27.10.16
Primary Schools

PE and Sport Premium conditions 2016/17: What's changed?

Kids stretching in PE

The Government has released new guidance document about the PE and Sport Premium conditions for free schools and academies for the year 2016/17. We’ve read and analysed this lengthy government document, so you don’t have to. So, what’s changed from last year?

The purpose of the premium remains the same, “to be used to fund additional and sustainable improvements to the provision of PE and sport, for the benefit of primary-aged pupils, in the 2016 to 2017 academic year, to encourage the development of healthy, active lifestyles.” However, there are some changes which you will need to know about. 

1. Premium is paid directly to free schools and academies

The premium is paid directly to schools and academies instead of being given to the local authorities like the previous year. By cutting out the middle man, schools and academies have access to the funds, so they can concentrate on improving the PE in their schools straight away. It also means that local authorities don’t need to produce a certificate proving that they have passed the relevant money on.  

Payment dates:

Academic year: September – March 2016 

Payment date: 1 November 2016

Academic year: April – August 2017

Payment date: 1 May 2017

2. Allocation

The document states that allocations for the academic year 2016/17 will be calculated in the same way as last year. They are calculated using the number of pupils in years 1 to 6, as recorded in the January 2016 census. Then:

• schools with 17 or more pupils receive £8,000 plus £5 per pupil

• schools with 16 or fewer pupils receive £500 per pupil

 However, if you are a school who has opened in 2016/17 the above formula will be applied to the number of pupils recorded on the Autumn school census. 

3. Evidence of spending

The money allocated must be spend on additional and sustainable improvements to PE, and the Secretary of State does not class the following expenditure to be a valid use of the premium:

• “employing coaches or specialist teachers to cover planning preparation and assessment (PPA) arrangements - these should come out of schools’ core staffing budgets

• teaching the minimum requirements of your existing PE curriculum”

The report made it very clear that sufficient evidence must be published on the school’s website before 4th April 2017 which details what the sport premium was spent on and must include information about:

• How much premium has been received

• Full breakdown of what has/will be spent

• What impact the school has seen on pupils’ participation and attainment in school sports and PE 

• How improvements will be sustainable in future

• Schools must also consider how the use of the premium is giving pupils the opportunity to develop a healthy and active lifestyle

This can seem intimidating for many schools to put together such information. It requires them to assess, measure and report lots of information across a school, class and pupil level. However, schools who use Amaven will receive a high-quality ready-made Impact Report that includes rich data about how each pupil, class and the overall school are responding to the new PE lesson plans and assessments.  This can be published on the school’s website and downloaded as a PDF to send to Ofsted, parents and governors. Schools who use Amaven save themselves the time and effort of trying to work out the impact of the sport premium on their school and producing a detailed report that covers all the areas required by the government. Please click here to learn out more about the Amaven package for your school. 

4. Misuse of the premium

The other conditions section is slightly different to the previous year due to the funds being paid directly the free schools and academies as opposed to the local authorities.

If a school or academy doesn’t comply with the rules in the official document, for example if they have misused the money, the Secretary of State may require repayment of the whole or any part of the premium paid, or withhold subsequent instalments of the premium. This will be notified in writing to the school and any such sum that has been notified shall be recovered against general annual grant (GAG) funding by the EFA on behalf of the Secretary of State or withheld from subsequent instalments of the premium. Any such recoveries will be undertaken in line with the academy trust’s funding agreement.

Similarly, any overpayment of the premium should be recovered against GAG funding by the EFA on behalf of the Secretary of State as opposed to being paid by the local authority. 

Conclusions

The government has given more responsibility to the free schools and academies, which is a positive sign that the scheme is working well. However, schools must ensure that they produce a highly detailed report of how they have spent the money and publish this before the 4th April 2017 or they will fail to comply with the rules. 

To read the full document please click here.