PECO Schools Services | Healthy Active Lifestyles

PE & SCHOOL SPORT SERVICES

Healthy Active Lifestyles provides high-quality, flexible and cost-effective PE and school sport services across the Liverpool City Region.

We currently work with over 20 schools, helping them increase participation, improve opportunities for pupils and reduce the organisational pressure placed on teachers.

Our director’s, Matty Ward & Adam Hodgkinson, remains actively involved in delivery and works directly with schools to maintain high standards. We take the time to understand each school’s pupils, priorities and budget before creating a suitable programme.

How we can support your school

Schools can access:

Full-day, three-quarter-day and half-day PE provision
Individual lessons and blocks of activity
Before-school, lunchtime and after-school clubs
Parent-funded morning clubs at no direct cost to the school
Staff mentoring and shared PE delivery
Intra-school competitions and sports days
Targeted programmes for less-active pupils
SEND, SEMH and alternative-provision activities
Outdoor learning, team-building and Eco-Schools projects
Participation records and evidence to support PE and Sport Premium reporting

We deliver a broad range of activities, including football, dodgeball, athletics, gymnastics, dance, basketball, handball, cricket, tennis, rugby league, fitness, multi-skills and New Age Kurling.

All programmes can be adapted to pupils’ ages, abilities and additional needs.

North and South Liverpool Sports Networks

Healthy Active Lifestyles coordinates the North Liverpool Sports Network and South Liverpool Sports Network.

The networks give primary schools access to an organised calendar of competitions, festivals and sporting events throughout the academic year.

We manage:

Event planning and administration
Venues and equipment
Competition formats and schedules
Staffing and delivery
Risk assessments and event information
Results, scoring, certificates and awards

This allows schools to provide more competitive opportunities without placing additional organisational demands on teachers.

Events are designed to balance competition with enjoyment and inclusion. They give pupils the opportunity to represent their school while developing confidence, teamwork, resilience, fairness and respect.

Schools can join the relevant network through an annual competitions package. Individual event entry and bespoke competitions may also be available.

A package built around your school

Schools can book an individual club, competition or event or create a wider programme covering a term or academic year.

Contact us to discuss your priorities and receive a tailored proposal for your school.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY…

“We have worked with Mr Ward and his team at Healthy Active Lifestyles for several years, and they have become such an important part of our school community. They feel like an extension of our own staff team. They know our children really well, understand our school and, most importantly, genuinely care about giving our children the best experiences possible.

From delivering PE lessons across Y1–Y6, to running before- and after-school and holiday clubs, the continuity of familiar staff is something our children really value. They look forward to their PE lessons and the many sporting opportunities the team provides.

Mr Ward and his team work closely with our PE Lead and Office team, ensuring that systems and processes around our wider sports provision are smooth, efficient and well organised. They have also helped us reintroduce the Rainhill Cup, now a much-loved annual event for children across local schools, supported competition teams, Sports Days and PE equipment purchasing.

They are incredibly flexible, supportive and always willing to go the extra mile for our school and our children. We truly value our partnership with them.”

Mrs Rynn – Headteacher at St Ann’s Primary School

primary pe & sport premium

The Primary PE and Sport Premium is government funding designed to help primary schools improve their PE, sport and physical-activity provision.

Schools should use the funding to support all pupils to lead healthy, active lives and to make participation in PE and school sport more accessible and inclusive. It should be used to create additional and sustainable improvements that benefit current pupils and children joining the school in future years.

The Department for Education advises schools to focus on five key areas:

Developing staff confidence, knowledge and skills

Schools can invest in professional development, mentoring, training and specialist support that helps staff deliver high-quality PE, sport and physical activity confidently and effectively.

Increasing pupils’ participation in regular physical activity

Funding can be used to provide additional opportunities that help pupils become more active, including active breaktimes, extracurricular clubs and targeted support for children who are currently less active.

Raising the profile of PE and sport

PE, sport and physical activity can support wider school priorities, including pupils’ physical and emotional wellbeing, personal development, confidence, behaviour and readiness to learn.

Providing a broader and more equal range of activities

Schools should give pupils opportunities to experience a varied range of sports and physical activities. Provision should be inclusive, support pupils with additional needs and provide equal access for girls and boys.

Increasing participation in competitive sport

Schools can use the premium to enter local competitions, organise inter-school events and provide appropriate competitive opportunities within school. Funding may also be used for transport to eligible competitive and extracurricular activities.

