Clavering Primary School

PE AND SPORT PREMIUM

Clavering PESSPA Programme: developing a lifelong love of physical activity

This webpage fulfils our statutory obligation to publish details online of how we spend our PE and Sport Premium.

'The Physical Education (PE), School Sport and Physical Activity Programme Director ensures that the additional sport funding is extremely well used.' (Ofsted, 2019)

'The recent funding to promote pupils’ physical development and extend sporting activities is being used very well.' (Ofsted, 2014)

Other PESSPA-related findings from Ofsted, 2019: 

There is a strong programme of competition, residential activities, and after-school clubs available to pupils.

Leaders monitor pupils’ participation levels to ensure that increasing numbers of pupils can represent their school. Curriculum plans are well thought through to ensure that pupils acquire the knowledge and skills required to make excellent progress. As a result, all Year 6 pupils have successfully achieved their 25 metres swimming award and have represented their school in competition.

In PE, study progression documents are extremely detailed. They identify precisely how activities will build upon those previously taught to enable pupils to make excellent progress.

The highly effective PE curriculum provides an important contribution to pupils’ mental and physical wellbeing. It instils in pupils the importance of staying fit and healthy and the benefits of being active. This is evidenced by the wide range of after-school clubs accessed by pupils.

Playtimes are full of fun. There are lots of activities for pupils to participate in, should they wish to. Older pupils support younger pupils in their play by organising games.

Other PESSPA-related findings from Ofsted, 2014: 

Pupils really enjoy the very wide range of activities and clubs available to them, especially the different sports activities and are rightly proud of their sporting successes.

In the playground, pupils play well with each other and appreciate the very wide range of play equipment provided for them.

There are excellent opportunities for pupils to engage in a range of additional activities and clubs and pupils appreciate the opportunities to go on school visits and the residential visits.

'I’ve never entered a school which had embedded a culture of Physical Activity more so than Clavering Primary School: a pioneer for Physical Education, School Sport and Physical Activity (PESSPA) across the country, operating in a local authority with very little opportunities.' Clavering Primary School is 'a beacon of best practice for all things PE, School Sport and Physical Activity.' (Jordan Stephenson, Regional Development Officer, Youth Sport Trust)

'The Physical Education, School Sport and Physical Activity (PESSPA) provision provided by Clavering Primary School is exceptional.' and 'It is fantastic to see how the School Games values and passion for the subject are embedded across the school and embraced by all students, members of staff and governors.' (Kate Robinson, Hartlepool School Games Organiser)

Clavering Primary School is 'a stellar example of what is possible through PESSPA' and 'there are few schools out there doing as much as Clavering; plus what is so special at Clavering is that it is embedded and led by pupils.' (Stuart Kay, Schools Director, Youth Sport Trust)

This video was put together by members of our PESSPA team and PESSPA pupil leaders in 2018-2019.

Anyone visiting Clavering Primary School can see the impact that the government’s PE and Sport Premium has had in allowing us to develop the Clavering Physical Education, School Sport and Physical Activity (PESSPA) Programme. The funding has helped us to transform Physical Education, School Sport and Physical Activity at Clavering, bringing us valuable connections across the country; this is particularly important given that we are a single maintained school in a Local Authority that has no School Sport Partnership or coordinated town-wide PESSPA Programme.

The Clavering PESSPA Programme now brings benefits that spread right across the curriculum and beyond and, year on year, is helping to transform our children’s physical and mental health for the better, providing 'an important contribution to pupils' mental and physical well-being. It instils in pupils the importance of staying fit and healthy and the benefits of being active.' (Ofsted)

Working with the Department for Education; Department of Health & Social Care; Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport; and international, national and local organisations: 

Since the launch of the government's PE and Sport Premium and the transformation of the Clavering PESSPA Programme, it has been an honour to work with governmental departments and major organisations to showcase the impact of the additional funding, providing qualitative and quantitative evidence of the positive impact of the PE and Sport Premium on children's physical health and mental wellbeing.

WHAT IS THE PE AND SPORT FUNDING?

The Department for Education’s vision for the PE and sport funding is: ALL pupils leaving primary school physically literate and with the knowledge, skills and motivation necessary to equip them for a healthy, active lifestyle and lifelong participation in physical activity and sport.

The funding has been provided to ensure impact against the following objective: to achieve self-sustaining improvement in the quality of PE and sport in primary schools. It is important to emphasise that the focus of spending must lead to long lasting impact against the vision (above) that will live on well beyond the PE and sport funding.

Further background information:

In April 2013, the Government announced new PE and sport funding of £150 million for Physical Education (PE) and sport – often referred to in the media as a ‘Sport Premium’. This funding is intended to improve the quality and breadth of PE and sport provision.

