Who at school decides about PE/free extra curricular sport?

[duriandurian]

Hi,
I am a parent but am thinking of doing something on this as my masters dissertation as it bugs me.
Local schools have a massively wide range of focus on exercise: some do daily mile and PE is undertaken as scheduled and there are free fun physical activities.
Others (my sons for e.g.) seem to try to skip exercise as much as possible and all after school clubs are chargeable. Doesn't seem linked to affluence but possibly the Outstanding status means more focus on academics/rehearsing for assembly instead of doing P.E..
Who decides this? Is it the Head? The Governors? Also who decides where the sugar tax and pupil premium money is spent? I am really keen to understand.
Thanks.

You could always talk to the schools about this. Make an appointment with the head.

Thanks. Yes, I am meeting with various heads and governors (informally because they are nice people and I already know them, rather than taking up teaching time) and public health people but I can't find a definitive answer and it seems to vary a fair bit. So I was wondering if it is like assemblies where everyone is meant to do daily collective worship but realistically no one can or if it is meant to be a bit more discretionary.

Our head makes those kind of decisions. However FWIW, my DCs school is (usually) rated top 10 in the country for SATS results / league tables and still has a massive sports programme (so outstanding doesn't mean they have no time for sport).

However, most of the after school clubs are chargeable (including sport, we have quite an extensive offering of 3 or 4 clubs every day)- all massively oversubscribed - again the leadership team's decision. It was either charge for after school clubs or lose TA posts when school budgets were cut.

I definitely think that a lot of the best schools also promote sport-it is just near us that they seem to dichotomise which I think is a real shame.
I do wonder about charges resulting in some kids being excluded and whether free activities would be more inclusive. But fully understand budget cut issues too.

And thank you both for taking the time to reply. It is nicer to feel a bit more informed when I turn up for meetings.

As you've discovered there isn't a definitive answer. It varies from school to school and authority to authority.
My school is part of the school sport partnership and the PE coordinator acts as go between between teachers.

If a primary school has a teacher who is very sporty and is prepared to run extra curricular clubs etc then you may find a school has a lot on offer.

Other schools are often approached by external companies offering to run clubs. It is then up to the head/ as to whether any budget is available to subsidise this or not.

We too are part of a local schools sports partnership ( and Gold Sportsmark Standard so sport is clearly important to us!) We run lots of free after school sports clubs, but these are all run voluntarily by teachers-TAs don't run clubs unless they volunteer as we can't afford to pay them, teachers just do! The only paying sports club ( indeed any club) is one provided by an external provider who is an Olympic standard competitior.
Every school will be different, we have teaching staff who still play competitive sport and like to encourage younger participants!

I’m sure the school will snap up the opportunity of you running free after school sports activities.

A lot depends on the interests of the individual staff.

Some schools are lucky enough to have a teacher who loves a particular sport (or even sport in general), so they start a tea m / training sessions. In another school, they might be lucky enough to have a pianist who enjoys running a choir or even orchestra 'music ensemble' after school.
Some HTs are very prescriptive about everything they demand from staff (planning, paperwork, tracking, meetings) and suck the goodwill from their staff - others give staff more autonomy and gain a lot more back in terms of staff then offering their skills / interests.

Oh, and others form the Community.
So, when dd was at Junior school, she went to a chess club, run by a chap who had approached the school and offered to run it (for a small charge per pupil - think it was about £2 a week). He did it as he loved the game and wanted to get as many children in the City playing chess as he could. They also had a lady who came in and ran a basketball team for free - simply because she loved the sport and wanted to promote it.
They also had a rugby coach for a while as, as part of the lottery funding the local rugby club received to employ him, he had to do X hours a year of 'free to the community' work promoting the game, so he came into schools and taught the dc how to play tag rugby.

Here the schools link up for matches so the teachers all collaborate and send emails to set dates. Sports run in cycles e.g. Netball in winter and cricket in summer.

Teachers run the clubs - if possible - sometimes lunch time or after school. Some give up their weekends for competitions.

Swimming pools tend to run the swimming competitions.

If you want to do something positive about inclusivity about sport - can I suggest none competitive activities that are open to all abilities? Because come year 5/6 a lot of kids give up because they can't compete with 'the best' at school and some kids have an over inflated confidence in their ability!!

