Taken from www.youthsporttrust.org
- Sport Premium extended to 2016
- Primary School Sport Facilities Fund from 2014
On Thursday 5th December, the Government announced new funding for primary school sport in the form of a further £150 million to continue the School Sport Premium.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer's Autumn statement revealed that the Sport Premium will now be extended into the academic year 2015/2016, having originally only been guaranteed for two years. The funding, which has been available since the start of the current academic year, is allocated directly to primary schools, providing them with dedicated resource to increase PE and school sport provision in their schools, and was due to end in Summer 2015.
In response to the continued investment, Baroness Sue Campbell, Chair of the Youth Sport Trust said:
"We welcome the news that funding for PE and school sport in primary schools is to continue. The need for long-term investment in school sport is something the Youth Sport Trust has championed for some time. This additional funding will mean that schools can make further plans to provide high quality PE and school sport opportunities for their young people - it cannot and must not be wasted.
"The most crucial thing is that we continue to support schools to ensure they make the right decisions that have a long-term impact for young people. I believe that if schools have effective development plans in place to improve provision and outcomes in and through PE, physical activity and school sport, then we are heading in the right direction. The Youth Sport Trust has developed our own official guide on how schools should maximise this investment, ensuring sustainable impact for all young people. This is a free resource available on our website (/how-we-can-help/primary-school-sport-funding.aspx) and I would encourage all primary schools to access it."
The Government also confirmed new funding from Sport England that will benefit young people in primary schools.
From 2014 onwards, primary schools will be able to benefit from £18 million of National Lottery funding to improve sports facilities. The Primary School Sport Facilities Fund will be run by Sport England; in partnership with the Youth Sport Trust and will help primary schools that have little or no outside space to get more young people active.
Baroness Campbell commented: "This new funding for facilities provides another boost to sport in primary schools. It builds on our own feedback from schools which want to improve PE and school sport opportunities for young people, but are struggling due to a lack of space or poor facilities. For many schools, with this funding comes new and difficult decisions. We must make it a priority to support head teachers on how best to use their funding to ensure an impact for all young people in a sustainable way.
"We are very pleased to be working in partnership with Sport England to support schools on how best to maximise this funding. This will enable schools to create the most appropriate spaces to deliver high quality PE lessons and provide more opportunities for all young people to be active and take part in a variety of sports."
In February 2014, a set of selection criteria will be published and between February and March, schools which think they meet the criteria will be invited to submit an expression of interest via an application form. By July 2014, schools will be notified of decisions. Schools that are interested in receiving further details when they become available in February will need to send an email including the school's postal and email addresses toprimaryschoolfacilities@sportengland.org.
