Can schools run after school clubs during lockdown?

Many of you have been asking if it is ok to continue after school clubs during lockdown.  The answer is yes!  The Government are keen that children are still able to hit their 60 minutes of recommended physical activity a day.

You should use your existing control measures to decide the best way to delivery extra-curricular clubs during lockdown. As restrictions ease, as well as usual PE lessons schools, are being encouraged to provide before and after school clubs.  Lunchtime clubs are also permissible if they can be organised under the schools COVID19 protocols, for example, bubbles and social distancing.

When shouldn’t I run a club?

You should not set up a new club or reintroduce a club with pupils that wouldn’t usually be together or meet.  Competition between schools should not take place.

Where can I find the Government guidance?

The Government published new guidance on 5^th November, which goes into greater detail on how schools should manage under the new restrictions.  However, The Youth Sport Trust, AfPE, The Sport & Recreation Alliance and UKActive came together to seek further clarification.  Following consultation with Government departments, they advise;

• Schools should continue to provide extra-curricular sport as long as they can do so in a way which i) maintains the integrity of schools’ Covid-19 protocols such as approach to bubbles, staffing and social distancing and ii) is subject to appropriate risk assessment.
• Where the guidance refers to supporting parents to work, there is no additional need for schools to prove that extra-curricular clubs are helping parents to work or seek work.
• Extra-curricular clubs should not take place if they are bringing together groups of young people who would not otherwise be spending time together. Competition between different schools should not take place, in line with the wider restrictions on grassroots sport.

The Government has also clarified what the guidance means for schools and grass-root sports in their recent blog article.

At The PE Hub we support you with knowledge, resources and tools to master PE lesson delivery – and by continually evolving the services and materials we offer – we aim to help elevate PE to a central place in schools’ and the national curriculum.  That is what we mean by moving PE forward.