Sports Premium

St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School is passionate about the importance of physical activity and sport.

The children are encouraged to undertake a range of sports and activities both within the Physical Education (PE) curriculum, at playtimes and also in extracurricular activities. The Departments for Education, Health and Culture and Media and Sport have allocated ring-fenced funding to support the provision of PE and sport in schools.

St Joseph’s was allocated £17820 in the year 2023-24, to support and promote PE in school. 

We use the premium to:

• develop or add to the PE and sport activities that we already offer;
• build capacity and capability within the school to ensure that improvements made now will benefit pupils joining the school in future years.

There are 5 key indicators that we should expect to see improvement across:

• the engagement of all pupils in regular physical activity - the Chief Medical Officer guidelines recommend that all children and young people aged 5 to 18 engage in at least 60 minutes of physical activity a day, of which 30 minutes should be in school;
• the profile of PE and sport is raised across the school as a tool for whole-school improvement;
• increased confidence, knowledge and skills of all staff in teaching PE and sport;
• broader experience of a range of sports and activities offered to all pupils;
• increased participation in competitive sport.

At St Joseph’s, the funding has been used to:

• provide training for teachers and teaching assistants to promote physical activity.
• playground activities – including training resources for Playground Pals.
• additional staff at lunchtime to organise games and activities.
• improve the playground environment.
• purchase PE equipment and resources.
• release teachers and teaching assistants so that teachers can take part in sports competitions.
• staffing to supervise AHOY Sailing events and the AHOY weekly extra-curricular activity.

Impact:

The profile of sport has continued to improve at St Joseph's and the funding has helped us to introduce our pupils to a greater number of sports, whilst encouraging them to participate in active games with greater skill and accuracy. The equipment has helped the introduction of a range of different disciplines allowing all children to have the opportunity to explore new challenges.  Team games have encouraged a positive spirit amongst different year groups and we have seen our children excel in a variety of areas beyond the classroom.

Attainment:

The school actively promotes the link between positive physical activity and positive mental well-being. This in turn has a positive impact on the children's self-esteem, self-belief and success in learning.  The stimulating playground activities have helped to further improve children’s concentration and learning in the classroom. Children use their understanding of teamwork and good sportsmanship across the curriculum. These are skills which will benefit the children throughout their lives.