Sports Premium Funding

At Percy Hedley School we believe PE and sport plays an important role in making our vision statement a reality for every pupil, with the potential to change young people’s lives for the better.

Sports Premium must be used to make additional and sustainable improvements to the quality of PE and sport we offer. We are committed to using this resource in developing high quality PE lessons, alongside greater opportunities for sporting competitions and clubs for all our young people.

Sport Premium Grant

Schools receive PE and sport premium funding based on the number of pupils in years 1 to 6. In cases where schools don’t follow year groups (for example, in some special schools), pupils aged 5 to 10 attract the funding.

Aims of use:

• To ensure high quality, inclusive and appropriate, physical education or sports lessons are taught across the school.
• To provide high quality, engaging physical and sporting activities.
• To utilise the expertise of external professionals in the teaching of PE and sports.
• To stock check, evaluate and replenish PE equipment where necessary.
• To facilitate community participation with a variety of activities for all curriculum pathways.
• To offer a wide range of physical and emotional wellbeing opportunities across school, for all pupils.

What does the Sport Premium mean for our school?

At Percy Hedley School our key drivers are Communication, Independence, and Wellbeing, which includes both emotional and physical health. Sport and PE play a key role in developing physical wellbeing alongside self-esteem and communication skills. Each year, after discussions with the Governing Body, the Senior Leadership Team, and the P.E. Steering group, the needs of the school were identified, and funds were allocated.

Schools must use the funding to make additional and sustainable improvements to the quality of PE and sport they offer. There are 5 key indicators that schools should expect to see improvement across:

1. Engagement of pupils in regular activity

Through the revamping of the existing playground, our pupils now have access to a greater variety of sports and activities to engage in during structured sporting activities and social times.  The new layout has incorporated a Daily Mile track, which has increased participation in Physical Activity and is encouraged throughout breaks, lunchtimes, and movement breaks. This in turn, improves overall mental health and wellbeing, alongside supporting sensory diets and emotional regulation.  Several clubs and coaching experiences are offered during the week within the sports hall to encourage active participation in a range of activities including dance, football, boccia, cricket and basketball.

Additional markings and trails for students who use wheelchairs were also incorporated, making the school yard inclusive to all curriculum pathways.

Pupils take part in PE lessons during the week, alongside sessions aimed at wellbeing, including Pilates, rebound, chair aerobics, mindfulness and MOVE sessions.

2. The profile of PE and sport is raised across the school as a tool for whole-school improvement.

Our school is a Gold accredited MOVE school, which promotes the MOVE program for all pupils, encouraging a functional activity and goal-based program to encourage and teach functional motor skills.  This is a whole school initiative with termly whole school days promoting the ethos of MOVE.  We are currently working towards being a centre for excellence.

Our recent development of all our outdoor spaces has led to us now having courts and areas for: short tennis, basketball, football, multisport and specialist markings for the move students (maze, athletics slalom course, precision target area and throwing circle). We also have both an Active Mile track which students are encouraged to use throughout the day to support emotional regulation and a healthy lifestyle, as well as having a sprint track.

Our outdoor space also encourages more active social times with the inclusion of a range of areas such as snakes and ladders, hopscotch and dance mat activities on the playground floor.

The ‘bike-ability’ scheme we have introduced has led to us having the adapted bikes, suitable for all of our pupils to use, to support both a healthy lifestyle as well as independence skills.

Our PE council are active in discussing the equipment needs and the choices for extracurricular groups within coming years.  The group is inclusive from all curriculum areas and all ages in school, to support decision making and inclusivity at all times.

We also encouraged ex-students to come back to work with us on a variety of work experience and placement opportunities to give back what they have gained from their time with us. Our links with Gateshead College and Newburn Leisure Centre have encouraged strong responses to this.

3. Increased confidence and knowledge of staff

Staff training to raise standards of planning and teaching through several curriculum areas:

Lifeguard courses have been completed by school staff to support hydrotherapy within school and swimming whilst on school residentials.

Level 3 Forest School qualification have been completed by two members of staff to support the outdoor learning curriculum for all pupils within school.

Outdoor First Aid training has been provided to enable more outdoor education to be delivered as part of the curriculum for all pupils in all pathways.

Future money/resources are proposed to look at training play leaders to deliver social time activities and extracurricular clubs, supporting CPD within our staff.

Coaching into school from Falcons Rugby, All Stars Rugby, Northumbria Cricket, Newcastle United Football Club – Staff working alongside coaches are supported to increase their CPD and experience through this, alongside the confidence to continue to implement the practices once the coaching schedule has been completed.

Last year we ring-fenced money (£2500) to ensure that we can work with the National Governing Bodies, to bring further coaches into school to support personal development of staff within all areas of the PE curriculum.

