Kirklees schools come together to celebrate whole-school physical activity pilot

Working alongside Move More Kirklees and Move and Learn CIC, aligned with the whole-school physical activity framework and Creating Active School (CAS) programme, the project has supported five schools in priority areas to embed a culture of moving and learning. This has involved integrating movement into the heart of the wider school curriculum and increasing participation in physical activity.

Led by our Education and School Sport Manager, Alex Ogden, and supported by our Development Manager for Kirklees and Leeds, Glenn Holdsworth, the project has brought together a dedicated team over the past 6 months, offering continuing professional development, consultancy support, online communities of practice and school visits to help senior leaders and wider staff build their confidence and capability, sharing ideas along the way.

At the centre of the project has been the Move and Learn approach, championed locally by Birkby Infant School in Kirklees, a pioneering school that's been embedding movement into classroom learning not only to increase pupil physical activity levels but also to impact on wider educational outcomes. The approach demonstrates just what's possible when physical activity is treated as an integral part of teaching and learning, not an 'add-on'.

The pilot came to a memorable close with a celebration event at Huddersfield Leisure Centre in July, where all five schools came together to share their learning and the impact of the pilot so far. It was a great opportunity to recognise the hard work of everyone involved. 

Teacher - St John's CE Primary, James said: 

"I’ve really been enjoying using the active learning strategies in class, and it's made the biggest difference. Honestly, the biggest change I’ve seen is in the children’s focus. It's helped children to internalise those patterns in a way that just isn’t possible sat stationary.

"It's made my whole classroom feel more dynamic! We're now trialling standing stations for certain cohorts of pupils, which is so far helping them to improve their concentration and behaviour in lessons".

Yorkshire Sport Foundation - Education Development Manager, Alex Ogden said:

"It's been remarkable to see the impact this pilot has had in just a few months and during a really challenging time in education as budgets continue to be squeezed and complex pressures increase. A huge amount of credit must go to the schools for their level of commitment to the work and engagement in the process so far.

"They've embraced the whole school physical activity framework and the CAS approach, making changes at all layers of the school which are beginning to embed a culture of moving and learning, shift physical activity behaviours of pupils and impact on wider educational outcomes.

"We really look forward now to onboarding more schools in our priority places to be part of this community".

Move More Kirklees - Place Partnership Programme Manager, Sofie Armitage said:

"This pilot has demonstrated the positive impact that can be achieved when schools are supported to embed physical activity throughout the school day. In just a few months, we've seen encouraging improvements in classroom practice, pupil engagement and the wider school culture, and we're excited to see this continue to grow.

If you'd like to read more, case studies from both St John’s C.E Primary and St Thomas CE Primary highlight how they've used the whole school physical activity framework to action changes at policy level, adapt environments, build teacher capability and ultimately get their pupils more physically active in curriculum lessons, and as a result positively impact wider pupil outcomes such as focus and engagement and self-regulation.

The project doesn't stop here. Building on the success of the pilot, the partnership is now supporting a scaling up of the work, with the ambition of reaching even more schools in focus communities across Kirklees in the next academic year.

We're really proud of what this project has achieved and excited about what comes next. Watch this space.