On Wednesday 8th March the Government released a new set of standards for equal access to sport and physical activity, making it clear that girls and boys should be offered the same sports during PE and extracurricular time.

This change has come off the back of a successful #LetGirlsPlay campaign, launched to change perceptions and make sure girls get the chance to play football within the school curriculum, at breaktime, after school and at local clubs.

Schools are also being asked to offer a minimum of two hours curriculum PE time and Government will provide support to schools on how to do this through the upcoming refresh of the School Sport Action Plan.

The full package that has been offered to schools includes:

• equal access to sports in school – setting out that offering girls and boys the same sports, where it is wanted is the new standard.
• delivering a minimum 2 hours of curriculum PE –with more support being offered through a refreshed School Sport Action Plan.
• expansion of the Schools Games Mark - to reward parity of provision for girls - this kitemark scheme, delivered by the Youth Sport Trust, recognises schools that create positive sporting experiences across all sports for young people, supporting them to be active for 60 minutes a day.
• over £600 million across the next two years for the PE and Sport Premium – a funding commitment to improve the quality of PE and sports in primary schools to help children benefit from regular activity.
• a new digital tool for PE and Sport Premium – to support schools in using the funding to the best advantage of their pupils.
• £22 million for two years of further funding for the School Games Organiser network (SGO) - Annually the 450 strong SGO workforce supports 2.2m participation opportunities for children including 28,000 competitive school sport events.
• up to £57 million funding for the opening school facilities programme - to open up more school sport facilities outside of school hours especially targeted at girls, disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs.

Up to £57 million in funding will be used to allow selected schools around England to keep their sport facilities open for longer for after-school activities, especially targeted at girls, disadvantaged children and those with special educational needs. Wesport have received a share of this investment to support schools in the West of England, read more about this investment here.

Chris Knight, Project Officer (Children and Young People) commented:

"We are delighted that the government have announced a new full package of support for schools across the country. This will enable us to support schools across the West of England to improve the PE and sporting opportunities that they provide for their children and young people."

Visit the Government website here for more information.