Newsletters

In The Loop Primary Edition

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ISSUE 55

Future funding for PE and School Sport - Statement regarding media speculation 

You may be aware of speculation in the media regarding the future funding of PE and School Sport.

Alongside AfPE, we received communications from the Department for Education, who have stressed the department has made no final decisions on funding going forward and will not engage in speculative conversation. We have chosen not to publicise this message on social media as we do not wish to fuel further unhelpful conjecture at this time.

Should we receive any further information we will of course update our networks and sector partners.

For now please rest assured our position is clear: we must see adequate strategic investment in order to achieve the greatest impact and deliver an increase in physical activity levels, which is fundamental to protecting and improving children’s happiness and health.

Sport England Capital Funding 

In conjunction with Active Devon, Plymouth City Council are beginning to pull together a high-level list of potential capital projects in the city, which can be reviewed and considered with Active Devon and Sport England to be supported by Sport England capital as part of the wider Place Partnership.

If your school could benefit from small amounts of capital funding, that could either be used to widen community participation and audiences / or potential small scale projects, such as playground markings in primary schools that encourage active breaktimes, please let me know a brief outline of the project and I will put them forward for consideration – a.clooke@sjhcsc.co.uk

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https://www.plymouthssp.co.uk/event-bookings?eventid=266

PE Scholar - Assessing What Matters Most in PE 

 

Over 100 of you from around the world registered for our Termly Twilight last Tuesday to discuss ‘Assessing What Matters Most in PE.” It was great to spend an hour discussing ideas with those who attended and providing invaluable networking opportunities in breakout rooms. Here is a short summary:

  • We outlined how a modern strategy for physical education assessment must move beyond simple skill tracking toward a holistic approach 
  • We reinforced the importance of feed-forward and prioritising diagnostic and formative assessment that stimulate motivation and progress rather than summative assessment of learning
  • We encouraged evaluation of students across physical, cognitive, social and affective/emotional domains while prioritising meaningful dialogue over rigid data collection
  • By using structured rubrics, self and peer-assessment frameworks, the conversation should shift grading into a roadmap for personal growth
  • We helped to identify and remove administrative barriers to effective teaching and learning
  • We previewed an upcoming premium toolkit designed to help schools implement these physical literacy principles through refined planning templates and assessment tools.

Whilst we don’t promise to share a recording every time - as we want PEople to be in the room to connect with each other live - on this occasion we did! So, if you'd like to hear more you can watch the recording back here.

Let’s make 2026 the year every child is active 

Why we must ensure children can enjoy 60 minutes of PE, sport and play a day

Our chief executive Simon Hayes has penned a joint blog with his Youth Sport Trust counterpart Ali Oliver on the importance of children and young people living active lives.

"School and community sport aren’t 'nice to have'; they’re essential for healthy development," they wrote. 

"Research consistently shows us that active children are happier, more resilient and perform better at school."

READ MORE

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