The government has announced plans to launch a new School Sport and Activity Action Plan to tackle those children currently doing fewer than 30 minutes of physical activity a day.
The Plan comes as concerns around the levels of inactivity in children and young people grow, which were recently highlighted through Sport England's Active Lives Survey.
The new plan sets out a range of new measures to strengthen the role of physical activity within a young person’s daily routine, to explain how teachers and parents can play their part, and to promote a joined-up approach to physical activity and mental wellbeing.
What's included in the plan?
- An additional £2 million investment from us to create 400 new after-school satellite clubs to get more young people in disadvantaged areas active
- Department for Education (DfE) committing £2.5m in 2019-20 to deliver extra training for PE teachers, help schools open their facilities at weekends and holidays, and expand sports volunteering programmes
- A new Inspection Framework, developed between Ofsted and DfE, that will come into effect this September and see schools expected to provide children with a broad, balanced education, including opportunities to get active during the school day and through extracurricular activities
- A series of regional pilots running from September 2020, joint-funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and DfE, through us, to trial innovative approaches to getting more young people active – particularly less active groups such as girls and those from disadvantaged backgrounds
- Schools and sports clubs will work together to share their facilities and expertise, giving more pupils access to character-building competitive sport and volunteering opportunities. They will focus on ensuring boys and girls have an equal and coordinated offer of sport, competition and activity, including modern PE lessons and access to high-quality clubs and competitions after school and during weekends and holidays
- More detail on the actions in the plan will be published later this year.
The plan urges schools to recognise how physical literacy and high-quality, modern PE lessons can benefit other aspects of school life and improve pupils’ behaviour, wellbeing and attainment.
And it outlines how Sport England and the Government will work with a range of sporting bodies, including the Football Association, the Premier League and the England and Wales Cricket Board, to ensure clubs and programmes can reach even more children.
Find out more about how the Primary School Sport Premium has already benefitted children across Lancashire. Watch video