4. Broader experience of range of sports and activities offered

Through the purchase of new equipment, we can enable students to try new sports such as KIN Ball and Boccia.

We have invested in a range of new adapted bikes to support all abilities (inclusive cycling) and have worked with ‘Bike 4 Health’ to develop cycling safety and maintenance within school for pupils.  This has allowed for all pupils within school, to be able to access the cycling curriculum.

Indoor and outdoor equipment has been invested in to encourage young people to try sports that they have not been involved in before.

The outdoor shelter that was purchased, has led to further outdoor activities being offered in all weathers; a further accessible shelter is needed to ensure full inclusivity for all pupils.

5. Increased participation in competitive sport and pathways into sport

Subscriptions to the Wanderers Association, who provide sporting opportunities for pupils with SEN, being delivered by the 5 local authorities and offering competitive sporting opportunities for all pupils. £171 for pupils to access competitive sporting activities out in the community throughout the year, working within sporting activities such as football, basketball, swimming, and cross country running, with peers from different schools.

Pupils also access competitions through Newcastle United Football Team participation league and the ‘girls only’ competitive football league.  Next year we hope to introduce further girls only lunch time competitive clubs, with a view to joining leagues.

Pupils participate within Panathalon events throughout the year, which provide opportunity for SEN schools and organisations to compete and work together.

Pupils participate within the School Games festivals throughout the year, recognising national sporting events and whole school sports days.

Extra-curricular sporting activities such as after school clubs and lunchtime activities are facilitated, this includes the Dance Festival, after school Cricket Club (new this year) and after school Boccia.

Pupil Premium Spending for 2021-22 

This academic year we were awarded £16,164.83, and with this we continued to support the high level of the delivery of PE within our curriculum and have invested in new sports equipment to support the curriculum and extracurricular activities.  This included new equipment for both indoor and outdoor use, alongside appropriate storage solutions to ensure that the equipment can be used and stored for long term use.

Funded through the grant, we invested in a range of inclusive bikes to support cycling for all abilities and pathways, alongside the work completed with ‘Bike4Health’ to support safety when cycling and bike maintenance for those this was appropriate for.

We have also continued to invest in our outdoor learning program, investing in an outdoor shelter in the form of a wooden wigwam style shelter.  This has allowed for further outdoor sessions to take place within a variety of weather conditions and to support a greater number of pupils to be included within these sessions.  We also purchased several tents and camping equipment to support pupils with their independence skills and the introduction of the John Muir Award and Outdoor Learning awards for the future.  Staff training for outdoor first aid was also completed to ensure safety at all times within the outdoor learning curriculum.

An outdoor trail was also added to the social area for our youngest pupils, providing further equipment to teach resilience and teamwork skills in the outdoor area.

We also ringfenced £2500 for coaching within school to support the CPD and experience of staff for the continuation of quality teaching and the development of the curriculum and extracurricular opportunities within school.

This academic years Projected Spending

This year’s funds of £16,330.00 are currently being discussed and finalised with Senior Leadership and the Governing Body.  Our current expectations are that they will be used to fund:

• An accessible shelter for the outdoor area, improving access to outdoor learning for all pupils and supporting full inclusivity.
• Outdoor equipment – large games, large dice etc, to encourage participation in social times.
• Play equipment such as trains, cars, and small world figures to encourage imaginative outdoor play for our youngest pupils and encourage quality first play.
• Large Lego, construction sets and drainpipes to encourage access to outdoor activities and early STEAM experiences.
• Play Leader Award – to be completed through Topps Ability, providing high quality CPD for staff to ensure that staff are trained to deliver and support social activities.
• Following on from success of accessible bikes last year, we would like to broaden this further to introduce ‘Balance-ability’ – this scheme will support pupils to ride bikes, from our least experienced pupils through to our most. The scheme will provide 10 balance bikes in range of sizes, 5 staff trained to deliver the program, session plans, helmets, and safety equipment.  It will also include training for bike maintenance, classroom resources etc, for a cost of £2952.
• Partnership with Newburn Leisure Centre to deliver a wider range of sports to our young people – we would like to invest in sessions which provide climbing sessions for our pupils, to develop resilience skills and support their wellbeing and cultural capital. We would like to complete this with a view to training staff in cycle leadership and clip and climb next year through the centre.
• Staff development within outdoor learning, with staff completing the CPD course on ‘Outdoor Learning – developing learning outside the classroom skills’. This is a cost of £20 per staff member.
• We would like to offer a wider range of activities including the option for accreditations for students, such as the Young Rookies Life Saving Qualifications which can be completed at Bronze, Silver and Gold at our local pool.