Start With One Simple Question: “Would I Be Happy With My Own Child In This Session?” Forget the sales pitch for a moment.

Picture one of your most vulnerable pupils in that lesson:
A child with additional needs. A child who struggles with boundaries. A child who finds it hard to speak up.

Now ask yourself:

• Am I absolutely sure every adult in that space is safe, checked and properly supported?
• Do I know, in writing, what happens if something goes wrong?
• If an inspector walked into that session and started asking questions, would my heart race – or would I feel calm?

If you don’t feel completely settled, it’s a sign that some non negotiables need tightening.

Insurance isn’t exciting. Until you need it.

Too often, schools assume providers have “the right cover” without ever seeing or checking it. That’s a risk you simply don’t need to carry – and it gets even more complex when companies use self employed coaches or subcontractors.

First, ask yourself:

• Have I seen the provider’s insurance documents in the last 12 months?
• Do I know what level of cover they hold – or have I just taken their word for it?
• If a serious incident occurred, could I quickly evidence that the school had done reasonable checks?

At a minimum, you should be asking any provider for:

• Up to date Public Liability Insurance at a level appropriate for work with schools.
• Employer’s Liability Insurance if they employ staff.
• (Where relevant) Professional Indemnity Insurance for advisory or programme design work.

Now add a second layer of questions:
“Who, exactly, is insured – the company, the individual coach, or both?”

Many providers now operate using self employed coaches or subcontractors. That isn’t automatically a problem, but it does raise big questions that schools must not ignore:

• Does each self employed coach have their own valid insurance (for example, public liability) in place?
• Does the company’s insurance actually cover work delivered by subcontractors, or are there exclusions?
• In the event of an incident, who takes responsibility – the company, the individual coach, or are you suddenly in a grey area?

Specific questions to put to a provider:

• “Do you use self employed or subcontracted coaches in schools?”
• “If so, what insurance do they hold personally, and what does your insurance cover on top?”
• “In the event of an incident, who is ultimately responsible – you as the company, the individual coach, or both? How is that set out in your policy documentation?”
• “Can you provide evidence of insurance both for your organisation and for any self employed coaches who will work on our site?”

Then ask yourself:

• Am I satisfied that every adult leading sessions on our site is adequately insured?
• Could I clearly explain this set up to governors, parents or an inspector without feeling exposed?

A professional, education led provider will be able to answer these questions plainly, share documentation quickly and explain exactly how responsibility and cover work. If you meet resistance, confusion or “don’t worry, it’s all fine” responses, that’s a serious warning sign – long before you ever talk about curriculum or impact.

You would never compromise on safeguarding for your own staff. The same standard must apply to external adults. And in PE, where relationships, touch, changing and emotion all come into play, that bar arguably needs to be even higher.

Take a moment to consider:

• Could you, right now, list the safeguarding checks in place for every external PE coach working in your school?
• If Ofsted or a parent asked, “How do you know this coach is safe to work with our children?”, would your answer feel robust – or a bit thin?

DBS checks and training are the starting point, not the whole story. One powerful way to strengthen your confidence is to understand how the provider is regulated – and by whom.

Not all providers operate under the same level of external scrutiny. Asking about Ofsted registration helps you see what kind of oversight they’re subject to.

You might hear about:

• Voluntary registration – for some types of out‑of‑school provision. This can show a willingness to meet certain standards, but usually involves less intensive scrutiny than other routes.
• Other relevant childcare or part‑time registers – depending on age range and nature of care.
• The Early Years Register (EYFS) – this carries greater scrutiny. Providers on this register go through pre‑registration checks that look closely at key areas such as leadership, governance, safeguarding arrangements, suitability of people, policies and premises.

Ask yourself:

• Do I know whether our current provider is Ofsted registered at all?
• If they are, do I know which register they’re on and what that actually means?
• If they’re not, have I really explored what protections and checks are (or aren’t) in place instead?

Ofsted registration does not remove your responsibility as a school. You still need clear evidence that every adult working with your pupils is safe and well‑supported.

Non‑negotiables you should expect, regardless of registration status:

• Enhanced DBS checks for every individual, with clear evidence of how often they are renewed.
• A process for checking coaches against the DBS Update Service, where used.
• Regular, documented safeguarding training (not “we did a course years ago”).
• A clear safeguarding lead within the provider organisation, and a named contact for your school.
• Safeguarding policies that dovetail with your own, rather than sit in isolation.

Questions to ask:

• “How do you ensure every coach is fully DBS‑checked and up‑to‑date before they enter school?”
• “What safeguarding training do your staff receive – and how often?”
• “Who is your designated safeguarding lead, and how would they work with our DSL if there was a concern?”
• “Can you share your safeguarding policy and talk us through how it works in practice in schools like ours?”

