Local MP Praises Primary School PE Specialists At Graduation

Sports fan and MP Justin Tomlinson was on hand to hand out the certificates to Level 5 Primary School PE Specialists at the graduation ceremony at Haydonleigh Primary School which was held last Friday.

Justin has campaigned for a number of years in Parliament to increase the amount of school sport so he was delighted to join PE teachers from across Swindon to celebrate the new intake of qualified teachers.

Nationally, through the Primary PE and Sport Premium, the Government has provided over £450 million of ring-fenced funding to primary schools to improve the quality of their PE and sport provision. The Government has committed to continue this funding until 2020. Schools may choose to recruit more sports specialists to work with teachers and improve the quality PE lessons; run extracurricular sports clubs; or run sports competitions and events.

Furthermore, much to the delight of local PE teachers, the Government is now doubling the primary school PE and sport premium from £160 million per year to £320 million per year from September 2017, thanks to funds raised from the sugar levy.

Recent findings have shown that the funding is making a real impact, helping more children get active, healthy and learning the confidence and skills that will help them to succeed in life. 91% of schools have reported an increase in the quality of PE lessons and 96% reported improvements in pupils' physical fitness.  The Premier League has also agreed to expand their schools sports programme from over 4,000 schools to every single primary school in the country.

In addition, Sport England invests money in facilities, schemes and training programmes that make it easier for more people to play sport and develop their talent. Between 2012 and 2017, Sport England will have received £1 billion from the Government and National Lottery funding to invest in projects that will help provide more sporting opportunities for young people.

At the graduation ceremony, Justin was given a chance to update the teachers on this progress as well as take questions from the teachers regarding national policy as well as local provision.

Justin Tomlinson MP said: “I am genuinely passionate about school sports. I think the power of sport does wonders for young people including building team skills and encouraging a competitive spirit, as well as promoting healthy lifestyles. I am really proud of our local PE teachers who are enthusiastic in providing sporting opportunities during the school day as well as activities after-school. I will continue to promote the work that they do and ensure that school sports funding is protected.”