Giving children an Active Start - Report

YSF are happy to share a report reflecting on the impact of the Active Start programme across South Yorkshire for the 2024/2025 Academic Year. 

Read the report
 
Active Start is a programme of training and development targeting practitioners working with children aged 2-5 years of age, promoting physical activity and physical development to support whole child development, and school readiness. Working in partnership with, and funded by, the South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) Children and Young People’s Alliance, the programme aims to support settings and individuals working with children between 2-5 years with a prime focus of using Physical Activity to support children to be healthy, support learning across the Early Years Framework and set foundations for children to be active for life.  
 
The programme has supported a wide range of partners and practitioners across education, community and health within all four South Yorkshire Districts across 2024/2025. These have included: Local Authority Early Years Teams, Public Health Practitioners, Nurseries, Schools, Family Hubs, Childminders, Childhood Nutritionists, Safeguarding Leads, childcare providers and sports organisations/ foundations. South Yorkshire Active Start has supported 112 different settings across the academic year with a focus on communities who face the biggest barriers to accessing physical activity.  
 
Children and Young People Development Manager Adam Fuller said “With less than 20% of Early Years children accessing the recommended 180 minutes of physical activity per day, it is essential that opportunities are provided to use movement, structured play and access to outdoor space to develop physical literacy. It has been fantastic to explore with a range of sector partners how we can increase the confidence of practitioners to promote positive physical activity, engage parents and see a range of local organisations increase opportunities for children to move.” 
 
The report tells the story of the South Yorkshire Active Start programme for 2024/2025 and includes a range of case studies of how organisations, schools, nurseries and practitioners have implemented training and increased opportunities on a daily basis. Learning included will be used to develop the programme for 2025/2026 and we look forward to continuing this work with the ICB, CYP Alliance and a range of other partners to support the ambition of every child having the best start in life.