Wendy Riley

Daily physical activity is essential for children’s health and happiness, and at a time when too many children are already inactive it’s extremely concerning to see nearly two-thirds of parents believe their children’s physical activity levels will drop over the winter months. The Government’s new Let’s Move campaign, supported by @Sport_England, is a welcome attempt to tackle inactivity by signposting families towards ways to embed movement into daily life. The learnings and insights from the pilot, including understanding the potential of place-based approaches to drive long-term systemic change, can help inform our collective desire to make sure every child has an active start to life. Parents understandably highlight challenges posed by wet weather and darker evenings in winter as barriers to being active outside the school day. It’s therefore essential to fully harness the potential of schools to improve children's relationships with physical activity, establish healthy habits that extend beyond the school environment, and provide vital opportunities for them to be active all year round, through PE, sport and play. The Youth Sport Trust has highlighted the potential of the new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network, Enrichment Framework and Curriculum and Assessment Review to give every child equal access to high-quality PE, sport and play at school. This can be the cornerstone of a comprehensive, cohesive offer providing daily opportunities to be active in schools, communities and at home to send activity levels soaring and build a future where every child can access the life changing benefits of play and sport. Read more here: gov.uk/government/new… #LetsMove #PhysicalActivity

Alongside our friends over at @afPE_PE, we have welcomed the publication of the Curriculum and Assessment Review’s final report and the Government’s response to the recommendations, calling for today to turn the page on a new chapter for Physical Education (PE), school sport and play. 🙌 “Movement has a central role in cognitive development and performance, physical activity is essential to health and wellbeing, while play and sport are invaluable contexts for social development and the acquisition of life skills. Today’s announcements respond to our call - PE and school sport are not optional extras, they must serve the needs of every child," @AliOliverYST, Youth Sport Trust CEO. ❤️ As a children's charity, we welcome this response and look forward to seeing the positive changes that will happen as a result. Read more here: youthsporttrust.org/news-listings/… #SchoolSport #PE #Curriculum

Last Month was the first ever Derbyshire Forest Games for young people aged 7-10, many of which may not usually get the chance to be active outdoors. The day was full of activities and an opportunity to spend time outdoors. makingourmove.org.uk/news/first-eve… #derbyshireschoolgames