Yoga, circuit training, dance classes, anything that stops the teacher and being competitive!!! And don't mention the bloody end of year sports awards that just confirm what the kids already know - that sports and fitness aren't for them

I'll get off my soap box

@norestformrz & @spanieleyes your School Sports Partnerships are interesting- I was told yesterday that funding stopped for those in 2012 so maybe your school areas have carried on funding them anyway? They sounded really good- as did the gold standard: is that still two hours of PE a week guaranteed too? Would you be willing to PM me with the name of the local authority in which you live? Be interesting to see if the NCMP (BMI of kids at reception and Y6) shows better outcomes by Y6 with school sports partnership/gold status.
@pathofleastresitance I do already volunteer running a programme for kids promoting exercise and healthy lifestyle. It is a bit preachy (funding requirements) but is free. Only two other parents (my old neighbour and his pal) run a free club and it is a big 3 form entry school (so more than 600 kids). Neighbouring schools do have more clubs run by teachers/parents which suggests to me that backforgood may be onto something re: HT control/atmosphere.
@greentulips my interest is from a Health Psychology/Behavioural Economics standpoint. So preventing disease arising from lack of exercise/too much sedentary time (actually different risk factors). Even stuff like gardening club or a walking bus makes a huge difference. But my interest is how schools can integrate it easily and for all kids (not just the ones who can/will pay) or whose parents can be organised enough to make sure that they attend. And trying to work out what would be acceptable/sensible for schools- hence talking to teachers, not just researchers.

http://www.sedgefieldssp.org.uk/about-us/ Sedgefield School Sport Partnership works with 5 Secondary Schools, 40 Primary Schools and 4 Special Schools in the traditional Sedgefield Borough area.

http://www.durhamcityssp.org.uk The Durham & Chester-le-Street School Sport Partnership is a not-for-profit organisation that develops sport and physical activity for young people and their families in the Durham City and Chester-le-Street areas. Our 74 partner educational establishments consist of 7 Infant schools, 7 Junior schools, 47 primary schools, 7 secondary schools, 2 special schools and 2 FE colleges.

Brilliant! Thank you. Will get googling -around excited half term DC doing Halloween decorating and sports clubs. Thanks!

activelincolnshire.com/sport/children-young-people/schoolsport/
covers most schools in Lincolnshire divided into 8 sports partnerships.

The last academic and this academic year all’s hools have received a massive injection ruin of money to be spent on sport. See here for info
www.gov.uk/guidance/pe-and-sport-premium-for-primary-schools

If schools aren’t providing adequate sports provision the governors should challenge this.

There should be a PE lead within school who should take overall responsibility but the Head would have strategic direction. Our school is outstanding, excellent academic results and excellent sports so that is not an excuse. Schools should provide information on their website for sport spending (probably on their sports page). They may also have a police on physical activity and should have PE curriculum planning. There is the PE Games Mark award (our school is gold) which means writing a report on PE and targeting all children, including after school clubs.

The schools have to be very open about how they spend their PE premium so that can be challenged very easily, if for example as my local school did they spent the money on a new shed then really questions should be asked. Unfortunately in my experience many primarily leaders do not have sufficient understanding of the positive impact of PE on both the commonly understood heath benefits of exercise or the well evidenced but less public benefits related to improvements in academic attainment and social-emotional developments. It perplexes me that give the drive towards improving literacy and numeracy schools don’t have more active time given the 15% uplift in productivity (negating the argument around it taking up time) but also the 13-30% uplift in accademic attainment, particularly evidenced in underachieving and vulnerable groups. The Cheif medical officers recent obesity strategy has prompted the DFE to include an expectation that all primary children will now do 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity on every school day. I’d be really interested in an assessment of how many schools actually achieve this.

Governors have to be accountable for the sports premium spending in school. They should be informed fully of what the money is spent on and what improvements have been seen as a result of the spending. How the money is spent, and the sport policy in school, are the responsibility of the Head. Sports premium money is ring fenced. When you meet Heads and Governors you can ask how they spend it and what difference it has made.

Some schools charge because it’s a sport provided by an external Company. Sport is in the curriculum for all schools and some teachers are very sporty. Some schools are less fortunate and have to buy in expertise. There are many sports consortiums and sports advice can be sought. Most schools aim to get all children active whilst at the same time running competitive teams. Something for everyone.

Regarding pupil premium: the Head decides how it is spent. They are accountable to the Governors for it being successful in raising attainment for the children who receive it. Generally it’s not about providing sport opportunities. It’s about raising attainment. The Sutton Trust has good information about successful strategies. Don’t get it confused with freebies for poorer children. It’s about raising attainment and each school must publish how it spends the money and what success has been achieved. The Governors must review this expenditure and ensure the money is spent effectively. Look at the web sites of the schools for the details. Hope that helps.

Duriandurian I forgot to mention that in my area many schools employ sports apprentices. This is coordinated by the School Sports Partnership and the apprentice works in school for four days a week and attends college on the fifth and during school holidays the apprentices provide holiday sports activities across the area.