
Inter-school events
Last year we were a member of the Reading Schools Partnership which allowed us access to a range of sporting events. We took part in Y6 girls football and Y4 badminton events, while we hosted two Tilehurst Cup competitions which is a Y4 and Y6 football tournament involving several local primary schools.
We also enjoyed football events for Y5 boys and Y6 boys against other local primary schools. Finally, we took children from across the school (Y3-Y6) to the first Thames Valley Police Sports Day which saw the pupils compete against other schools in a range of activities.
Sensory Circuits
We also provide Sensory Circuit sessions three times a week for vulnerable children three mornings a week in the infant and junior schools. These sessions provide activities which help children with their balance, co-ordination, fine and gross motor skills and to help their focus in the mornings. The sessions have 12-15 children attending.
The funding is also used for the following
- PE resources are continually replaced when necessary.
- Playground equipment to promote active play (e.g. footballs)
- Specialist coaches brought in to provide one-off or shorter blocks of coaching.
Impact
Feedback from children, staff and parents has been positive and we have seen confidence and sporting skills improve.
Towards the end of the school year, some children got the chance to visit an outdoor education facility where they will have the opportunity to participate in exciting adventures:
- Year 4: Dinton Pastures Sailing Centre (archery, paddle-boarding and rock climbing)
- Year 5: Rushall Farm overnight trip (orienteering and team building)
- Year 6: A week long residential stay at Avon Tyrrell in the New Forest.
The Future
In 2023-24 Park Lane hope to continue to build on the positives from last year by using funding in the same way but also plan to develop more intra-school competition as well as continuing to enter a range of inter-school tournaments.