Blaby and Harborough

Background - Government Strategy

In 2003, the PESSCL Strategy (PE, School Sport and Club Links Strategy) was launched by the government, which was updated to become the PESSYP Strategy in 2007 (PE & Sport Strategy for Young People). The Youth Sport Trust plays a central role in supporting the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in the delivery of the PE & Sport Strategy for Young People. The overall aim of the PE & Sport Strategy is to enhance the take-up of sporting opportunities by 5 to 19 year olds.

The aim was for 85% of children to have access to two hours per week of high quality PE and school sport by 2008.  Remarkably, this target was achieved a year early, as the 2007 School Sport Survey found that 86% of young people were taking part in a minimum of two hours per week.

Now the ambition is for each child to have access to five hours a week by 2012. This should be made up of two hours of physical education within the curriculum and three hours offered on school sites or in the community.  The current targets for young people’s participation in sport are as follows:

Delivering the 5 hour offer & Olympic Legacy

1. Ensuring the offer is accessible to ALL – SSP target:

• 2010/11 – 80% of 5 – 16s taking part in 3 hours PE & sport organised by schools
  

2. Ambitious expectations for take up of the offer amongst 5 – 19 year olds:

• 2010/11 - 40% taking part in 5 hours PE & School Sport per week
  

• 2012/13 – 60% taking part in 5 hours PE & School Sport per week

3. Ensuring there is a universal ‘5 hour offer’ in place across the country

A national infrastructure has been established for PE & school sport to enable this objective to be achieved.  This infrastructure consists of:

400 Specialist Sports Colleges.

400 School Sports Partnerships made up of:

• 400 Partnership Development Managers, 3200 School Sports Co-ordinators in secondary schools and 18,000 Primary or Specialist Link Teachers

School Sports Partnerships

School Sports Partnerships are families of schools that come together to enhance sports opportunities for all children, enabling them to experience different sports, access high quality coaching and engage in competition.  The partnerships are made up of a hub school (usually a Specialist Sports College) and a number of partner secondary schools and their feeder primary schools.

Within each partnership, there is a Partnership Development Manager who works full time, a School Sports Co-ordinator in each secondary school working for 2 days per week, and a Primary Link Teacher in each primary school with 12 release days per year.

Role of the SSCo / PLT

School Sports Co-ordinator Role

• Co-ordination of school sport within a family of schools
• Ensure effective implementation of the family development plan
• Ensure that the family development plan complements and enhances school PE programmes and school development plans.
• Ensure that ALL young people are included in the family’s PE and sport programme.

Specific functions:

• To co-ordinate the planning of school sport across the family of schools, actively involving local sports organisations.
• To monitor and evaluate the family’s progress in relation to the development plan and contribute to the partnership monitoring and evaluation process.
• To support Primary Link Teachers in developing school sport in their school.
• To develop and implement out of hours learning programmes across the family of schools.
• To increase and improve the range of inter and intra school sporting competition.
• To engage and involve more young people in community sport.
• To identify, deploy and develop appropriate adults other than teachers and young people as leaders, coaches and officials.
• To promote the benefits and successes of the family’s work and ensure it has a high profile.

Primary Link Teacher Role

• Manage the development and delivery of a physical education programme and out of school hours sport programme within their school, complementing overall school development.
  
• Share good practice in physical education and sport in their own school and with other local schools.
  
• Develop and increase sporting links with other local schools.
  
• Ensure that ALL young people are included in the school’s physical education and sport programme.

Specific Functions:

• To support their colleagues to deliver high quality PE and school sport.
  
• To work with the SSCo in developing school sport in their school.
  
• To develop and implement an out of school hours programme for PE and sport.
  
• To make effective use of community providers to support their PE and school sport programme.
  
• To make effective use of appropriate AOTTs and young people as leaders, coaches and officials to support their PE and school sport programme.
  
• To contribute to the on-going monitoring and evaluation of the programme.