A provider who genuinely sees PE, sport and physical activity as building blocks for children’s physical, mental, social and personal development will treat safeguarding as central to that mission – not as a tick‑box exercise.

In PE, things move. Children run. Balls fly. Weather changes. That’s part of the magic – and part of the risk.

The question isn’t “Can we avoid all risk?”
It’s “Have we thought it through, managed it well and planned for the ‘what ifs’?”

Take a moment to reflect:

• If an accident happened in an after‑school club or holiday camp on your site, do you know exactly who records it, how it’s followed up, and who is informed?
• Are you confident that indoor, outdoor and equipment risk assessments are up‑to‑date and specific to your school – or are you hoping they exist somewhere?

And a really important reminder:

If activities are happening on your school site, you still carry overall responsibility from a safeguarding and health & safety perspective.

Even in the school holidays, even if the provider is “hiring the venue” and running their own club, parents and the community still see it as your school. If something goes wrong, questions will very quickly come back to the headteacher and governing body:

• “Why was this provider allowed to operate here?”
• “What checks did the school carry out?”
• “How did you assure yourselves about safeguarding and safety on your premises?”

Lettings do not remove your duty of care; they change how you manage and document it.

You should expect your provider to have, and share:

• Clear risk assessments for typical activities and environments (hall, playground, field, off‑site if relevant) that can be adapted to your context.
• Procedures for equipment checks, set‑up and storage that align with your own policies.
• Accident and incident reporting processes that link with your school systems, not just their own internal logs.
• Protocols for changing rooms, supervision, lone working, photographs/video and use of mobile phones.
• Agreement on how safeguarding and behaviour concerns are escalated between the provider and your DSL/SLT.

Questions to ask providers:

• “Can you show us a typical risk assessment for a lesson, club or holiday activity you would run on our site?”
• “How do you record accidents, near‑misses and safeguarding concerns – and how will this information be shared with us?”
• “How do your policies around changing, supervision and mobile phone use fit with our school policies?”
• “For holiday clubs or lettings on our site, how do you ensure our safeguarding and health & safety expectations are still fully met?”

Questions to ask yourself and your governors:

• Do our lettings and partnership agreements spell out safeguarding and health & safety responsibilities clearly enough?
• If a serious incident occurred during a holiday club on our site, could we show that we had exercised reasonable oversight?

A provider who genuinely understands that PE, sport and physical activity are building blocks for children’s physical, mental, social and personal development will not push responsibility back onto the school or hide behind “we just hire the venue”. They will see themselves as partners in keeping children safe on your site, at all times.

Think about the adults who currently work with your pupils in PE:

• Do they arrive on time, prepared, and ready to model your school values?
• Do they speak to children – and staff – in a way that builds trust and respect?
• If a coach walked through your corridors, would you be proud to introduce them to a parent?

These are not “nice to haves”; they are part of safeguarding and part of children’s personal development.

Questions to ask yourself:

• Have we ever had that uneasy feeling of a coach who is technically competent, but whose conduct doesn’t quite sit right with our ethos?
• Do we have a clear, written agreement about expectations for dress code, professionalism, language, use of phones and social media?

Questions to ask providers:

• “How do you induct new staff into expectations around behaviour, language and professionalism in schools?”
• “What happens if a school raises concerns about a coach’s conduct?”
• “Can you give an example of when you’ve acted to uphold your standards in a school setting?”

Providers who work from a whole-child framework like The ActiveMe Way, and who genuinely see PE, sport and physical activity as building blocks for character and wellbeing will understand that every interaction is part of the curriculum – and will be eager to partner with you on standards, not push back.

External providers sit inside your accountability picture, whether they realise it or not.

Consider:

• If Ofsted visited next term, could your provider help you evidence how PE contributes to personal development, behaviour and attitudes, and leadership & management?
• Or would you be scrambling to pull together registers, vague reports and verbal assurances?

Questions to ask providers:

• “How does your work support schools with Ofsted expectations around PE, personal development and safeguarding?”
• “What kind of documentation or data can you share that would help us evidence impact and compliance?”
• “How do you work with PE leads and SLT to review progress across the year?”

As funding moves from the PE and Sport Premium to the new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network, governors and inspectors will still expect strong, well‑evidenced safeguarding, compliance and accountability from any external provider working with your pupils.

Before you move on, take a brief audit of your current situation. Answer honestly:

• Do we have up‑to‑date copies of our provider’s insurance and safeguarding documentation?
• Can we clearly explain their recruitment, vetting and training processes?
• Do we know, in detail, how they handle accidents, incidents and concerns?
• If a parent or inspector questioned us, would we feel calm and confident, or exposed?

If any of those answers leave you uneasy, you’re not alone – and it’s not a reason for panic. It’s a prompt to tighten foundations so everything else you want from PE – physical, mental, social and personal growth – can sit on something solid.