Cash for school sports

Cash for school sports

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There has been a river of government and lottery cash for school sport, and much of it has yet to work its way through the system. Nicola Hill surveys the main schemes

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So far we have seen two phases in the government’s strategy to improve school sport. First there has been a big wave of finance for capital infrastructure; and the second wave is aiming to promote greater participation. Government’s main targets to hit by 2005 are:

2,400 school sports coordinators and 13,500 primary link teachers
240 specialist sports colleges
three-quarters of all 5-16 year olds having access to at least two hours of high-quality PE and school sport a week
an expanded range of sports, with most schools offering 12 or more sports
a programme of PE Inset training for teachers
modernisation of nearly 500 primary school playgrounds.

The big schemes

PE and Sport in Schools
This £750m flagship lottery initiative, launched by the prime minister in November 2001, was the centrepiece of the New Opportunities Fund’s third funding round. The funds are mainly for capital works to refurbish or build new school sports facilities. Some revenue cash has been available for promoting wider community use of facilities. Some outdoor adventure facilities are funded, and in England NOF has used £25m of the allocated funds to top up the existing primary schools lottery scheme Spaces for Sport and the Arts (see below); and £30m for the Football Foundation’s fund for the grass roots game (see Lottery Monitor March 2003).

The remaining £500m in England has been divided up into indicative allocations (deprivation-weighted) among all local education authorities. Stage 1 portfolio bids were submitted by mid 2002. So far NOF has made 150 development awards to help LEAs meet the costs of producing their full project plans for stage 2 submission, closing date March 2004. However, the first of a wave of ‘fast-track’ schemes has just completed. Scotland’s £87m scheme was launched

in March 2002, including £35m going on out-of-school-hours activities and the rest on facilities. This typically means reception areas, changing accommodation, lockers and showers and selected equipment. Local authority indicative allocations were deprivation-weighted. Some awards for the activities strand have been made, and the rest are due shortly. The first stage of facilities applications has closed; authorities will now be working on their detailed stage 2 submissions according to a timetable they have each agreed with NOF Scotland.

The delivery of Wales’s £48.75m is being overseen by the Welsh Assembly’s PE and School Sport Task Force and channelled through the local authorities. Stage 2 applications must be in by March 2004.

In Northern Ireland the priority for the £33.75m budget is personal and social development of young people, and is likely to focus on cross-community and cross-border exchange group activities. The programme will revamp existing facilities, build new outdoor sports facilities for pupils and encourage young people to stay involved in physical education. All Education and Library Boards will get a share of the money and will coordinate plans with key partners and schools.

Playing Fields and Community Green Spaces
This England-only £31.5m scheme was part of NOF’s Round 2 environment programme, delegated to Sport England to help identify the most suitable projects (half the cash was targeted on disadvantaged areas). Cash was allocated mainly via local authorities, for three kinds of schemes: playing field improvements, school playground improvements and community play projects.

School Sport Coordinators
The DfES and DCMS jointly launched the School Sport Coordinator (SSCo) Programme in September 2000, with the aim of creating families of schools that work closely with each other to encourage inter-school competitions and after-school activities. In England the main

delivery agencies are Sport England, NOF and the Youth Sport Trust. More than £100m has been invested since the launch and the target is to have 400 partnerships with 2,400 school sport coordinators plus another 13,500 primary or special-school link teachers by 2006. One in three secondary schools should eventually be in a SSCo partnership. On top of the initial lottery funding, the DfES is putting up £175m between 2004 and 2006 to continue the work and provide training. There will be three more phases of funding. Local authorities and secondary schools may apply.

In Scotland SportScotland has awarded nearly £4m to fund SSCo posts in more than 300 schools.

Dragon Sport
This is a major lottery-funded sports development initiative launched last September by the Sports Council for Wales to boost the involvement of 7-11 year olds in a range of organised sports. The aim is for half of Wales’s 1,700 primary schools to have a Dragon Sport scheme operating by 2005.

SCW has appointed a coordinator in each of Wales’s 22 authorities to provide local liaison, training and support. They will help establish school Dragon Sport clubs and recruit and train parents as volunteer coaches and organisers. Details of coordinators and the pro-gramme from www.dragon-sport.co. uk/dsp_frame.cfm?sect=snr

Sports Colleges
There are 201 secondary schools in England which have the DfES’s designation of Sports College in recognition of their commitment to offering excellence in physical education. Last November the scheme was extended and is now open to all state schools that can meet the requirements. The next deadline for applications is 3 October 2003. Eligibility criteria include local access to a wide range of facilities and a high standard of PE teaching. Applicant schools need to have private-sector sponsorship in place, normally £50K but less for small schools.

Sports College status attracts an extra £123 per pupil a year for four years in DfES funding to spend on extra PE and sport provision, plus a one-off capital grant of £100K.

The Youth Sport Trust can offer help and advice to Sports College applicants. Website: http://www.youthsport.net/yst/. Further information and copies of the Specialist Schools Guidance and application form can be found on the Specialist Schools website: www.standards. dfes.gov.uk/specialistschools

Space for Sport and Arts
This £130m lottery scheme is run by Sport England in partnership with NOF and the Arts Council of England in an attempt to provide capital funding for multi-purpose facilities in primary schools. 65 English LEAs were awarded indicative allocations of up to £500K in 2001 and the first projects have recently completed.