When asked about the PE and sport funding at its launch, Lord Coe reflected: ‘When I stood up in Singapore in 2005, I spoke of London’s vision to connect young people with the inspirational power of the Games so they are inspired to choose sport. By focussing on primary schools, we have the opportunity to use sport and physical activity to shape the daily lives of young people. I know from my own experience what an impact teachers and their engagement can have on the lives of young people.’

In February 2014, former Prime Minister, David Cameron, announced that the funding will continue until 2020, emphasising that: ‘Sport is so important because it encourages children to be active, lead a healthy lifestyle, make friends and, of course, have fun. But quality school sport has benefits that spread right across the curriculum and beyond - it develops confidence and a sense of achievement, it teaches young people how to rise to a challenge, and nurtures the character and skills that will help them get on and succeed in life.’

In July 2017, the Department for Education confirmed that the PE and sport funding would double from September 2017.

DETAILS OF PAYMENTS TO CLAVERING:

Following the government’s funding formula, we have been awarded:

• £5,717 for the period September 2013 to March 2014;
• £3,608 for the period April 2014 to August 2014;
• £5,518 for the period September 2014 to March 2015;
• £3,942 for the period April 2015 to August 2015;
• £5,565 for the period September 2015 to March 2016;
• £3,975 for the period April 2016 to August 2016;
• £5,524 for the period September 2016 to March 2017;
• £3,946 for the period April 2017 to August 2017;
• £11,136 for the period September 2017 to March 2018;
• £7,954 for the period April 2018 to August 2018;
• £11,188 for the period September 2018 to March 2019;
• £7,992 for the period April 2019 to August 2019;
• £11,130 for the period September 2019 to March 2020;
• £7,950 for the period April 2020 to August 2020;
• £11,142 for the period September 2020 to March 2021.
• £7,958 for the period April 2021 to August 2021;
• £11,025 for the period September 2021 to March 2022;
• £7,875 for the period April 2022 to August 2022;
• £11,124 for the period September 2022 to March 2023;
• £7,964 for the period April 2023 to August 2023.

HOW ARE WE SPENDING OUR PE AND SPORT FUNDING?

In line with governmental expectations, we focus our funding on five key indicators:

• the engagement of all pupils in regular physical activity – kick-starting healthy active lifestyles;
• the profile of PE and sport being 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.

We are using our funding to improve these five areas as follows:

THE ENGAGEMENT OF ALL PUPILS IN REGULAR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY - KICK-STARTING HEALTHY ACTIVE LIFESTYLES

• External assessment: the 'quality of physical activity' at Clavering Primary School is rated as being GOLD by the Youth Sport Trust (YST).
• Clavering PESSPA specialists have worked collaboratively with the Department for Education to share best practice via their online physical activity platform.
• Nationally, the Clavering Physical Activity Strategy has been shared at national YST and Schools Games conferences and through case studies with professionals working in tens of thousands of schools; plus, our PESSPA Programme Director has been a keynote speaker at several face-to-face and online conferences for national organisations and regional school sport partnerships.
• Locally, the impact of the Clavering Physical Activity Strategy has been shared at local conferences and via the ‘Love Hartlepool’ website; our PESSPA Programme Director is now part of the town’s Obesity Strategy Steering Group.
• Clavering was one of the founding members of the ‘Well Schools’ movement, powered by the YST and the BUPA Foundation: a growing organisation of like-minded organisations that believe that wellbeing should be at the heart of education.
• Clavering is a YST Lead Health & Wellbeing School: a national network of lead schools that are committed to maximising the use of high quality physical education, physical activity and sport to improve outcomes in health, wellbeing and achievement as part of whole school improvement.
• Our specialist training means that we recognise that girls’ needs differ and change as they mature and that girls themselves are uniquely positioned to ‘sell’ physical activity to other girls; the impact of our ‘Girls Active’ Programme has received a national award from the YST, Women In Sport and This Girl Can.
• We are resolutely committed to supporting our pupils to be physical active outside of school; our impact in supporting families to be physically active has received a national award from the YST and Sky Sports as well as a national Community Education Award.

Both for physical health and wellbeing benefits, we aim to maximise opportunities for children and all associated with the school to be physically active by promoting all avenues for activity (not just in PE lessons and through competitive sport).

At Clavering, all staff members know that they have a responsibility to promote active, healthy lifestyles and our school staff body is full of positive role models who lead healthy, active lifestyles.

