Elizabeth Woodville Primary School in Leicestershire have used their PE and Sport Premium to fund external coaches to drive sustainable improvements in PE and sport in their school. Their aim was to use coaches to upskill teachers and develop a whole school approach to physical activity.
What should you look for in sports coaches?
The school started by undertaking a careful commissioning process to identify a suitable coaching company. It can be daunting to recruit the right coach - the Coaching in Primary Schools Toolkit has been developed by a range of experts in PE and sport to provide useful advice on how to recruit and deploy external coaches in primary schools effectively: http://www.ukcoaching.org/site-tools/about-uk-coaching/coaching-schools-portal
Top tips for recruiting the right sports coach:
- Make the job description and person specification specific to the type of coach you want to recruit.
- Use an application form as you may not collect all the information you need with a CV.
- The type of coach you want should influence where and how you advertise.
- It is essential to see a coach in action as part of the interview.
- When interviewing, have at least one panel member skilled in coach observation. Your local County Sports Partnership may be able to help with this.
- Give the practical session at interview a higher weighting in scoring than the question-and-answer session.
- Some pre-employment checks are a requirement by law – make sure you know the facts.
- If you employ a coach for more than one month, you have a legal obligation to provide them with a written statement of their employment details through a contract of employment within two months of them starting the post.
- Build into your contract other elements you might need, such as attendance at training and data collection.
- Ensure you check the coach’s qualifications and take a copy of relevant certificates.
- It is best practice to build in a probation period for your coach
The positive role sports coaches can play
The teachers at Elizabeth Woodville worked alongside the qualified coaches to develop highly planned provision, which provided opportunities for all children in the school to take part in sport and physical activity. Team teaching was key to upskilling teachers and making changes that will benefit pupils in future years. This approach has had a significant impact on teaching in the school:
“Our improvement to 70% outstanding teaching is down to the spread of team teaching from PE across the school. It is the most effective and non-threatening way to improve the quality of teaching and use of TAs.” (Tom Coleman – Deputy Head Teacher)
The school reviewed progress throughout the year and identified impact of their use of the premium funding. They found positive impacts in a range of different areas, for example:
- Increased participation in lessons, extracurricular clubs and competitions.
- Increased pupil leadership
- Increased resilience in children
- Increased standards in other subjects, for example the school is in the top 10 for maths nationally.