Evaluation of the

New Opportunities for PE and Sport Initiative (NOPES)

The Loughborough Partnership

Final Report

Institute of Youth Sport

School of Sport and Exercise Sciences

LoughboroughUniversity

February 2009




1

This report was researched and written for the Big Lottery Fund by the

Loughborough Partnership.

The authors of this report are:

Dr Mary Nevill, Dr Carolynne Mason, Dr Ruth Jeanes, Dr Amanda Waring, Prof. Kathleen Armour, Dr Janet Harvey, Prof. Barrie Houlihan, Dr Iain Lindsey and Dr John Morris

The authors thank:

Len Almond

Andreas Cebulla

Marcus Hulme (Big Lottery Fund)

Dr Cathie Gibbons

Gail Matthews

Dr Ambreen Shah (Big Lottery Fund)

for their valuable contributions during the evaluation

The Loughborough Partnership comprises:

Institute of Youth Sport

British Heart Foundation National Centre for Physical Activity and Health

Sports Pedagogy Research Group

Centre for Research in Social Policy

Institute for Sport and Leisure Policy (all LoughboroughUniversity)

Centre for Developing Lifelong Learning (NottinghamUniversity)

Consultants:

Prof. Fred Coalter (StirlingUniversity)

Prof. Robyn Jones (University of Wales Institute, Cardiff)

Prof. Roy Jones (LoughboroughUniversity)

Stephen Stewart (LoughboroughUniversity)

Copyright: Big Lottery Fund 2009

Published by:

Big Lottery Fund

1 Plough Place,

London, EC4A 1DE

Tel: 0207 211 1800

Fax: 0207 211 1750

Email: e&

Use of material in this report must be appropriately acknowledged.

© The Big Lottery Fund

Evaluation of the New Opportunities for PE and Sport programme

The Loughborough Partnership

Final Report

Table of contents

Section One: Executive summary1

Section Two:Introduction5

Section Three: Research methods7

3.1Introduction7

3.2Baseline and annual surveys7

3.3Scotland activities surveys8

3.4Core case studies9

3.5Telephone case studies10

3.6Football Foundation projects10

3.7CDELL study10

3.8Evaluation of innovation and best practice in 11

facility design and management

3.9The final year of the evaluation11

Section Four: United Kingdom13

4.1Introduction13

4.2Results: Partnership effectiveness13

4.3Results: Impact on participation20

4.4Results: Impact on wider social outcomes28

4.5Overall assessment 34

Section Five:England36

5.1Introduction36

5.2Methodology36

5.3Results: Partnership effectiveness36

5.4Results: Impact on participation44

5.5Results: Impact on wider social outcomes48

5.6Overall assessment 51

Section Six:Scotland55

6.1Introduction55

6.2Methodology55

6.3Results: Partnership effectiveness56

6.4Results: Impact on participation60

6.5Results: Impact on wider social outcomes63

6.6Overall assessment 66

Section Seven: Wales70

7.1Introduction70

7.2Methodology70

7.3Results: Partnership effectiveness71

7.4Results: Impact on participation76

7.5Results: Impact on wider social outcomes80

7.6Overall assessment 82

Section Eight: Northern Ireland86

8.1Introduction86

8.2Methodology86

8.3Results: Partnership effectiveness86

8.4Results: Impact on participation93

8.5Results: Impact on wider social outcomes97

8.6Overall assessment 102

Section Nine: New Issues and policy106

recommendations for local authorities

9.1 Introduction106

9.2 Previously reported issues106

9.3 New or still significant Issues107

Section Ten:New Issues and policy 108

recommendations for the Big Lottery Fund

10.1Introduction108

10.2Previously reported issues108

10.3New or still significant Issues110

Appendices (In Separate Document)

A1Fast Track Projects

A2England

A3Scotland

A4Wales

A5Northern Ireland

A6UK Survey Data

A7Football Foundation

A8CDELL Study

A9Design and Innovation study

SECTION ONE:EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Introduction

The New Opportunities for PE and Sport programme (NOPES) invested £751 million in PE and Sport facilities and activities across the UK with the intended key outcomes of:

  • Improving physical education and sport in schools.
  • Higher standards across the whole school.
  • Increased physical activity in the school age population and their communities.
  • Improved collaboration, co-operation and partnership between schools and their communities.
  • Promotion of social inclusion.
  • Innovation and best practice in the design and management of facilities.

