School obesity concerns over new PE funding plan

Plans to end a scheme providing sports funding for primary schools could result in an increase in obesity and mental health issues, teachers have said.

The Department for Education (DfE) is cutting the 2012 Olympic legacy sports grant which is paid directly to primary schools each year.

It plans to replace it with a Sports Partnership Network which the government said aims to put an “end to the one-size fits all model that has failed too many children for too long”.

Christopher Tribble, headteacher at Honiton Primary and president of Devon National Association of Headteachers Union (NASUWT) said it was “the wrong move at a time when there is an obesity and mental health crisis”.

The £320m PE Premium was introduced in 2013 to build on the legacy of the 2012 London Olympic Games in a bid to inspire a new generation to get active from an early age.

It will be replaced with a new Sports Partnerships Network worth £193m a year which will cover both both primary and secondary schools.

Tribble said it would mean a 40% reduction in funding.

“We’ve got less money being spread around more schools – I can’t see how provision will increase and therefore the net result is likely to be worsening outcomes for mental health.

“Obesity needs to be tackled in the primary school to set pupils on the right road around health so we are not passing a very expensive problem onto the NHS in future years.”