Project details
The UK Government has provided English primary schools with significant funding through the ‘Primary PE and Sport Premium’ (PPESP). The PPESP was intended to support the provision of high-quality PE and school sport through sustainable investment/improvement within schools. On this, a Department for Education (2015) report suggested that the funding had led to: an upskilled workforce; equipment to support teaching and learning; additional extra-curricular opportunities and increased participation in inter- and intra-school competitions. However, indications also suggest that the funding has significantly altered the way PE is delivered, resulting in the outsourcing of both curriculum PE and extra-curricular activities (i.e., school sport) to external companies.

Whilst findings from the Department for Education (2015) would suggest several benefits to the PPESP, wider research has also highlighted the potential detriments. Questions have been raised around the lack of pedagogical knowledge outsourced sports coaches have in relation to planning, assessment and in particular inclusion (Griggs, 2010; Blair and Capel, 2011; Smith, 2015). Indeed, research highlights that coaches often focus on ‘gifted’ pupils, competition and performance pedagogies (Wilkinson and Penney, 2016; Stirrup, 2018), potentially reinforcing/exacerbating inequities.

Young people are the primary stakeholders in (outsourced) educational experiences (Sperka, Stirrup and Hooper, 2021). As such, engaging with pupils’ voices about their experiences of outsourced PE and school sport is key to examining how inclusive (or not) these are as well as how these might be enhanced moving forwards. This is particularly important given that outsourcing looks to be ‘here to stay’ (Sperka et al., 2021).

Given this backdrop, this project will consider how the practice of outsourcing is currently being applied within the UK and, importantly, how it is being experienced by pupils. Adopting a participatory approach, the project will draw upon creative and innovative methods to explore pupils’ experiences of outsourced PE and school sport. It will seek to make recommendations as to how these outsourced experiences might be enhanced and how it might be ensured that they are inclusive for all pupils.

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• Make a booking online after you have been accepted (in this case please let us know your choice when you apply).
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