Across the UK, the programme is predominantly capital in nature, providing funding for new and refurbished PE, sport and outdoor adventure facilities. However, in Scotland there is a revenue funded Activities programme which has a distinct set of outcomes and comprises of two strands, Out of School Hours Activities and Active Steps.

This final report details the findings of the NOPES programme evaluation for the period from 1 January 2003 to 1 February 2009. The evaluation was conducted by the Loughborough Partnership, led by the Institute of Youth Sport, for the Big Lottery Fund. The evaluation and report is structured around three key dimensions (partnership effectiveness, participation and wider social outcomes) and the six NOPES outcomes.

Research methods

A total of 2266 Baseline and 925 Annual surveys (one year post-opening) have been sent to facilities projects across the UK with a 44% and 54% return rate respectively. In addition, 822 projects which had been open for at least two years by 2008 received final surveys with a 30% return rate. In Scotland, quantitative data from Annual Monitoring Reports and sportscotland on the Activities programme in 20 local authorities was analysed. Pre- and post-opening and final visits were undertaken to projects in all 11 core case studies. These project visits included interviews with project staff and focus groups with young people. Other evaluation methods included:

  • 19 telephone case studies
  • the return of surveys from 1941 young people to benefit from NOPES
  • the completion of the CDELL study of disaffected youth
  • case study visits to 10 Football Foundation projects
  • an independent study examining innovation and best practice in facility design and management
  • completion of 7 working papers on PE and school sport, community use, sustainability, promotion of social inclusion, fast track projects, Football Foundation projects and Outdoor Education provision.

In total 105 projects were visited, on between one and three occasions, across the course of the evaluation.

Findings from across the United Kingdom

Partnership effectiveness

Effective partnership working has made, and continues to make, a substantive contribution to the achievement of NOPES outcomes. At portfolio level, links and effective partnerships have been developed with staff and programmes in sport and education, community development and regeneration and social inclusion. At project level links and effective partnerships have been developed with several sporting and non-sporting initiatives such as the School Sport Partnership programme, ActiveSchools, ExtendedSchools and Every Child Matters. For example in England 81% of respondents and in Scotland 95% of respondents (post-opening) rated the School Sport Partnership programme and Active Schools respectively as ‘very important’ to the success of their NOPES project. At larger projects key individuals, often funded through NOPES, with a remit for developing the project especially beyond the school day, were instrumental in achieving NOPES outcomes. Over time project management groups became smaller and management practices were integrated very effectively into existing systems and structures. Thus, the key features of success in achieving NOPES outcomes, particularly in larger projects, were quality leadership which was often inspirational, integration of management systems into existing structures and effective partnership working. Monitoring and evaluation in maturing projects was used as a management tool for development and thus also contributed to the achievement of NOPES outcomes.

The programme effectively achieved NOPES outcome 4 in that the number of primary and secondary schools accessing facilities at NOPES schools doubled from pre-to post-opening (primary schools 4.2 to 8.2, p<0.05, secondary schools, 1.4 to 2.8, p<0.05). Similarly there were statistically significant increases (p<0.05) in the number of sports clubs (5.1 to 10.5), NGBs (0.3 to 1.0), businesses (0.3-0.7), local authority development units (0.3-0.8) and youth groups (0.6-1.0) using the facilities, with many of these organisations working in partnership with the NOPES project site.

Partnership working also contributed to the development of projects that were innovative and effective in design and management (Outcome 6). The proportion of survey respondents to rate their facilities as suitable or highly suitable for the needs of their school increased from 20% pre- to 73% post-opening and 82% of project staff viewed their facilities as effective and 44% as innovative in some aspect of design. The independent study of innovation and best practice in facility design and management also concluded that projects were more likely to be effective than innovative in design and management. The 12 projects visited ranged from a woodland trailcosting £40,000 to a £1.8 million contribution to a new indoor sports facility at an inner city school. The cost per beneficiary ranged from £1 for multi-sports zones in primary school to £646 at a 3-court indoor sports hall. There were several instances where innovative designs had been incorporated into the new facilities such as geothermal under-floor heating of a sports hall and photovoltaic cells on the front of a sports hall to save a small amount of energy with an energy indicator for educational purposes.

