Conference Workshops

Workshop Title:  How Can We Turn Physical Literacy Into Practice?

Delivered by: Sport England and the Youth Sport Trust

This workshop will explore the new physical literacy consensus statement for England and how this might be applied in practice. The statement offers a broad overview of physical literacy, why it matters and how it can be developed and supported.

Developing consensus on the term physical literacy has been a priority for Sport England, as understanding what impacts people’s relationship with movement and physical activity throughout life will enable those working in the sector to ensure their offer is as appealing as possible.

About the tutor:                                               

Emma Mackenzie-Hogg is National Development Manager for Primary Education at the Youth Sport Trust, the UK’s leading charity for improving every young person’s education and development through PE, sport and physical activity by equipping educators and empowering young people to build a brighter future.

Working in and with a range of education and school networks, Emma brings a wealth of insight, perspective and experience that transcends the education and sport sectors. She was a member of the physical literacy consensus for England expert panel, is a physical literacy advocate as part of the physical literacy collective for England, an action group lead for the physical literacy working group as part of the school sport and activity sector forum and a member of the home nations physical literacy forum. She cares deeply about genuinely making a difference to the lives of young people and knows through personal experience the power that sport can have to change lives.

Workshop Title:  Active Start – a Programme for EYFS and KS1

Tutor: Kelly Alty - Active Cumbria

Content:

This workshop will provide a snapshot of our Active Start programme.

• Learn how to support a child’s physical development
• Understand how physical activity impacts on all other development areas
• Trial activities which demonstrate how to deliver the EYFS and KS1 curriculum through physical activity and movement

Following attendance, delegates will be invited to book on our full CPD opportunities.

About the tutor: 

Kelly Alty is Active Cumbria’s Early Years Lead. With a background in community development and health promotion, Kelly joined the team in 2015. Over the years she has been instrumental in rolling out our work in the early years, including being one of the first Active Partnerships to pilot the Youth Sport Trust’s ‘Healthy Movers’ programme. Most recently, Kelly has led on the Active Start programme, collaborating on a vast array of resources that integrate movement and physical activity into the wider curriculum and providing comprehensive training and support to EYFS and KS1 professionals. 

Workshop:  Progressive Dance Lessons in Primary Education

Tutor: Eve Murphy - Dance to School 

Content:

This fun, engaging session will cover the basic building blocks of dance, and provide attendees with a variety of practical ideas to take back to school:

• What should be included in a dance
• How a dance lesson should be structured
• How to use different themes and stimuli to engage every child
• How to confidently deliver a unit of work (without dancing yourself!)

All attendees will receive free lesson plans.

About the tutor: 

Eve Murphy is an industry expert with over 20 years’ experience. She is a PE teacher, former SSCO, and founder of Dance to School www.dancetoschool.com. She is a passionate advocate of the importance of dance for all children, and is a firm believer that you do not need to be a good dancer to teach curriculum dance lessons, just a good teacher.

Eve works nationwide with a large number of organisations including Schools, Universities and SCITTS, and is committed to building teacher confidence and subject knowledge in order to ensure every child is given the opportunity to experience the many physical, social, emotional and cognitive benefits of high-quality curriculum dance.

Workshop:  Physical Activity to Raise Attainment in Maths

Tutor: Jon Smedley - Teach Active 

Content:

With Well-being and maths being two key areas for schools, learn how Active Maths lessons are transforming attitudes and attainment, whilst also creating healthier and happier children.

The workshop will provide teachers with the ‘Why’ and ‘How’ to introduce Active Maths alongside their existing curriculum – as well as giving them all access to the Teach Active resource to try back in the classroom. Described by Headteachers as ‘the best’, ‘the most impactful’ and ‘the most sustainable’ use of PE and Sport Funding to raise whole school improvement, Teach Active is perhaps something all schools should consider and try. 

About the tutor: 

Jon Smedley is an educational consultant with over 25 years’ experience within education. He has been a teacher, Local Authority Advisor and Deputy Headteacher and now works with schools all over the UK and Internationally.

Jon has a passion for using physical activity as a catalyst and vehicle for raising attitudes and attainment in Maths and English lessons.

Jon has authored articles and CPD on the benefits of active learning and has worked with schools across the UK and Internationally – upskilling thousands of teachers and impacting hundreds of thousands of children.

His company ‘Teach Active’ was founded in 2015 and works in partnership with Loughborough University, carrying out research with schools and gathering feedback from teachers. Findings show schools working with Jon and his team report back lessons are 33% more active, children are significantly happier and children are attaining better. Furthermore, lessons develop children’s emotional and mental well-being. 

Workshop:  Mental & Emotional Wellbeing

Tutor:  Anji Andrews (pictured) + Dr Vicky Randall - Stormbreak

Content:

Workshop for Mentally Healthy Movement: A whole school approach 

Join the Stormbreak team to find out more about the work done by their charity to support the mental health and wellbeing of primary aged pupils up and down the country. Learn to create happier, healthier humans through equipping children aged 4-11 with the skills they need to recognise their emotions, respond to their feelings and regulate their behaviours as they grow. Discover how your school can use mentally healthy movement and become part of the stormbreak family. 

