PE and Sport Premium

Birchwood’s most recent OFSTED report (Dec ’22) reported “Leaders’ ethos that all pupils are ‘passionate about learning’ extends beyond the classroom. Pupils take up the many opportunities that they are given to develop their interests. Many pupils are involved in sport. They love street dance club or attending masterclasses in tennis, dance or rugby. Pupils are excited by the forest school curriculum. They value the chance to build teamwork and be adventurous”.

Here is a flavour of Birchwood’s use of the sports funding to develop the 5 key indicators of effective practice (please open the statutory reporting document below for a more forensic analysis):

Key indicator 1:  Keeping All Children Active Every Day
We make sure every child stays active and healthy. National guidelines recommend that primary school children do at least 30 minutes of physical activity each day in school.

At our school, all pupils enjoy at least 120 minutes of PE, sport, and active learning each week. Teachers make sure activities are inclusive and adapted so that every child can take part, no matter their ability or needs.

Our teachers know each child well and set clear goals to support their learning, development, health, and wellbeing. We personalise our curriculum so every child has the chance to succeed and enjoy being active.

We use a large part of our PE and Sport Premium funding to run special “masterclass” sessions at three levels:

• For talented pupils

• For those working at expected levels

• For pupils who need a little extra help to keep up

An external review (AfPE, July 2022) praised our approach, noting that our planning, record-keeping, and organisation are of the highest quality and shared as best practice beyond our school.

Key indicator 2: The profile of PESSPA being raised across the school as a tool for whole school improvement.

Children are great at helping each other understand how to improve and often use technology to track their progress. They show real motivation to practise and do their best, even asking for extra sessions before competitions. One Year 3 pupil said, “I enjoyed Sports Day and pushing myself.”

Physical learning is at the heart of our school curriculum and helps to strengthen learning across all subjects. We support every pupil and staff member to be the best they can be — something we’re proud to celebrate every day.

(AfPE findings, July 2022)

Key indicator 3: Increased confidence, knowledge and skills of all staff in teaching PE and sport

Our termly training programme, led by the PE Subject Lead and professional coaches, helps teachers and support staff build strong knowledge of skills, techniques, and PE vocabulary. This training gives teachers the confidence to plan and deliver high-quality lessons and to share ideas across year groups.

We value our teachers as “curriculum makers” and support them through ongoing professional development. This includes team teaching, informal planning sessions, specialist CPD, including Playleader training.

Thanks to this focus on staff development, the quality of PE at Birchwood has grown from good to consistently excellent, with confident teachers and engaging, well-planned lessons throughout the school.

Key indicator 4: Broader experience of a range of sports and activities offered to all pupils

• “The range, quality and relevance of PESSPA to ensure full access for all pupils are excellent” AfPE findings, July ’22.
• Pupils have built up a positive sense of self as determined, resilient learners, overcoming and mastering challenges presented to them (whether it is in games/athletics work where the children are encouraged to travel faster, throw further, jump longer or in the forest where they have to problem solve, take risks and stay safe). Pupils identify “I found balancing in Gymnastics challenging”, “understanding tactics is challenging, when to run and how far”. The inclusion of bespoke GDS goals in our uniquely designed assessment tool (alongside EXS descriptors) provides levels of challenge for all children to aspire to achieve. For example, Y6 Athletics EXS ‘I can long jump with a short run up’, with the aspiration of Y6 GDS ‘I can perform five bounding strides, striking the ground lightly with the foot. I can perform a standing triple jump, making the three phases of the jump equal’.

• The pupils talk ‘passionately’ about PE and are proud to represent their school. 100% of pupils responded ‘yes’ they enjoy PESSPA – Responses included… ‘I love the fact I am active everyday’, ‘it keeps me healthy and fit’, ‘I love the variety of sports’, ‘I enjoy the inter house tournaments’, ‘I like the masterclasses and after school clubs’, ‘lessons are fun’, ‘I like watching sport on tv and then trying to be like them’, ‘I really enjoy the OAA sessions as they are competitive and the teacher makes it harder and harder’, ‘teachers are energetic and fun’!
• Parent perception from the Parent Council (representing all cohorts views half termly) is that Birchwood’s sporting excellence is tangible and inspiring for all. They congratulate the school on the numbers of PESSPA extra curricular opportunities available and welcome the way the school involves them in their child’s PESSPA pathway, e.g. half termly curricular outlines, celebrating successes in achievement assemblies, invites to competitive opportunities at all levels (Primary Panathlon, cross country, Sports Day, masterclass tennis tournament, regional finals, Dance festival etc), bespoke PE parents evening for masterclass performers. Through this level of endorsement, our pupils are supported to extend their PESSPA pathway beyond the school day.

Key indicator 5: Increased participation in competitive sport

• Intra School Competitions introduce the children to ‘competing’ against those they know.
• Inter School Competitions see pupils compete against other schools, at local, regional and national level.
• Teams represent the majority of the ‘clubs’ offered by the school. Additional entries are made into ‘friendly’ tournaments.
• Pupils competed at the Westbourne Pyramid Bowling Event and finished 1st place in Autumn Term 2025
• Year 6 girls competed in a 7 aside football event in the Autumn Term and finished 6th
• Year 6 boys competed in a 7 aside football event in the Autumn Term as part of a development competition
• KS2 children competed in an include Clip and Climb event to give children wider opportunities in sports that they do not come across in the school curriculum
• Through our athletics curricular work and extra curricular running club opportunities, March ‘22 inter school cross country (30+ schools) results saw all 6 x Birchwood teams finish in top 20, 5 x finish in top 10 and the boys Y6 team and the girls Y6 team both won the event. Birchwood’s KS2 Panathlon team achieved 3rd place in the annual Suffolk event Nov ’22. Birchwood’s Y5 boys cross country team finished 3rd, Y6 boys finished 2nd and Y6 girls won the pyramid annual event Dec ’22.

“PESSPA is definitely and explicitly at the heart of school life and there is a solid and continuous commitment to keep developing, improving and sharing” AfPE findings, July ’22.

• National Case Study About Birchwood’s PE Masterclasses

Please read the information below which gives greater detail of how our PE and Sport Premium Funding has been spent and how we allocate the Grant in line with the school’s priorities.

• UK Government website
  PE and sport premium for primary schools.

More information about Birchwood’s PE and Physical Activity work can be found by following these links…

• Physical Education
• School of Sporting Success