Sporting Playgrounds
This England-only initiative from the DfES is allocating £10m to 27 local authorities with high levels of deprivation to upgrade playground surfaces, markings, seating and games equipment. About 500 schools should share in the cash which will be allocated during the current financial year.

Football Foundation
Focuses on improving football facilities in run-down areas. Schools and LEAs may apply for up to £1m, mainly capital. See Lottery Monitor March 2003 for details.

Step into Sport
In June 2002 a £7m joint initiative was launched to recruit a new generation of community sports coaches, administrators and officials. Run by the British Sports Trust, the Youth Sport Trust and Sport England, the aim is to train up more than 90,000 young volunteers aged 14 to 19 plus another 8,000 adults as coach-mentors by mid 2004. The pro-gramme is gradually being extended to all English local education authorities, and anyone interested in finding out more about the free training on offer should consult the BST website or contact their county sports partnership.

TOP Sport
Sport England and SportScotland both run lottery funded schemes, jointly with the Youth Sport Trust, to complement and support national curriculum teaching for 7-11 year olds, providing resource cards, equipment and teacher training support. The England programme is frozen, but SportScotland’s scheme will spend £2.8m up to February 2006 and in the most recent quarter, 100% of applications were approved. Local authorities and independent primaries are eligible to apply.

Girls First
The Sports Council of Wales provides up to £1,000 to secondary schools to run innovative programmes to increase girls’ participation in sport. Originally lottery funded, the cash is coming from the Welsh Assembly government and the scheme is expanding to enable both schools and leisure centres to apply. There is no closing date.

Capital funds Northern Ireland
The Sports Council of Northern Ireland runs Sport Share, a lottery-funded major projects capital programme to establish sports facilities for post-primary and community use. The scheme is open until November 2003 and schools may apply directly. The lottery fund also runs Play Sport for multi-use games areas at primary school sites and a Play Sport coordinator to facilitate school and wider community use. These programmes are allocated.

Sportsmatch
Sponsorship scheme which schools are eligible to apply to. If you raise local private-sector sponsorship for your school team, the government will double whatever you’ve raised, from £500 to £50K. Schools are a priority category, along with women and girls, ethnic minorities, disability groups, areas of recreational deprivation and youth. See last month’s Lottery Monitor (March 2003) for more information, or contact the relevant England, Scotland or Wales sports council (N Ireland does not run this scheme).

Better Play
Schools are eligible to apply for this lottery scheme run by Barnardo’s and the Children’s Play Council on behalf of NOF. The programme has recently been extended and given another £2.8m to hand out to promote inclusive play for 5-16-year-olds. The emphasis of this final round is on inclusiveness and disability. Projects can be anything from equipment purchase to transport access, staffing and promotion. Apply by 31 July 2003. Contact the Better Play Team on 020 8498 7589, or see www.barnardos.org.uk/ betterplay

Awards for All
Don’t forget this all-purpose lottery pot for grants up to £5,000. Country schemes do vary, so check your school’s eligibility.
Sport England programmes

Sport England’s lottery programmes are suspended for new applicants, until September at the earliest. Lottery Monitor will keep you up to date with developments.

CONTACTS
New Opportunities Fund
England inquiries: 0845 0000 121
Email: general.enquiries@nof.org.uk

NOF Scotland inquiries: 0845 0000123 or 0141 242 7816
Email: scotland.pesport@nof.org.uk

Sports Council for Wales: 029 2030 0527
SportScotland: 0131 339 9000
Sport England Lottery Line: 08457 649 649.
Sports Council for N Ireland: 028 9038 1222
Awards for All: 0845 600 2040 (local rate), or www.awardsforall.org.uk
The Football Foundation Help Desk: 0800 027 7766 enquiries@footballfoundation.org.uk
Sportsmatch England: 020 7233 7747 info@sportsmatch.co.uk
Sportsmatch Cymru: 029 2030 0596

Useful websites
www.baalpe.org – British Association of Advisors and Lecturers in Physical Education
www.bst.org.uk – British Sport Trust
www.dfes.gov.uk – Dept for Education and Skills
www.sportengland.org – Sport England
www.efds.co.uk – English Fed of Disability Sport
www.sportscoachuk.org – Sports Coach UK
www.schoolsport.freeserve.co.uk – National Council for School Sport
www.npfa.co.uk – National Playing Fields Assn
www.pea.uk.com – Physical Education Association of the United Kingdom
www.sportscotland.org.uk – Scottish Sports Cl
www.sportni.org – Sports Council for N Ireland
www.sports-council-wales.co.uk – Sports Council for Wales
www.uksport.gov.uk – UK Sport
www.wsf.org.uk – Womens Sports Foundation
www.youthsport.net – Youth Sport Trust
www.dragon-sport.co.uk – Sports Council for Wales’s Dragon Sport site
www.sportsmatch.co.uk – Sportsmatch England
www.footballfoundation.org.uk – Football Foundation
www.nof.org.uk – New Opportunities Fund