About the tutor: 

Anji is a qualified primary school teacher with 14 years’ experience teaching in the North East of England and a specialist Early Years and PE leader. Anji later moved into running coaching and communications in athletics, including for the Marathon Talk podcast. Her first book "Running in the Midpack", co authored by Dr Martin Yelling, was published by Bloomsbury Sport in February 2021. Anji’s role at stormbreak is school engagement coach and community manager, supporting the delivery of work in schools and the management of marketing and community within stormbreak.

Workshop:  PESSP Good Practice

Tutor: Dr Vicky Randall - Stormbreak

Content:

In this workshop Vicky will guide colleagues through the key areas of the Primary PE and Sport Premium funding and explore examples of good practice to ensure sustainable impact in your school.  The session is a great opportunity to look at how money is currently being spent, how this could be monitored and evidenced and consider your plans for the 2024/25 academic year.  Vicky has researched and written about the Primary PE and Sport Premium for over a decade, acted as a DfE adviser for the funding and worked with subject leaders across Hampshire to support the Premium planning.  She will be happy to answer any questions you have in the session and facilitate time to discuss key issues with other delegates. This session is designed for Head Teachers and PE subject leaders. 

About the tutor: 

Dr Vicky Randall is Programme Manager at the children’s mental health charity stormbreak and Education and Research Consultant at PE Scholar.  She has over 20 years’ experience teaching and coordinating physical education in schools and higher education.  Vicky has worked across many national and European professional networks to promote and develop primary physical education teacher education, including the Department for Education-formed Physical Education Expert Subject Advisory Group, the European Primary Physical Education Network and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on a Fit and Healthy Childhood. She is convenor of the Primary Physical Education Teacher Education Network (PETEN), co-founder of the Primary Physical Education Assembly (PPEA). Vicky has published widely on primary physical education and initial teacher education. 

Workshop: The Future for PE Curriculum Design – Learning Led not Sports Led

Tutor: Chris Brammall - The FA 

Content:

In this workshop Chris will take you through the principles that the 2022 & 2023 Ofsted reviews and the latest PE research are focused on to help evolve your schools’ curriculum map. It will include practical hints and tips for moving to an inclusive PE offer for all and away from that technical sport style syllabus.

About the tutor: 

Chris is a qualified teacher who spent ten years teaching Primary PE in two schools in Yorkshire. Since 2013 he has worked in a PE teacher training role delivering on ITE programmes in Universities across the North West. Chris’s work also includes delivering CPD for qualified Primary Teachers and Secondary PE staff in Schools and supporting the School Games Organisers with PE workshops. Chris is currently mid-way through his Doctorate in Physical Education, holds the UEFA A licence in Football and is a School Governor at the village Primary School where he lives in South Lakes.

Workshop(s):  Lesley will be delivering two workshops:

1. Putting Health and Wellbeing at the Heart of the Primary Curriculum

2. Unpicking the Ofsted PE Subject Report

Tutor: Lesley Minervini 

Content: 1. Putting Health and Well Being at the Heart of the Primary Curriculum

(Practical ideas to establish a whole-school approach)

Modern life has been chipping away at children’s happiness and physical health for years.

This workshop is designed to redress that situation: getting you asking the right questions to gently ignite the embers of ideas and give a starting point for meaningful change for children in your school.

Content: 2. Unpicking the recent Ofsted PE Subject Report

Levelling the Playing Field was published in September 2023. In this workshop Lesley will take you through the key findings and discuss how we might use this evidence to shape our curriculum provision.

About the tutor: 

Lesley Minervini is an Independent consultant with over 25 years of experience working in education. Lesley has worked with teachers and coaches both nationally and internationally. She is passionate about child development and ensuring children are provided with the right building blocks to achieve their potential. She has authored many resources and courses including – Curriculum Companion for Early Years, Curriculum Companion for PE and A Recovery Curriculum for a Safe and Successful return to school for Chris Quigley Education. Healthy Movers Take Home Pack and Start to Move Cards for YST and the Active Cumbria - Active Start Programme Resources for parents, EYFS Practitioners and KS1 Teachers.

Workshop:  Inclusion in PE and School Sport for the Neurodivergent Young Person

Tutor: Hilary Stephenson – YST Lead Inclusion School

Content:

• Introduction to Neurodiversity
• Highlighting the barriers to participation, including the unconscious bias
• Inclusion for all – potential adaptation options and resources available for a bespoke and progressive provision, promoting a strength-based approach, support strategies and principles available for ensuring positive participation for all.

About the tutor: 

Hilary has a lifelong passion and enthusiasm for sport and physical activity. Her vocational ambition is to enable and empower all young people to access the multifaceted benefits that PE and School Sport has to offer. Hilary has 16 years’ PE Teaching experience in Yorkshire and Cumbria, 8 years’ School Sport Coordinator and Community Sports Development Officer for Garforth Academy Leeds, 13 Years of Primary PE specialist teaching and advisor and 5 Years’ SEND teaching experience EYFS to Post 16. This is her second year of working with the wonderful Youth Sport Trust and super Sandside Lodge school to develop inclusion for all young people in PE and School Sport across Cumbria.