OneRen - Active Schools Funding 2023-2027
Renfrewshire Council · 14 September 2022
Back to Leadership Board — 14 September 2022 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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1. ___________________________________________________________________ To: Leadership Board On: 14th September 2022 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Chief Executive ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: OneRen - Active Schools Funding 2023-2027 ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 The Active Schools service for Renfrewshire is delivered through a partnership agreement between sportscotland, Renfrewshire Council and OneRen. The programme is a core part of Renfrewshire’s approach to enable children and young people to participate in sport and physical activity, as well as to grow the evidence base about the beneficial impacts on educational attainment. 1.2 The current partnership agreement with sportscotland for the Active Schools programme ends on the 31 March 2023. sportscotland have indicated their intention to support the Active Schools service and to enter into a new four-year partnership agreement with Renfrewshire Council for the period 1st April 2023 to 31st March 2027. 1.3 This report provides an overview of the service and the proposed future programme of work. ___________________________________________________________________ 2. Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that the Board: i. Note the Active School service performance for 2021/22.
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2. ii. Note the preliminary discussions with sportscotland to develop a new partnership agreement for the Active School service for the next four years (1 April 2023 to 31 March 2027). iii. Commit to the acceptance of the indicative offer of £1,616,928 for the continuation of the employment of the 13.2 FTE Active Schools team and Community Sports Hub role. iv. Note that sportscotland’s in principle funding commitment is subject to continued partnership funding from Renfrewshire Council. v. Agree the partnership funding required from Renfrewshire Council of around £1,409,769 dependent on pay awards, over the four- year period (1st April 2023 to 31 March 2027), on the proviso that the dynamic financial environment within which the Council is operating may require services to be adapted in this period. ___________________________________________________________________ 3. Background 3.1 The Renfrewshire Active Schools programme managed by OneRen is part funded by sportscotland and by Renfrewshire Council, with the commitment set out for all parties in a Partnership Agreement. In addition to the funding provision for staffing costs, sportscotland also provides an operational budget of £16,500 allocated across all schools to fund coaches and sports equipment. 3.2 The Active Schools programme is a very successful programme, exceeding all targets for increasing the number and range of opportunities for children and young people to participate in sport and physical activity. OneRen’s Active Schools team have also been recognised as sector-leading during the Covid lockdowns and throughout the recovery period. 3.3 sportscotland has agreed in principle to continue to support the Active Schools programme for a further 4-year period from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2027 on the same basis as the current arrangement. The partner is keen to provide local authorities across Scotland with early notification of their continuing commitment to the Active Schools programme, with the intention to work towards developing the Agreement and allocation of funding. ___________________________________________________________________ 4. Performance 2021-2022 4.1 The Active Schools programme makes a positive contribution to the strategic objectives of Renfrewshire’s Sport Strategy – “A Way of Life” – by increasing opportunities for all children and young people to
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3. participate in sport and physical activity. The project has created pathways between schools, communities and sports clubs and increased capacity through a growing number of volunteers delivering sport and physical activity. 4.2 Following the lifting of Covid restrictions, the Active Schools team has reintroduced volunteers into its schools’ programme. At present there are currently 252 volunteers delivering within the Active Schools programme with plans in place to grow this network of deliverers. 4.3 Active Schools coordinators have been supporting their high schools to deliver sports leadership programmes to senior pupils. The Active Schools team has delivered several national governing body awards and inhouse workshops to upskill these pupils. These courses have included child protection, level 1 certified leadership awards in multiple sports as well as climbing wall training, team building games amongst others. The leadership programme has had over 150 pupils in attendance. These pupils have used their newly acquired skills to support sports club in their own schools as well as their feeder primary schools. 4.4 The Active Schools team has also provided pathways into employment. Using external funding, the Active Schools team has been successful in recruiting 47 new sessional members of staff. 