There was considerable evidence of good, modern management practices as indicated by quality assurance awards such as ’Investor’s in People’, the industry standard ‘Quest’ and some NGB accreditations, but limited evidence of innovation or novel practice in the management of facilities such as a tourist board rating for example. Where innovation had emerged in management practices there was a view from facility staff that this had resulted through close collaboration and working with partners which secured extra funding and maximized use of secondary and related facilities. The best NOPES facilities resulted where there was clear ownership of development which generally occurred when the personnel who were to own the project were involved in design from the outset. From the evidence available the independent consultants concluded that ‘it is apparent that the NOPES funds have been well-managed and carefully spent’.

Impact onparticipation

There were statistically significant increases in the percentage of pupils receiving 2 hours of PE and school sport (which includes extra-curricular activities) from 71% pre- to 81% post-opening of the NOPES facilities (p<0.05). These increases were from 74% to 83% for boys (p<0.05) and from 70% to 80% for girls (p<0.05). At Key Stage 1 these changes were most marked with an increase from 28% to 76% for boys and 28% to 79% for girls (both p<0.05). In addition after the opening of the NOPES facilities, the minutes of curriculum PE was increased for Key Stages 1, 2 and 3 (83 to 98, 88 to 102, 107 to 113 minutes of curriculum PE pre- and post-opening respectively, all p<0.05), participation in extra-curricular activities increased for boys and girls (p<0.05), the number of holiday opportunity hours increased (p<0.05) and the number of community users more than doubled at NOPES project sites (126 to 301 users pre- to post-opening in a typical week, p<0.05). School staff at NOPES schools felt strongly that the quality of PE and school sport had been enhanced, as the high quality facilities had led to more training opportunities, more opportunities for team teaching and the opportunity to teach, and for pupils to learn, a wider range of skills on appropriate surfaces in a welcoming environment which was attracting previously inactive, or less willing to participate, pupils into school PE and sport. Findings from the pupil survey were that following the opening of new sports hall at their school:

  • 67% of pupils agreed they were more active in PE
  • 88% of pupils agreed lessons did not get cancelled
  • 75% of pupils agreed there was a greater range of activities
  • 70% of pupils agreed staff were more enthusiastic
  • 41% of pupils agreed their families used the new facility

In terms of community use, the attraction of families to the new facilities became a key priority for facility managers and effective design practice contributed positively to simultaneous use by school and community groups. The final survey showed that all project types were attracting additional community users with, for example, 453 community users per week at sports hall projects and 120 community users per week at multi-use games areas. The final survey also showed that successful projects continued to develop. Thus projects which had increased community use at one year post-opening, increased community use further by two or three years post-opening. Thus, NOPES portfolios and projects successfully delivered on NOPES outcomes 1 and 3 and seemed likely to continue to develop participation in the future.

Impact on wider social outcomes

The latter project visits in 2007 and 2008 showed that NOPES has impacted favourably on standards in competitive sport and sporting success, on standards in PE and other curriculum areas and on sports leadership awards. In addition there was a positive impact on attitudinal and behavioural changes which facilitated young people becoming more engaged in school and in learning and in achieving (outcome 2, higher standards). For example, the number of young people gaining junior and community sports leaders awards increased from 14 to 20 pre- to post-opening of NOPES projects (p<0.05). Furthermore, via the pupil survey 82% of pupils reported that the new facilities had improved the appearance of their school and 74% of pupils agreed the new facility had made them feel prouder of their school. At case study visits in 2007 interviewees perceived social inclusion to mean ensuring that the facilities and activities were not exclusive in any way on the grounds of gender, age, disability and ethnicity for example. Also in 2007 to a greater extent than earlier in the evaluation, NOPES facilities were identified as ‘hubs’ of their communities and this finding was supported by the pupil survey with 60% of pupils agreeing that a new sports hall at their school made them feel better about the area in which they lived. By 2008 larger projects were considered to be contributing to community regeneration and project staff were targeting particular groups facilitating a more pro-active approach to the promotion of social inclusion (outcome 5, social inclusion).

