Sports Funding Statement - Stiperstones

Sports Funding Statement July 2024

The Government allocates additional funding to schools to develop the quality and increase the amount of sports provision for all children from Reception to Year Six.  Funding can only be used to help children to develop a healthy lifestyle and develop sustainable methods of improved provision which will offer children more than the basic requirements of the national curriculum.  It is designed to improve the quality of teaching and widen the range of opportunities available to all children.  We are obliged to publish the details of exactly how this funding has been spent each year and the impact that it has had upon children’s participation in sports and adventurous outdoor activities.                                                                                             

At Stiperstones, we embrace a wide range of sports and encourage all children to try new ones whenever possible.  We encourage participation in team events and individual challenges which promote health and high self-esteem.  We also encourage children to be able to assess risks for themselves, in order that they can take part in adventurous activities in a safe manner with good supervision.  To see exactly how we provide these opportunities, just take a look through the gallery pictures on our website, or look at the pictures and reports on our Facebook page (invited guests only - please speak to Mrs Jess Roberts or Mrs Jen Savage in the office if you have not received your invitation).

We use the funding to promote sustainability of sports provision by training Stiperstones staff members in new sports and activities as children play and learn.  One of the major obstacles to providing children with high quality sporting experiences in such a rural location is transportation.  For this reason, using the funding to provide transport is an essential part of our strategy.  We use funding for additional transport to enable us to use local facilities such as local village halls, Community College Bishop’s Castle and to enable us to take part in outdoor projects such as The John Muir Award, using local outdoor spaces.  You will see from our website, that we frequently travel further afield to places such as Bala, New Quay, Barmouth, Llangollen and many other places so that we can provide a wide range of outdoor and adventurous sports and activities.  These activities not only promote a healthy and active lifestyle, but also widen children’s experience of the world and develop confidence. To reduce costs and improve access and flexibility to all classes, as a Federation, we have leased two minibuses using sports funding from our three schools.  Where buses have been used for activities other than sports and health promotion, School/Chirbury School Friends has paid money back into the Sport Funding budget on a per mile basis.  This will then be used to support further sporting opportunities.

In the year 2023/24 we received £16235.  This was spent on the following:

We are very fortunate that many of our own staff, and trained volunteers provide weekly sports clubs and activities at no charge to the school.  This means that we need to spend less on staffing than many schools.  The generosity of our staff and volunteers, mean that our work to improve sports, health and fitness is highly sustainable.

Please Note:  As Stiperstones shares a site with Norbury Primary School, and there is a prescribed alteration in place for education and activities to be combined, some activities show a zero or low spend.  This does not mean that the activities haven’t taken place, it is simply that we share the costs with Norbury.

Children’s Achievement and Attainment in Swimming 2023/24

Through our policy of promoting swimming from the Reception Year through to Year 6, and the additional funding put to teaching and learning additional to the minimum requirements of the National Curriculum, we  expect all children who started their school careers with us to achieve significantly beyond the minimum expectations. 

Swim 25 metres, unaided by end of Year 6                                                   86%

Swim using a range of styles by end of Year 6                                              86%

Successfully use personal survival techniques by end of Year 6                  86%

Impact of Our Sports Strategy

We have continued to ensure that all children have varied opportunities to develop a love of sport and adventure. In addition to a wide variety of teams sports, we also  encourage individual sports and adventure challenges to provide something to engage everyone.  We continued to run our summer fitness challenge, which had a very good take up.  Our mountain biking and cycling programme was extended this year to include every child from Reception to Year 6.  Years 1-6 benefitted from a half term of cycling training and mountain biking at our Stiperstones site run by qualified coaches employed directly by our Federation.  Children report enjoying this aspect of sports very much and our coaches have noted good development in stamina and ability as the year has progressed.

Shropshire Hills Federation is fully committed to the promotion and development of healthy lifestyles for children and adults.