Having consulted with families, pupils and staff, we launched our Clavering 30:30 Physical Activity Strategy in July 2017 with the aim of ensuring that every Clavering pupil is physically active for at least thirty minutes during every school day and that no Clavering pupil is sedentary for longer than thirty minutes during any school day. This is being achieved in a strategic, systematic and fun way that promotes both active breaks and active learning. For example, our ‘Get Up, Get Active’ sessions provide daily opportunities to improve strength and fitness through a programme that we have designed ourselves that covers core, upper body and lower body strength as well as cardiovascular fitness. Part of our PE and Sport Premium has been used to purchase and develop resources for our additional physical activity opportunities, including active learning, active breaks and our 'Get Up, Get Active' sessions.

The impact of our physical strategy is that we know that every Clavering pupil is physically active for at least thirty minutes in school every day. Following the introduction of our physical activity strategy, our teachers have found that pupils are concentrating more, focusing better and are less distracted during lessons. Attendance figures have benefited  because nearly every pupil comes in before the official start of the school day to participate in their ‘Get Up, Get Active’ sessions. Over time, we also expect to see improvements in our pupils’ fitness levels and strength.

Amongst our pupils, our Upper School pupils are trained as PESSPA Leaders and Girls Active Leaders who make a significant contribution in running our playtime, lunchtime and after-school clubs; in addition, we have Year 6 children who help run our 'Get Up, Get Active' sessions every morning in Key Stage 1.

In addition to our school sport training, we run daily breaktime and lunchtime clubs and activities. Some of these sessions target specific groups of pupils, e.g. children who need additional physical literacy input or children who are considered to be less active. All of our breaktime and lunchtime initiatives are organised freely by Clavering staff members, but part of our PE and Sport Premium is used to purchase resources (including specialist physical  literacy and movement resources) for the different activities. After-school, we run PESSPA clubs every day and, again, part of our PE and Sport Premium is used to purchase resources to help provide a broad range of activities. A large percentage of Clavering pupils participate in our breaktime, lunchtime and after-school activities and the number of pupils participating in extra-curricular PESSPA activities has increased significantly since the launch of the PE and Sport Premium.

We are keenly aware that, nationally, there are vulnerable groups of pupils who are not engaged in PE and/or active lifestyles; as a school, we aim to ensure that this isn’t the case at Clavering. For example, Clavering girls are widely regarded for their commitment to and enthusiasm for PE, sport and active lifestyles and we are honoured to have been awarded ‘Girls active’ status for our commitment to and success in engaging and retaining girls in physical activity. We have used part of our PE and Sport Premium to participate in 'Girls active' training for staff and pupils and we have a highly-skilled, committed team of 'Girls active' leaders who are involved in leading clubs and activities, including our termly 'Girls Active' afternoons. We are proud to have received a national ‘Future Leader Award’ from the YST, Women In Sport and This Girl Can for the impact of our Girls Active Programme on girls’ physical health and mental wellbeing.

As a school, we are conscious of how we can ensure that our children continue to be active outside of school and, in particular, continue to lead healthy, active lifestyles when they leave Clavering. We are always very keen to develop partnerships with and advertise the work of local sports clubs, dance and performing arts schools and other organisations who promote healthy, active lifestyles. This work is increasingly done through our PESSPA Twitter account (@ClaveringPESSPA) and we are delighted with the large number of Clavering children who are involved in sports clubs and dance/performing arts schools outside of school. Similarly, we work tirelessly to support families to be physically active outside of school and this work has been recognised with a national award from the YST and Sky Sports.

THE PROFILE OF PE AND SPORT BEING RAISED ACROSS THE SCHOOL AS A TOOL FOR WHOLE SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT

Throughout our school, we appreciate that ‘academic attainment and quality of leadership [are] generally better in those schools with strong sport provision’ (Ofsted, 2014) and that there is ‘an overall positive association between the quality of provision of competitive sport and academic attainment in schools’ (Ofsted, 2014).

• External assessment: our achievement in 'using high quality PE and school sport as a catalyst for learning' is rated as GOLD by the YST.
• The impact of the Clavering PESSPA Programme as a tool for whole school improvement has been shared through local and national conferences and through case studies, written with many national organisations and governmental departments. Organisations including the Department for Education; the Department of Health & Social Care; the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport; the YST; the Association for Physical Education (afPE); the School Games organisation; Sport England; the County Sports Partnership Network; Sports Coach UK; UK Active Kids; and the John Muir Trust have all used information from Clavering about the impact of our PESSPA Programme on whole school improvement.
• Clavering was one of the founding members of the ‘Well Schools’ movement, powered by the YST and the BUPA Foundation: a growing organisation of like-minded organisations that believe that wellbeing should be at the heart of education.
• Clavering is a YST Lead Health & Wellbeing School: a national network of lead schools that are committed to maximising the use of high quality physical education, physical activity and sport to improve outcomes in health, wellbeing and achievement as part of whole school improvement.