4.5 Active Schools, in partnership with headteachers in Children’s Services, have created 5 assistant Active Schools coordinator posts. These post-holders were tasked with creating and applying targeted intervention to improve activity levels across the entire school roll and were given the flexibility to work with targeted individuals to address their barriers to sport, to encourage them to engage with physical activity. The 5 schools that funded these posts were Barsail PS, Cochrane Castle PS, St Catherine’s PS, St Charles PS and St David’s PS. These schools have all seen at least a 20% rise in activity levels. Eleven schools are currently recruiting for Health & Wellbeing Assistants to continue this work from August 2022. 4.6 The Active Schools programme provides additional structured physical activity during school hours, at play times and lunch times, as well as before and after school. The number of activity sessions and distinct participants continues to increase year on year. In 21/22, there were 4,881 male participants and 4,092 female participants. This shows 37% of Renfrewshire’s pupils engaging in extracurricular Active Schools activities. 4.7 It should be noted that Renfrewshire’s Active Schools programme is recovering quickly following the Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions. Renfrewshire has only seen a drop of 5% in participants, whereas some other local authorities have not yet been able to restart their core programme. In 2018/19 (last full non-covid year), there were 10,313
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4. distinct participants (42%), whereas, in the pandemic recovery period, in 2021/22 there were 8,973 distinct participants (37%). 4.8 The Active Schools team has reintroduced school sport competitions for both primary and secondary schools. For primary schools there has been the return of both football and netball leagues, as well as athletics events such as the track and field. Over 150 pupils attended each event. Secondary schools have also seen a partial return of leagues and competitions with all 11 high schools taking part across a variety of events. The largest post-lockdown event has been the secondary track and field championships with 237 pupils in attendance. 4.9 Active Schools have also been successful in linking with local sports clubs such as Kilbarchan athletics, Basketball Paisley and Renfrew Golf club to provide support during sporting competitions. These clubs have provided facilities, officials and coaching staff to support each event and strengthen the sporting pathway for participants to each club. 4.10 The Active Schools programme has encouraged more young people with a disability to participate in physical activities and sport. This has been a difficult task due to some of these participants being the most vulnerable to contracting Covid-19. The Active Schools team adapted their ways of working to provide short term curriculum-based support to grow confidence levels and promote extracurricular sporting opportunities. Active Schools coordinators have also supported teaching staff by providing CPD opportunities and supporting teachers to adapt to the various new ways of working in sport post lockdown and helping support them back to the new ‘normal’. 4.11 The team continues to work closely with National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of sport to ensure that any pandemic changes are adapted into general use when delivering sport. They are also working closely with NGBs to support local clubs and strengthen pathways into regulated sport. 4.12 Across all primary schools in Renfrewshire, a range of sport activities are offered to all pupils. The most popular activity sessions include football, basketball and gymnastics. Football is a clear favourite with the boys while gymnastics and dance are the most popular with the girls. 4.13 The most popular activity sessions across all secondary schools include basketball, netball, hockey, football, dance and badminton. The most popular sports for boys are basketball, badminton and rugby while girls prefer netball, football, hockey, dance and movement. 4.14 The Active Schools programme is continuously monitored as part of the partnership agreement with sportscotland. Active Schools coordinators complete online monitoring forms which are collated
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5. nationally into annual reports. The partnership agreement with sportscotland will continue to be subject to annual monitoring of specified targets which include the recruitment and training of volunteer coaches and leaders, as well as an increased link with sports clubs and schools. An annual monitoring report will be presented to the Leadership board for information. All targets have been met or exceeded for the period 2021/22. In total 252 volunteers and 5 sport clubs continue to support a substantial programme of physical activity across all primary schools. 4.15 The Active Schools programme continues to support community sport hubs (CSHs) at Linwood, Johnstone & Gryffe, Paisley Hub, Renfrew & Gallowhill and Park Mains. There are 64 member clubs. We will continue to support CSHs to focus on sustainable, community-led approaches that get clubs working together to develop welcoming, safe and fun environments for sport. The CSH Executive Steering Group meet quarterly and will be represented at future Sport Strategy Steering Groups. 4.16 Active Schools provided an outdoor programme during the year that offered a range of sports including gorge walking, climbing, abseiling, rafting, skiing mountain biking and archery. They also provide a service to educational establishments such as Kintyre and Flexible Learning. They aim to expand this service to work in some of the bases within Renfrewshire schools. 