Sports Funding

Following on from the London 2012 Olympics, the government committed to providing additional funding to Primary Schools across the UK. The funding, which has been jointly provided by the Departments for Education, Health and Culture, Media and Sport, is to be used for improving the provision of sporting activities and Physical Education (PE) lessons. It is 'ring-fenced', which means it can only be used for this purpose and not spent on anything else.

Sports fund allocation for 2024-25: £19,240.00

CPD
External training courses	£450
Internal learning and development	£50
Internal learning and development	£50
Inter-school development sessions	£200
External coaches supporting confidence and competence	£6000

Internal activities
School based extra-curricular opportunities	£3040
Sports competitions	£750
Top-swimming lessons or broadening aquatic opportunities for pupils	£1578
Equipment and resources	£2943
Membership fees	£790
Use of educational platforms and resources	£839

External activities
Activities organised by School Games organiser network	£1100
Other inter-school sports competitions	£1500

Total school spending on CPD	£6700
Total school spending on internal activities	£9940
Total school spending on external activities	£2600
Total spent of PE and sports premium	£19240

The Sports Grant allocation for 2024/2025 impacted on the school in the following ways:

Membership of the Macclesfield School Sports Partnership (MSSP) has enabled access to up to date and relevant training at reduced costs. It allows children’s involvement and participation in a range of sporting events, leading to a greater depth of learning of relevant skills, teamwork and sportsmanship. As a school, we have worked hard to achieve maintain the gold School Games Mark. We have become a more actives school and attended a wide range of inclusive events such as Change4Life and sporting festivals.

All of the children were able to participate in a range of sports related activities during lessons and sports week. This was a successful event where many children took up a new sport after being inspired by the activities.

PE equipment was updated and new resources were bought. This included playground equipment, PE storage and basket ball nets.

Specialist coaches ran a range of sessions such as, fencing, gymnastics, wheelchair rugby, circus skills, lacrosse, yoga and football. This provided invaluable CPD for members of staff.

We have ran lunchtime clubs which were free for all KS2 children.

How will the improvements be sustainable for the future?

We continue to work with a variety of professional sports coaches who provide ongoing CPD for teaching staff in sports such as rugby and cricket. Teachers are actively working alongside sports specialists, developing planning and delivering team-taught lessons. As a result, staff are increasingly well-equipped and confident in delivering high-quality PE sessions. Children consistently engage in high-quality, skills-focused PE lessons that promote enjoyment and progression.

Sporting equipment is regularly updated to ensure all children have access to a broad range of sports and physical activities. Continued support from MSSP enables the school to remain active and maintain our Gold School Games Mark, which we are committed to building upon each year.

We have placed a strong focus on increasing girls’ participation in football, offering free lunchtime clubs and girls-only after-school sessions. This has led to a noticeable and ongoing increase in the number of girls taking part in football. We are extremely proud of the girls’ football team, who continue to achieve great success in matches and tournaments, including reaching the final of the Cup competition and winning their league.

Swimming

Swimming and water safety is an extremely important part of the PE curriculum at Vernon Primary School and another way of helping children to lead healthy and active lives. Some children who did not achieve the national standard in Year 3, attended catch-up swimming lessons at Poynton Leisure centre in order to meet the National Curriculum requirements. This ensures that nearly every pupil leaving Vernon Primary School can reach the National requirement by the end of Year 6.

Pupils are grouped according to their ability and are taught to:
- Swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres
- Use a range of strokes effectively [for example, front crawl, backstroke and breaststroke]
- Perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations.

Results for pupils in Year 6 the end of 2024/25:

94% could swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres
94% could use a range of strokes effectively (for example, front crawl, backstroke and breaststroke)
94% perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations

Sporting Opportunities

Sport at Vernon, is a key part of the curriculum. We are excited that the children have the opportunity to join many extra-curricular activities after school or at lunch in addition to their regular PE lessons. Our PE includes dance, gymnastics and games whereby the children can experience varied activities. We enjoy the regular sporting opportunities offered in the area, competing against schools in Cheshire and Greater Manchester. We have enjoyed taking part in the football festivals at Manchester City Football Academy.

We look forward to our school teams competing again this academic year.

2025-2026

Sports fund allocation for 2025-26:

Possible uses of the funding include:

Hiring specialist PE teachers or qualified sports coaches to work alongside Primary teachers when delivering the PE part of the curriculum including karate, rygby, street dance, gymnastics and cricket coaches.
Paying for professional development opportunities for teachers in sport and PE.
Invest in PE planning and assessment tool to support and provide additional CPD.
Providing class cover to release teachers for professional development opportunities in sport and PE.
Running sports competitions and transporting pupils to and from events.
When required, competition club to help prepare children for upcoming events.
Buying equipment to enhance sport and PE provision.
To update the netball court markings on the playground.
To subsidise extra-curricular clubs.
PE enrichment days and week where specialist coaches are invited in to coach the children and provide CPD for teachers.
To update playground equipment to encourage more children to become independently involved in sport during break times.
To provide catch up swimming sessions.
To provide a wide range of extra-curricular sports clubs.
Invest in whole staff training to educate about the importance of physical literacy and its profile. Funding could also extend to resources and training to educate parents/carers on the importance of physical literacy and how families can best support their child.

The children at Vernon enjoy many opportunities to try different sports either within lessons or through extra-curricular clubs and visits from outside sporting companies.

We are pleased that 8BY8 Coaching will continue to run after school clubs for both KS1 and KS2 children. At lunchtimes there will be football sessions for KS2. We hope to continue to invite specialist coaches into school throughout the year to teach new skills to the children.

Sporting competitions are planned to take place this year where the children will take part in competitive events against other primary school children in the area. As well as this, there will be a focus on festival events where children learn new skills and are exposed to new sports which might inspire them to become more active.

Inter-house competitions will continue to happen. Once skills are acquired in PE lessons, tournaments will take place allowing children to utilise their skills in a competitive environment.

We believe that, at Vernon, we provide opportunities for all pupils to find an activity that they can enjoy, build team working abilities and develop their skills at all levels.