Conclusion

This large and ambitious programme has successfully delivered on all 6 key outcomes. Key features of this success have been the enthusiasm and commitment of project and local authority staff, the development of effective partnership working, the integration of management systems into existing structures and the synergy of NOPES outcomes with project and local authority aspirations. Particular successes for the programme were the marked improvements in the quality of school PE and Sport and the more than doubling of community use at NOPES project sites.

SECTION TWO:INTRODUCTION

The New Opportunities for PE and Sport programme (NOPES) is a UK-wide £751 million predominately capital investment, designed to improve opportunities for young people and their communities to take part in PE, sport and outdoor adventurous activities. The six key outcomes for the programme are:

  • Improved physical education and sport in schools.
  • Higher standards across the whole school through PE, sport and other forms of structured activity.
  • Better opportunities to increase the levels of physical activity among the school age population and, more generally, local communities.
  • Improved collaboration, co-operation and partnership between schools and their communities.
  • Promotion of social inclusion through access to, and use of, sports and outdoor adventures facilities by all groups in society.
  • Innovation and best practice in the design and management of facilities.

The NOPES programme evaluation was undertaken by the Loughborough Partnership led by the Institute of Youth Sport.

Since the presentation of the year five evaluation annual report in January 2008 there has been continued progress in the completion and opening of projects funded through the Big Lottery Fund NOPES programme. The pattern of project opening has shaped the evaluation activity of the Loughborough Partnership during 2008 and also the preparation of the final report. The record and evaluation of progress included in this report covers not only the last twelve months, but also provides a summative assessment of the impact of the NOPES programme.

The report is organised by country and covers all programme outcomes which are grouped by:

  • partnership effectiveness,
  • impact on participation, and
  • impact on wider social outcomes.

The final report provides an assessment and summary of impact and is augmented by a set of detailed appendices. An additional two working papers were completed this year bringing the total to seven.

Data were gathered by the Loughborough Partnership over the life of the evaluation in a variety of forms including:

  • national baseline and annual surveys
  • core case studies
  • telephone case studies
  • the evaluation of Football Foundation projects funded through NOPES, and
  • additional studies completed by independent consultants focusing on
  • disaffected young people and
  • innovation and best practice in project management and design

Distribution of the Baseline surveys was completed in November 2007 and Annual surveys were distributed until November 2008. The response rates for Baseline and Annual surveys were strong and these surveys have generated valuable data to demonstrate the impact of the NOPES programme. With regard to PE and school sport, the surveys confirmed the increase in the timetabled PE allocation and increases in attendance at extra-curricular activities which were identified in earlier reports. The surveys also provided further evidence of the substantial increases in the usage of school sport facilities beyond the school day after NOPES facilities had opened.

Findings from core case studies support the survey data and enhance the understanding of effective approaches to achieve NOPES outcomes. In addition to the completion of two rounds of portfolio visits, pre-opening, post-opening and final project visits have also taken place. Among the significant findings from the core case studies, which are discussed in more detail in the UK and four home countries’ reports, was the considerable variation in the extent of pre-opening and post-opening support made available by portfolio partnership groups to individual projects. In addition, it was clear that the most effective projects were those which worked closely with existing networks, such as school sport partnerships and specialist sports colleges in England, with which they shared broadly common objectives or which were planning to collaborate with emerging networks, such as those for healthy schools and extended schools.

Regarding other elements of the programme, evaluation data collection and report preparation was completed in a number of areas. First, the final report on the ‘Activities strand’ in Scotland was completed. Second, the final report on the Football Foundation projects was completed in the form of a working paper and an additional working paper on outdoor education projects was completed. Third, the final survey was distributed to projects. Fourth, the production of the series good practice guides was completed with the preparation of the guides on design and innovation and on partnership working.