4.17 The sportscotland School Sport Award is a National Lottery Fund initiative designed to encourage schools to continuously improve physical education and school sport opportunities. Although paused due to Covid, Renfrewshire currently has 14 Gold Schools, 10 Silver and 0 bronze. The award assesses Physical Education, School Sport, Pathways, Compete and Perform, Career Long Professional Learning, Recognition and Awards and access to school facilities. Work is ongoing in all schools for them to work towards the award levels. 4.18 The Active Schools team worked in partnership with Renfrewshire Primary Schools and Renfrewshire Council Attainment Team to develop an effective tracking system to monitor the attainment gap and also track information regarding wider achievement and physical activity. The group has created a system that allows Active Schools coordinators and Schools to identify pupil progress and begin to plan and implement early interventions when needed. The system was presented at a National Headteacher Conference at Hampden Park by the OneRen team in 2017. Since then, the Active Schools team have managed to gather data on physical activity levels, swimmer and non- swimmer details, which will allow the service to forward plan and increase targeted engagement routes with children and young people. 5. Future Programme 2023-2027
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6. 5.1 Sportscotland indicated their support for the continuation of the Active Schools programme in early 2022. The commitment in principle to maintain the current service level is based on the current financial support arrangements of £404,232 per annum for staffing costs and is subject to match funding from Renfrewshire Council. 5.2 Based on the current funding arrangement, the external funding from sportscotland would amount to an investment in Renfrewshire of £1,616,928 over the four-year period. 5.3 Match funding is paid by Renfrewshire Council each year through the service payment to OneRen. Renfrewshire Council will be required to commit for the 4-year period from existing base budgets, plus pay award inflation, a total of £1,409,769. 5.4 The commitment through to 2027 will allow continued growth in capacity, opportunities and ultimately the number of children and young people participating in sport and physical activity on a regular basis in schools and communities across Renfrewshire. 5.5 sportscotland have also invested an additional £390,850 through the Programme for Government. This investment will build upon and add value to the current Active Schools and Community Sport Hub teams. 5.6 Schools have invested additional Pupil Equity Funding to fund 10 Health and Wellbeing assistants to support targeted interventions to improve activity levels and contribute towards higher levels of attainment in 10 schools. 5.7 The Active Schools programme will also: i. Identify active and inactive young people to focus resources on the inactive ii. Work with others to provide improved services for young people with additional support needs iii. Continue to support Community Sport Hubs to promote their clubs in the wider community iv. Continue to support National Governing Bodies to create a sporting pathway for life. v. Continue to support Renfrewshire schools to achieve sportscotland Schools Sport Awards. ___________________________________________________________________
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7. Implications of the Report 1. Financial – Match funding from Renfrewshire Council for the period April 2023 to March 2027 is required to run the Active Schools Programme. 2. HR & Organisational Development – a temporary variation to contracts will be required to deliver the future programme across the school estate. 3. Community/Council Planning • Our Renfrewshire is thriving The active schools programme recruits and trains volunteers and creates a pathway into employment. • Our Renfrewshire is well – The active schools programme provides activity sessions to encourage young people to understand the importance of physical activity for their health and wellbeing. • Our Renfrewshire is fair The active schools programme is open to all young people • Reshaping our place, our economy and our future – The programme is a key strand of the Renfrewshire Sport – A Way of Life strategy and works in partnership with community based clubs, schools and parents • Building strong, safe and resilient communities –Tackling inequality, ensuring opportunities for all – These proposals will continue to develop an integrated programme to increase the participation of school aged children in sport and physical activity. The proposal will continue to develop inclusive sport and activity sessions. • Creating a sustainable Renfrewshire for all to enjoy The programme builds sustainability through volunteer and club development • Working together to improve outcomes – The active schools programme will work with all other partners and departments to create a vibrant community. 4. Legal – not applicable 5. Property/Assets – not applicable 6. Information Technology – not applicable 7. Equality & Human Rights – The Active Schools programme promotes and supports inclusive opportunities for sport and activity. 8. Health & Safety – not applicable 9. Procurement – not applicable
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8. 10. Risk – not applicable 11. Privacy Impact – not applicable 12. Cosla Policy Position – not applicable ___________________________________________________________________ List of Background Papers – not applicable Author: Laura MacIntyre, Head of Policy and Commissioning Chief Executive’s Service laura.mcintyre@renfrewshire.gov.uk 0141 618 6807