AGENDA ITEM no.3

erw Executive Board

27 mARCH 2015

PHYSICAL LITERACY PROGRAMME FOR SCHOOLS
Purpose: To inform the Executive Board about Physical Literacy Programme for Schools (PLPS) and report on progress between September 2014 and March 2015.
RECOMMENDATIONS / KEY DECISIONS REQUIRED:It is recommended that the Executive Board accept the report for information
REASONS:WG funded project supported via Sports Council for Wales
Report Author:
Kirsty Edwards / Designation:
PLPS Manager / Tel No.
07951067771
E. Mail:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

ERW Executive Board

27 MARCH 2015

PHYSICAL LITERACY PROGRAMME FOR SCHOOLS
BRIEF SUMMARY OF PURPOSE OF REPORT
OPTIONS AVAILABLE AND THEIR PROS AND CONS
The key aims of the PLPS are to improve the health and wellbeing of children in Wales, contribute to whole school improvement (through supporting national education priorities) and to encourage schools to use more physical contexts in learning. The PLPS has been linked with the Welsh Schools Challenge Cymru programme. PLPS ERW team has been working with the 4SCC Schools, some of their feeder Primaries, and an additional 4 schools. The Physical Literacy Framework (PLF) is a tool for schools, staff, parents and coaches to support the development of physical literacy. It identifies the skills that should be developed during a young person’s school life and illustrates the importance of developing confidence, motivation and knowledge within the physical domain. In conjunction with the PLPS, the PLF provides practitioners with clear expectations that help promote, inform and track the progress of every child along their physical literacy journey.
PLPS has 8 work streams, which are listed below.
  1. Engagements opportunities that demonstrates impact on the development of young people’s physical literacy
  2. Parental engagements
  3. Young Ambassador (YA) projects
  4. Leaders of Learning
  5. Physical Literacy Framework (PLF) trial
  6. Athlete support visits
  7. Empowering PE teacher programme
  8. Training opportunities that utilizes, Play to Learn, Dragon Multi Skills and dragon tracker
  1. Engaging opportunities
There are 11projects. The bespoke interventions have started to achieve measurable impact against their outcomes(see Appendix 1 - 14).They have addressed key priorities such as literacy, numeracy, attendance, behavior and ‘closing the gap’. All projects commenced in January, 4 projects are scheduled to be complete by March 27th 2015 and the remaining 7 are scheduled to be complete by July 13th 2015.
  1. Parental engagements
There are 9 projects. The outcomes of the parental sacks and after school sessions are to improve gross motor skills and literacy, increase engagement of parents and the involvement of the whole community in the development of PL. The training for 6 of the projects finished in February and then they started in March 2015 (see Appendix 2, 4 and 9).
  1. Young Ambassador (YA) projects
There are 6 projects. The outcomes of the projects are to increase physical participation, improve pupil voice, leadership skills, communication, teamwork, confidence and motivation. The training, planning and preparation for the projects with the YA’s occurred in January. The projects start date was after February half term. There is already evidence to suggest that it is achieving the outcomes however the project doesn’t end until July 2015 (see Appendix 15 - 19)
  1. Leaders of Learning
13 teachers from primary and secondary schools that attended the initial 2 days of training. The modules are linked to the leadership standards. The programme consists of 6 training workshops/professional network events are will address 5 key areas of leadership which are leading and working with other, securing accountability, leading teaching and learning, responding to local and national education priorities and creating a strategic direction.There was positive feedback by all teachers that attended (see Appendix 20).The following 4 days are scheduled to occur between April and July 2015 and there will also be opportunities for some to participate in school to school visits and develop innovative interventions linking to whole school outcomes.
  1. Physical Literacy Framework (PLF) trial
Bishop Gore and Ysgol Y Strade have both engaged. There has been a whole school INSET to the staff and to Year 9 pupils on the explanation of Physical Literacy (PL) and the PLF at Bishop Gore. The departments have highlighted opportunities within their curriculum, where they are currently linking to the PLF and have also created cross-curricular projects, which use more physical contexts for learning.
  1. Athlete support visits
Sport Wales are working in partnership with Youth Sport Trust to deliver a new Athlete Mentor programme. There are 5 visits planned to occur before April 31st 2015 in 4 secondary schools and 1 primary however the remaining 3 visits are scheduled to take place in April/May 2015. The athlete in collaboration with the school lead teacher, and/or the YA’s will work on a project, which contributes to Physical Literacy and the pupils’ attainment in education. Pupil voice has been evident throughout the selection process and we have linked them to the Engaging opportunities and Pupil Voice projects (see Appendix 1, 2, 6, 14 and 16).
  1. Empowering PE teacher programme
A member of the PLPS team has been trained as a tutor. PLPS have piloted the course with 20 Trinity St. David students. It is planned to deliver the Empowering PE to teachers in April and May 2015.
  1. Training opportunities that utilizes, Play to Learn, Dragon Multi Skills and dragon tracker
There has been 7 Play to Learn (P2L) and Dragon Multi Skills (DMS) courses, which have involved FP and KS2 teachers from the PLPS cluster primaries. Pentrehafod and Milford Haven clusters have received weekly mentoring and evidence shows that it is impacting on pupils and the teachers physical competency, knowledge and understanding, confidence and motivation. We have also delivered Sports Education, Dragon Challenge, Digital Learning and Numeracy on the Move bespoke courses(see Appendix 22 and 23).
10 out of the 11 work streams have been rag rated green and the remaining one is rag rated yellow.
PLPS has raised the profile and understanding of Physical Literacy through giving presentations on the topic in whole school INSETS and meetings with Heads of Physical Education, Regional Literacy and Numeracy Leaders of Learners, Pembrokeshire and Carmarthen FP co-ordinators and also the Head teachers.
The Managing Director has discussed at length with Sports Council for Wales and University Wales Trinity Saint David the future of the programme in ERW. It is proposed that University Wales Trinity Saint David takes on operational responsibility for the delivery of the program from April 2015.
DETAILED REPORT ATTACHED? / YES

IMPLICATIONS

Policy, Crime & Disorder and Equalities / Legal / Finance / Risk Management Issues / Staffing Implications
NONE / NONE / YES / NONE / YES
  1. Finance
This project is grant funded by WG via Sports Council for Wales.
  1. Staffing Implications
All staff are seconded and grant funded.

CONSULTATIONS

Details of any consultations undertaken are to be included here
Section 100D Local Government Act, 1972 – Access to Information
List of Background Papers used in the preparation of this report:
THESE ARE DETAILED BELOW
Title of Document / File Ref No. / Locations that the papers are available for public inspection