Purpose
This strategic toolkit, which you can download on the left, sets out our vision for Physical Education, School Sport and Physical Activity within Sheffield. It has been developed by a strategic alliance of groups and organisations who are passionate about the value and importance of Physical Education, School Sport and Physical Activity.
We believe that:
- high quality PE, School Sport and Physical Activity are essential in preparing children and young people to live healthy lives.
- consistent access to educational establishments who are characterised by the embedded and exemplary characteristics in this toolkit will make a significant contribution to the long term health outcomes of our children and young people.
- supporting pupils to be more active in PE, Schools Sport and Physical Activity will improve our children’s mental health, physical health and improve their academic attainment and achievement.
This toolkit has been designed to be used by Sheffield schools and builds on the PE Pledge which was developed and introduced in 2016. The pledge statements have been revised and now include more detailed descriptors, which provide an audit for schools to use in order to evaluate their provision and plan strategically for improvement. The toolkit also provides guidance on each aspect so that our collective understanding of the evidence base for best practice is enhanced.
The strategic alliance will continue to develop the PESSPA Toolkit using a research programme and feedback from schools. This will enable the content to support and challenge schools to improve the impact of their provision on the life chances of Sheffield’s children and young people.
Context
The introduction to the PESSPA Toolkit includes some information about the context to this work.
By looking at the contextual information below it seeks to establish why high quality Physical Education, School Sport and Physical Activity are so important to the development of our children and young people.
Vision
Sheffield has long valued and believed that high quality PE, School Sport and Physical Activity play an important role in preventing ill health, improving the quality of life and improving educational outcomes for children and young people within the city. This toolkit seeks to continue to raise the profile of PE, School Sport and Physical Activity in the city and to support and challenge schools and other partners to maximise the benefits which high quality provision can deliver.
In doing this we are focussed on encouraging regular sustainable participation to improve health and wellbeing; to play an important preventative role by improving the health of individuals to reduce the need for reactive and acute health services. Beyond health improvement, Sheffield strives to be a city that engages children and young people to be more active and successful citizens through participation in sport and physical activity, generating benefits through increased social cohesion, happiness of individuals and improved economic benefits.
This strategy seeks to engage every young person in Sheffield in physical activity inside and outside of school, empowering them and their families to make educated decisions about a lifelong, healthy and active lifestyle and providing them with the opportunities to take part in high quality PE, school sport and physical activity that raises their aspirations.
It will support and enable children and young people to develop the ‘five ways to welling’ behaviours that will support their educational ad employment outcomes, a successful transition to adulthood, and lifelong learning.
Key Outcomes & Strategic Priorities
Every Sheffield pupil will benefit from:
- high quality Physical Education which develops physical literacy.
- improved opportunities and pathways to participate in school sport.
- increasing levels of physical activity throughout the school day.
- improved physical, social and emotional wellbeing.
- attending a school with a culture that recognises the value of PESSPA.
- being part of a city which gathers and shares data to evaluate impact which supports improvement planning.