How we can support your school

Healthy Active Lifestyles works with primary schools across Liverpool to provide well-organised, inclusive and cost-effective sporting opportunities.

We can support schools through:

Intra-school and inter-school competitions
Extracurricular sports and physical-activity clubs
Targeted activities for less-active pupils
A broader range of sports and activities
Inclusive opportunities for pupils with different needs and abilities
Staff mentoring and professional development
Support with planning, monitoring and demonstrating the impact of provision

We take a consultative approach, working with each school to understand its pupils, priorities and existing provision. We can then develop a tailored programme that adds value, builds staff capability and supports sustainable improvements.

Where appropriate, we can also provide participation records, delivery information and impact evidence to assist schools with monitoring their spending and completing their PE and Sport Premium reporting requirements.

Important: The PE and Sport Premium must not be used to fund the minimum requirements of the PE national curriculum or replace the school’s core staffing costs. When external coaches are used, their work should help develop school staff and create sustainable improvements rather than act as an ongoing replacement for teachers.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

At PEco Schools, part of Healthy Active Lifestyles, we understand the demands placed on primary-school teachers and the importance of providing every pupil with high-quality physical education.

Our sessions are planned around the aims of the National Curriculum for Physical Education and can be adapted to reflect each school’s curriculum, pupils and priorities. We focus on developing physical competence, confidence and enjoyment while ensuring that pupils have sufficient time to practise, progress and apply their learning.

We can also work alongside teachers and other school staff, helping them develop their subject knowledge, confidence and skills in delivering PE.

NATIONAL CURRICULUM

The National Curriculum states:

“A high-quality physical education curriculum inspires all pupils to succeed and excel in competitive sport and other physically demanding activities.”

The National Curriculum for Physical Education aims to ensure that all pupils:

Develop competence to excel in a broad range of physical activities
Are physically active for sustained periods of time
Engage in competitive sports and activities
Lead healthy, active lives

At Key Stage 1, pupils should develop fundamental movement skills and become increasingly competent and confident. They should experience both competitive and cooperative activities in a range of increasingly challenging situations.

At Key Stage 2, pupils should apply and develop a broader range of skills, communicate and collaborate with others, enjoy competing and learn how to evaluate and improve their performance.

Our instructors deliver progressive and inclusive activities that help pupils develop fundamental movement skills, sport-specific techniques, tactical understanding and the knowledge required to participate safely and confidently.

COMPETITIVE SPORT

Competition can make a valuable contribution to pupils’ physical and personal development when it is delivered in an appropriate and inclusive way. It can help pupils develop confidence, resilience, teamwork, communication, fairness and respect.

Our sessions combine enjoyment, purposeful physical activity and appropriate challenge. Competition may include:

Personal challenges and opportunities to improve an individual best
Cooperative activities and team challenges
Modified games
Intra-school competitions
Inter-school competitions and events

Where suitable, we can conclude a unit of work with an intra-school competition, giving pupils an opportunity to apply the skills and knowledge they have developed. We can also help schools access well-organised inter-school competitions across Liverpool.

Competition is adapted to pupils’ ages, abilities and needs. Our aim is to create positive experiences in which every pupil can participate, progress and experience success—not simply to identify the strongest performers.

Developing High-Quality PE

Ofsted’s 2023 PE subject report highlighted the importance of a well-sequenced curriculum that gives pupils sufficient time to develop knowledge and physical competence. It also identified the importance of fundamental movement skills, meaningful assessment, inclusive provision and appropriate support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities.

At PEco Schools, we can support schools by:

Delivering progressive and carefully structured units of work
Developing pupils’ fundamental movement skills
Adapting activities to include and challenge all pupils
Identifying gaps in pupils’ knowledge and physical competence
Giving pupils purposeful opportunities to practise and improve
Using assessment to inform future planning
Supporting teachers through mentoring and shared delivery
Creating links between curriculum PE, extracurricular clubs and competitions

Our experienced instructors aim to ensure that pupils do more than simply experience different sports. We help them build the knowledge, skills and confidence needed to make progress, enjoy physical activity and lead healthy, active lives.

ECO SCHOOLS

When working in school we find most young people care deeply about environmental issues and wish to make a positive change in the environment around them. The Eco-Schools programme provides an ideal way for fostering environmental awareness in the entire school in a way that links to many curriculum subjects. Our primary aim regarding the Eco-Schools scheme is to combine learning and action for the improvement of the environmental performance of Eco-Schools.

Our previous work in schools has seen us: