Taunton head teachers warn Education Secretary over sports funding cuts
Meeting in Parliament to raise concerns
Two primary school head teachers from the Taunton area have met the Education Secretary to warn that cuts to sports funding could put PE staff jobs at risk.
Steve Gillan, from Thurlbear School, and Rachel White, from Bishop Henderson School, travelled to Parliament on Monday for the meeting with Lucy Powell.
They were joined by their local MP, Gideon Amos, the Liberal Democrat MP for Taunton and Wellington.
The meeting came as the PE and Sport Premium comes to an end after the 2025-26 academic year, to be replaced by a new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network.
Mr Gillan and Mrs White fear the change could lead to PE staff being let go by schools.
In a statement issued after the visit, the pair said: "The Education Secretary was very open, professional and accepting of our message."
"Without a change in the plan to get rid of the sports premium funding, there will be a direct and negative impact on vulnerable pupils, rural pupils and schools providing quality experiences in sport and beyond," they said.
They added: "Ms Powell demonstrated a commitment to investigating whether the new arrangements for the sports funding could deliver the measurable benefits to our pupils that the existing arrangements have been delivering for many years."
"There was an offer from Ms Powell to speak with us further about this, which was very welcome," they said.
The head teachers also thanked Mr Amos for his support, saying: "We are hugely grateful to Gideon for ensuring this important meeting took place, and for his persistence on behalf of primary pupils."
"The message conveyed not only impacts Taunton and Wellington, but schools across the country," they said.
"Without Gideon's help, the message on sports funding would have gone unheard at the highest levels of the government," they added.
Mr Amos said: "Bringing local headteachers to meet the Secretary of State for Education really highlighted the importance of sport funding in schools here in Taunton and Wellington."
"The heads made an excellent case to Lucy Powell who promised to look again at the loss of sports funding due to a new partnership approach the government wants to bring in," he said.
"I was clear to the Education Secretary that the government must compensate schools in Taunton and Wellington for the loss of sports funding and I will be following up to ensure the Education Department acts to do so," Mr Amos said.