At the Youth Sport Trust 2018 Conference at the end of last month, it was announced that the PE and Sport Premium funding will remain at £320 million, double that of 2016/17.
The announcement from Minister Nadhim Zahawi was fantastic news to hear for everyone involved in Physical Education in the UK and was the highlight of this year’s conference. During the two day event at Coventry’s Ricoh arena there were talks from professors, athletes, teachers and more giving a range of insights about the benefits of an increase in physical activity.
The keynote speech from John Ratey MD, an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, discussed the link between mental and physical wellbeing.
‘Exercise gets our brains moving and helps us to optimise learning.’
‘We can use exercise, or we can use medicine. I’d always recommend people use exercise to change their mood and help with difficulties.’
Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School & College Leaders (ASCL) spoke about maintaining the profile of PE alongside school accountability
‘Our children are under extraordinary pressure. High quality PE and sport can tackle that.’
UK Sport Chair Dame Katherine Grainger closed the conference talking about the links between education in schools, grassroots, and elite sport as well as the challenges ahead for facing elite sport, and how they will be addressed.
The conference lead with the brilliant theme ‘Sport Changes Lives for Good’, which made the clear intention that the charitable trust was committed to driving an increase in sports participation in schools. Other topics included ’30 Active Minutes per day’ interventions to tackle childhood obesity, as well as professional staff development for primary school teachers.
Little Sports Coaching wants to see #morechildren, playing #moresport and being #moreactive. They provide a number of solutions to help make this happen:
Breakfast Clubs – Teaching Staff PE & Sport CPD – Character and Education Mentoring – LTO Training – Sports team training – PPA Cover for Teaching Staff – PE and Sports Teaching Assistants – Lunch time support – After-school sports clubs – Special events, eg sports days, family fun days.
Contact info@littlesportscoaching.co.uk for more information. For more details of the YST conference, and to find guidance on spending the premium, follow these links.
https://www.youthsporttrust.org/yst-2018-conference
https://www.youthsporttrust.org/news/how-spend-it-guide-primary-pe-sport-premium