At Clavering Primary School, the Clavering PESSPA Programme is part of a wider and established culture that promotes individual academic and sporting excellence. We take the Clavering PESSPA Programme very seriously, investing in it and seeing it as central to our school culture and ethos. A key reason why we invest in and value PE, school sport and physical activity is the wider benefits we believe PESSPA brings in developing the ‘whole person’ and developing a ‘culture of success’.

The drive to excel in PE, sport and outdoor adventure, as well as leading healthy, active lifestyles – encouraged throughout the school – helps to shape each pupil’s character, binds the school together as a whole, and reinforces the drive to compete and excel academically. As the mantra goes: schools that win on the field win in the exam hall. We have had researchers come to Clavering to investigate reasons for certain potentially vulnerable groups’ excellent academic performance and it has been encouraging to see that local and national research teams have recognised the contribution of the Clavering PESSPA Programme to our academic success and, even more importantly, our pupils’ emotional wellbeing and mental health.

Experience has shown that the values our pupils develop in the different aspects of our PESSPA Programme carry across into their academic work – commitment on the playing field is carried across into the classroom and beyond. These values include the Clavering Sports Values – determination, honesty, passion, respect, self-belief and teamwork – which are at the heart of the Clavering PESSPA Programme. Our programme instils these values, along with the qualities of hard work, commitment, self-discipline and resilience. The aim is for these personal qualities to be applied in all aspects of school life, including in pupils’ academic studies, whilst having positive effects on behaviour and attendance.

At Clavering, staff members, governors, families and pupils understand that the Clavering PESSPA Programme isn’t an optional extra; it is a key component in building pupils’ self-esteem, confidence, the school ethos and academic excellence.  

Following the launch of the Clavering PESSPA Programme and our continued efforts to grow the programme further (including the launch of our physical activity strategy in 2017), our teachers have found that pupils are concentrating more, focusing better and are less distracted during lessons. Attendance figures (particularly those associated with lateness) at school have also improved because nearly every pupil is coming in before the official start of the school day to participate in their ‘Get Up, Get Active’ sessions and pupils are keen to come to school, partly because of the dynamic and active culture of the school. This dynamic culture has been further enhanced by key staff members having access to training in active learning which has been disseminated to all teachers through INSET sessions. Examples of this training include the YST's active literacy course, active maths course and active learning course (in which Clavering was used as an example of outstanding practice). Similarly, subject coordinators are working with our PESSPA Programme Director to look at how they can enhance learning in their subject area through increasing active learning - for example, by improving and increasing fieldwork opportunities in geography (physically being geographers) and by improving and increasing the use of artefacts in history (physically being historians).

HOW CAN I FIND OUT MORE SPECIFIC INFORMATION ABOUT HOW THIS YEAR'S PREMIUM IS BEING SPENT?

Please click here to access last year's evaluation of our use of our PE and Sport Premium funding.

Please see the document below which demonstrates how this year's funding has been spent.

WHO CAN I SPEAK TO FOR FURTHER INFORMATION? 

For further information about the Clavering PESSPA Programme and the PE and sport funding, please see:

• Mr McAvoy (Deputy Headteacher and Clavering PESSPA Programme Director);
• Mr Liddell (PESSPA Link Governor).

SWIMMING

For the 2017 to 2018 academic year, there is a new condition requiring schools to publish how many pupils within their Year 6 cohort are meeting the national curriculum requirement to 1) swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres, 2) use a range of strokes effectively and 3) perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations. 

In 2020-2021, we switched our swimming curriculum to High Tunstall College of Science.

As part of our Clavering Curriculum for PE, all of our Year 5 pupils have a full term of swimming lessons in either the Autumn or Spring Term (depending on which Year 5 class they are in). In addition, in the Summer Term we fund additional lessons for Upper School children who have not met the national curriculum requirements for swimming. If necessary, a child will access three terms of swimming lessons to help him/her meet the requirements (Autumn or Spring Term in Year 5, Summer Term in Year 5 and Summer Term in Year 6), totalling a year's worth of lessons. None of this is funded using the additional PE and sport money; therefore, we know that this is approach is sustainable and can continued to be accessed by all pupils (as required).

85% of our most recent Year 6 cohort met all three national curriculum requirements for swimming (this percentage is less than normal because of the pandemic affecting swimming lessons). 13% of those pupils benefited from three terms worth of swimming lessons.

We actively encourage our pupils to start to learn to swim long before they reach Year 5. Hartlepool's 'Learn to swim' programme can be accessed by clicking on this link: 

http://www.gethartlepoolactive.co.uk/learntoswim.