This year's WMPESS conference will be held on 12^th November in Edgbaston. For those who have been following the journey of this exciting event, you will probably know that two of our keynote speakers have already been announced. Our final keynote speaker for this year's conference has now been confirmed and we are delighted to announce that Greg Dryer will be presenting on 'Supporting all your pupils in developing a physical activity habit'.

In this keynote you will have a chance to think about:

• The key messages children hear about physical activity and whether or not they are effective
• How we might be able to present physical activity in a more inclusive way to support more children
• How this would play out in curriculum content and in school sport and physical activity

Greg will also be leading a workshop: Defining (and staying in) our lane.

He explains: “Physical education, school sport and physical activity is pulled from pillar to post by policy makers, the media and ...

The West Midlands PE and School Sport Conference is only a few weeks away and we are thrilled to be able to show you the agenda for the day. We’ve packed a lot into a single day to make it really worth your while coming along.

Take a look at the agenda below and you’ll see there are keynote speakers, three sessions where you will have a choice of practical or theoretical workshops, several opportunities for networking, and plenty of refreshment and movement breaks. 

We will be welcoming Caroline Sidell as a keynote speaker, presenting on the important topic of Building a whole school wellbeing strategy.

‘Wellbeing’ is a term that has been used to describe a multitude of activities and can mean different things to different people. Caroline is here to help you make sure what you’re doing is meaningful and will have a positive and lasting impact on your school community.

Caroline is the perfect person to talk about health and wellbeing in schools. She has a background as a...

As a former international gymnast competing for Great Britain and England for over 10 years, there aren’t many people more qualified to lead a gymnastics workshop than Ryan Bradley.

Now the Director of RB Gym & Sport, Ryan works to develop and enhance the teaching of gymnastics in schools, to support both teachers and pupils.

At the 2019 conference, Ryan’s practical workshops were extremely well received so we are thrilled to welcome him back this year to lead sessions on the Fundamentals of Primary Gymnastics.

Many teachers tell us that they lack confidence in teaching gymnastics, so if balances and rolls, horses and beams fill you with fear then you are not alone. Ryan is a pro at providing opportunities for teachers to learn by doing and can answer your questions during the session.

If you want to improve the delivery of gymnastics in your school, then you won’t want to miss this one. You’ll come away with actionable ideas and inspiration to get those mats back out a...

We’re excited to announce that the inspirational Crichton Casbon will be leading not one, but TWO unmissable workshops at this year’s WMPESS conference.

• Great Teaching in PE
• Assessment in PE – made simple and usable

If you’re looking to make your PE lessons more memorable and meaningful, or wondering how to make assessing PE more than just a hoop to jump through, then these workshops are for you.

Crichton is a curriculum designer with a specialism in Physical Education and he really knows his stuff!

Crichton managed the implementation of the secondary curriculum in England for QCA and directed the PE and School Sport (PESS) project as part of the Government’s national strategy for PE and Sport. He has led the development of three national curriculum programmes of study in PE, national schemes of work and co-authored a book on assessment in PE. A former teacher of PE, geography and English, he has also worked as a LEA Adviser for PE, a School Improvement Adviser and a...

How do you know if your school’s primary PE, sport and physical activity (PESSPA) is high-quality?

Is it what it needs to be in order to equip children with the knowledge, skills and confidence to lead healthy lives?

To work this out, you need to objectively measure it against the Department for Education’s five key indicators.

But this throws up challenges.

For one, how can you make sure you’re being objective?

Also, what is actually meant by “measure”, practically speaking?

And even if you could reach an objective result, what do you do then?

All of this is solved by the new Primary School PE Scorecard.

What is the Primary School PE Scorecard?

40 quick-fire questions you can answer in under 5 minutes.

The Scorecard benchmarks your current PESSPA offering against the DfE’s five key indicators.

Created by primary school PE and children’s activity specialists, the bespoke algorithm measures the quality of your school’s offering, calculating a percentage for each indicato...

Continued Professional Development (CPD) makes several appearances in 7 top tips for spending the Primary PE and Sport Premium.

(Shout-out to the Association for Physical Education (afPE), Youth Sport Trust and Active Partnerships for putting this together.)

Why is CPD a sustainable use of the primary PE and sport premium?  

CPD directly relates to point three of DfE’s five key indicators of effective PE and sport premium spending. But, when you look at the other four, it’s clear that CPD can contribute to achieving all five. 

By increasing the confidence, knowledge and skills of all staff in teaching PE and sport:

• more children can be engaged in regular physical activity
• the profile of PE and sport can be raised across the school as a tool for whole-school improvement
• broader experience of a range of sports and activities can be offered
• and increased participation in competitive sport can be achieved.

It all starts with confident, knowledgeable and skilful teac...

In response to the market’s need to provide more accessible and flexible training opportunities for primary school teachers keen to enhance physical education provision, Aspire has launched Aspire:ED.

Aspire:ED delivers on-demand training through digital technology, making it possible for teachers to train anytime, anywhere and on any device

Paul Griffiths, Owner at Aspire and creator of Aspire:ED, explains: “Even before the pandemic, busy educators found it difficult to make time for professional development. Now, whilst schools focus on the maintenance of a safe environment during the global pandemic, this issue is compounded.

“Schools are reluctant to allow external training providers on site, many schools are battling low staffing levels whilst teachers isolate and the provision of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for teachers has slipped down the priority list.

“Despite the challenges, the importance of CPD, especially in the area of  Physical Education ...

Design your primary school’s physical curriculum with this easy-to-use process.

A process based around Ofsted’s new inspection framework which Crichton Casbon, internationally recognised expert in the physical curriculum, will take you through in the webinar:

The Importance of a Powerful Physical Curriculum

Thursday 26^th November at 4pm

Join Crichton and Dan Hays, Development Executive at Aspire, as they chat live about the effectiveness of a quality physical curriculum and give you the steps to achieve this at your primary school.

Save your seat here!

What you will learn:

• The steps of setting out intentions for your children – what you want children to learn and become as young people
• How to use the four tools available to you to implement your physical curriculum – Time, Place, People and Pedagogy
• How to measure and build on your impact with a simple 6-step process

Plus, all delegates that sign up and join us for the webinar will receive two FREE res...

School is many children’s only chance to be active.

And being in the midst of a pandemic in which restrictions abound, this is ever more pressing.

Lockdown number one saw a drastic drop in children’s activity levels, with only 19% meeting the recommended 1 hour of physical activity per day.

Since returning to school in September, children have been 47% more physically active. 

As we write this, however, we’ve entered lockdown number two spanning November and edging into December.

Lockdown two has one significant difference though, schools are to remain open. But, with sports clubs closing and time outside limited, the pressure on schools to keep children’s activity levels up weighs heavy.

To support schools, the Association for Physical Education (afPE), Active Partnerships and Youth Sport Trust have put together 'Covid-19 and school funding: 7 top tips for spending the Primary PE and Sport Premium'. Used effectively, this funding has the potential to support and significantly im...