For most people, professional development means building new skills, enhancing performance and unlocking opportunities. For teachers and coaches, it means all those things and more.  

Because when you’re boosting children’s physical and mental health, expanding your knowledge base doesn’t just benefit you. It gives pupils a better start in life.  

According to Sport England, physically literate children are more likely to be active for the long term – but more than half of children aged five to 15 in England aren’t doing the recommended daily amount of exercise. 

For many pupils, school provides the mainstay of their physical activity. It’s where they learn Fundamental Movement Skills – from balancing to throwing a ball – that blossom into sporting talents and vital life tools like teamwork and taking part. It’s also where they discover the power of play.  

As an educator, the wider your...

Are you looking to assess your school's PE provision and develop a sustainable strategy for the upcoming academic year? Aspire:ED can help! 

Following the recent announcement from the DfE that the Primary PE and School Sport Premium will continue for the next 2 years, there has never been a better time to use Aspire:ED's PE Deep Dive Toolkit to benchmark your current provision and make long-term improvements. Our toolkit covers all aspects of the PE curriculum, from planning and assessment to best practices in provision. 

The toolkit includes practical guidance, templates, and examples to help you develop a whole-school approach to PE that promotes wellbeing and physical activity. You can be confident that your provision meets the latest government regulations and industry standards, as well as the needs of your pupils. 

We understand that PE provision can be challenging, which is why we have designed this toolkit to make your job easier. Our toolkit can help you...

The foundations of our physical activity behaviours start in the earliest of years.

Children who develop physical literacy in the Early Years are more likely to enjoy being physically active, and they have lower morbidity and mortality across their life course.

Physical activity helps young children meet key physical development milestones, improve body control and strengthen bones and muscles. 

And it’s not just physical development, there’s a growing body of research linking physical activity to cognition and future academic performance.

But the Early Intervention Foundation’s parent polling suggests that less than 1 in 5 under 6s are getting the recommended amount of daily physical activity. 

Time, cost, and access are all barriers to children’s physical activity outside of a learning environment.

And so, it is crucial that children have an abundance of opportunity to be physically active within the learning environment.

Physically active...

It’s part of the national curriculum, boosts physical and mental health, and is both a life and a lifesaving skill.

And yet 1 in 4 children leave school unable to swim.

Primary schools are faced with a multitude of challenges when it comes to delivering swimming and water safety lessons. Funding, teacher training, curriculum pressures, facility access, just to name a few.

The fear is, if action isn’t taken, that 1 in 4 could rise to 6 in 10 children by 2025.

Speedo’s Swim United campaign is calling on the Government to invest in primary school swimming to affect real change.

And we too must unite to take action, to do everything we can to ensure every child has the opportunity to learn to swim.

Which is why we’re delighted to announce that Ashley Jones, Water Safety and Drowning Prevention Manager for Swim England, will be joining us at The Active Primary Schools Conference to deliver a keynote speech.

Ashley is responsible for supporting school...

Birmingham 2022 is ‘The Games for Everyone’.

It’s set to deliver the largest fully integrated para-sport programme in history.

It’s an iconic celebration of sport, one that has the power to inspire children to lead active lives.

So how can you make the most of this momentous event?

Celebrate the most inclusive, fair and progressive multi-sport event in the world with these 13 activities to educate and empower pupils.

Download your free school resource to bring Birmingham 2022 to your school!

This week on the podcast we’re joined by class teacher and PE Coordinator Louisa Mulvey.

Who is Louisa Mulvey?

Louisa is a qualified teacher based in Hampshire. Louisa has been working in primary schools since 2014 where her career began on the sunny, leafy side of Wimbledon Village. Louisa spent three years teaching PE exclusively before qualifying in 2017 where she managed the role of class teacher alongside PE coordinator.

Louisa’s teaching journey began after graduating university armed with a 2:2 in Sports Science and minimal career advice. During summers Louisa worked as a children’s camp manager. The company proceeded to offer Louisa a job as a site manager/PE teacher/lunchtime supervisor/afterschool club manager/ competition coordinator. The following three years saw Louisa manage numerous apprentices alongside the continuation of full-time teaching.

At the beginning of Louisa’s third year in teaching she decided she needed to progress her...

This week on the podcast we welcome two of the team from Wodensfield Primary School, Deputy Headteacher Liam Gould and PE Lead Teresa Shackleton.

Who is Liam Gould?

Liam is Deputy Headteacher of Wodensfield Primary School. Liam has over twenty years’ experience working in schools and leadership roles, but his passion has always been in sport and PE. 

From a young age Liam’s parents provided him with lots of opportunities to play and participate in different sports.  Liam’s first official participation in sport was playing for a local junior football team, as he moved into his teens this expanded to cricket, tennis, table tennis and golf.  This engagement with sports has continued into adulthood. Liam continues to play golf and has a handicap of 5, he coaches his son’s (U12’s) and daughter’s (U9’s) football teams, valuing the chance to provide his own children and their teammates with key opportunities to lead...

In the words of a Key Stage 2 pupil, this week’s podcast guest “is a genius”.

For episode 3 of The Primary PE Huddle, we welcome Tagtiv8  founder Bryn Llewellyn.

Who is Bryn Llewellyn?

Bryn worked in multiple UK schools for over 20 years as a teacher and school leader. In 2012, Bryn founded Tagtiv8. His pioneering approach to Physically Active Learning (PAL) provides a valuable and enjoyable alternative to classroom-based learning – crucial when challenging the increasing problem of sedentary lifestyles.

Research by Leeds Beckett University demonstrates that Tagtiv8 PAL solutions tackle inactivity and obesity levels, as well as impacting positively on academic performance. Following this research, Dr Andy Daly-Smith and Bryn Llewellyn co-delivered their TEDx Talk.

And Bryn’s work doesn’t stop there, he’s also co-director of Move & Learn (CIC), and education consultant for the BBC and Premier League...