Schools must use the funding to make additional and sustainable improvements to the quality of physical education (PE), physical activity and sport they offer.

This means that we should use the premium to:

• develop or add to the PE, physical activity 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

Schools can use the premium to secure improvements in the following indicators:

• 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

For example, we can use the funding to:

• provide staff with professional development, mentoring, training and resources to help them teach PE and sport more effectively and embed physical activity across the school
• hire qualified sports coaches to work with teachers to enhance or extend current opportunities
• introduce new sports, dance or other activities to encourage more pupils to take up sport and physical activities
• support and involve the least active children by providing targeted activities, and running or extending school sports and holiday clubs
• enter or run more sport competitions
• partner with other schools to run sports activities and clubs
• increase pupils’ participation in the School Games
• encourage pupils to take on leadership or volunteer roles that support sport and physical activity within the school
• raise attainment in primary school swimming to meet requirements of the national curriculum before the end of key stage 2
• embed physical activity into the school day through active travel to and from school, active playgrounds and active teaching

Active miles

Where schools choose to take part in an active mile, we should use our existing playgrounds, fields, halls and sports facilities to incorporate an active mile into the school day and develop a lifelong habit of daily physical activity.

Raising attainment in primary school swimming

The premium can be used to fund the professional development and training that are available to schools to train staff to support high quality swimming and water safety lessons for their pupils.

The premium may also be used to provide additional top-up swimming lessons to pupils who have not been able to meet the national curriculum requirements for swimming and water safety after the delivery of core swimming and water safety lessons. At the end of key stage 2 all pupils are expected to be able to swim confidently and know how to be safe in and around water.

Schools are required to publish information on the percentage of their pupils in year 6 who met each of the 3 swimming and water safety national curriculum requirements.