Physical development - A new model

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In Manchester, children have below-average school-readiness scores and low levels of physical activity – with a quarter doing less than 30 minutes of activity each week in 2015, according to Sport England data. Settings tend to rely on external activity providers to fill the ‘physical development’ gap, which was compromising their ability to contribute directly, and take responsibility for, their children’s health and well-being. With 225,000 children under five in Greater Manchester, there was significant room for improvement.

Prior to 2015 some groundwork in this area had been done by Manchester GreaterSport, a charity set up to promote physical development for people of all ages. But lack of grassroots information meant creating an effective training model proved more challenging than anticipated. So, Sharon Skade, under-fives development officer for the charity, tried to find out which particular issues needed to be addressed.

She and her team discovered there was:

• no consensus of approach to supporting physical development – even within established chains – and often this topic was avoided in planning meetings
• a general lack of underpinning knowledge of physical development and an inability to make meaningful connections between theory and practice
• a myth that physical development only occurs outside, and that it ‘just happens’ as children are ‘always on the move’
• an absence of positive, physically active role models in settings.

In response, she created a three-hour training session with follow-up training. This proved to be inadequate and the team began to extend their own CPD and attend lectures and conferences.

The early years team also began to form relationships with local health visitors, physiotherapists, Children’s Centre staff and KS1 teachers to better understand a range of perspectives. A Twitter account was created to raise the profile of their objectives and to highlight the critical importance of physical activity to physical development.

It became clear that what was needed was a designated physical development ‘champion’ in every early years setting – someone who could promote and be responsible for physical development within the EYFS. Training for this role would have to be relevant, manageable and sustainable – built on local evidence, amenities and relationships.

The training model:

• Three sessions: 3 hours, 2 hours, 2 hours.
• Two ‘network evenings’ at which attendance is compulsory.
• A closed Facebook group provides continuing support.
• Continued contact with the trainer (Sharon Skade).

SESSION 1: 3 hours

This session follows a workshop format – with a mix of group discussion and Powerpoint presentation. Throughout, there is an emphasis on the practical application. Key points under discussion are:

• To understand the critical role of physical activity and active play in children’s development.
• How physical activity may be promoted using age/stage appropriate apparatus, games and activities.
• How to make meaningful connections between physical development/activity and all areas of the EYFS.
• How to make small but significant changes in the environment to promote continual provision for physical activity.
• To cite one idea for change that may be implemented immediately.

Homework is ‘What makes a good physical development champion?’, to be discussed at the second training session four weeks later.

This is not a ‘tick-list’ but provides some pointers to get started:

• Take before and after pictures of your setting.
• Audit resources on site – what supports or compromises opportunities for physical development/physical activity.
• Create a physical development/physical activity display.
• Share knowledge with others including parents.
• Reflect on why activities are set up in certain ways – could children access them differently?
• Identify any changes in children’s development/behaviour prompted by the changes you make.
• Research relevant articles.

SESSION 2: 2 hours

This is a group discussion. Common experiences are discussed:

What worked, what didn’t – and why?

Reactions from parents and colleagues to any changes made.

What observation techniques work best?

How to monitor and evaluate the impact of change.

Homework is to write a personal case study of the impact that changes in physical development practice have had on children, colleagues and parents. Feed back to the group in training session 3.

SESSION 3: 2 hours

A group discussion six weeks after session 2 in which the prepared case studies are analysed. Practitioners discuss:

• What is the vision for physical development within your setting?
• What support do you think you may need to achieve it?
• What issues and barriers may still need to be addressed (with parents/ colleagues)?

Two network evenings follow–at which attendance is mandatory and considered an important component of the training. These events take place within the year that training is completed:

• The sessions are led by attendees, although the trainer is also present in a facilitating role.
• Local issues and solutions are aired and discussed.
• A safe space is provided to share concerns and celebrate successes.
• The trainer is able to organise follow-up visits to settings if needed.

Why is this training model replicable?

• A significant amount of local evidence-gathering was undertaken before determining the most appropriate training model for the demographic.
• Input from a range of local professionals already engaged with young children provided vital supporting knowledge.
• Meaningful relationships were created by the early years physical development team to create smoother interactions between health and education bodies.
• The three training sessions take place at intervals – so there is adequate time to implement ideas, evaluate, reflect and feed back.
• The group remains unchanged so strong personal and professional bonds are formed that provide long-term support – the closed Facebook page is an additional support.
• Material is challenging but not overwhelming – prior learning is recognised and skills the attendees already have (e.g. communication, planning, reviewing, reflecting) form the basis for extending physical development practice – they therefore start from a position of strength, not anxiety.
• Attendees can make immediate, manageable changes in their settings and evaluate the impact of ‘marginal gains’.
• The trainer remains available to offer support and guidance.

Case study 1: Jan A, a Primary school reception teacher writes:

‘Following the training, I challenged all staff to ensure their activities are sedentary for as little time as possible. I’ve also evaluated our practice and realised that they aren’t always aware of the next steps to progress a child’s physical development.

Each week, we now focus on two/three skills to develop and staff plan activities accordingly as they have a clearer understanding now of what the child should be able to do. We now have an ‘environment session’ every week that gives children the freedom to develop their physical skills outdoors. We’ve also introduced daily initiatives – movement videos such as GoNoodle, brain breaks and dough disco and have seen improvements as a result.

We had a lot of furniture and found many of our activities involved sitting at tables. Whilst we couldn’t physically change the layout of the classroom, we could remove tables from certain areas which we did. Also, by introducing the daily activities mentioned we are able to keep the children physically active throughout the day.’

Case study 2: Pat C, head of a pack-away setting in a church hall, writes:

Upon returning from the first session of the physical development course, I held a meeting with the staff to discuss ways to tweak what we were already doing.

We decided to:

• remove all chairs from around the table activities in the hall
• split up the carpets in the main area of the hall to give more space for running around
• look at our smallest chairs – were they small enough to ‘ground’ children?
• discuss ways to incorporate midline, spatial awareness and tummy-time into ‘huff and puff’ sessions
• introduce ‘finger time’
• allow children to remove their shoes and socks during free play.

What happened?

• More children are now accessing table activities, standing at the table as staff kneel next to them if necessary.
• Running has increased in both directions as we now allow it rather than all the same way.
• Boxes have been placed under our tables for children to put their feet on for snack/lunchtimes, leading to less wriggling and disruption at the tables.
• Tummy-time has been an eye-opener – the number of children who are unable to hold their feet up is incredible, so we work on this core strength every day.
• Individual dough pots have been made for ‘finger time’ – small balls have been introduced for rolling up and down bodies and between hands; large balls are used for kicking and catching; bat and ball sets went to the charity shop.
• The removal of shoes and socks has led to far more physical play. Children are moving more, faster and changing position. They are now asking for balancing/jumping to be more challenging – both wider and higher.

Impact

• So far 2,500 children aged under seven in Stockport have benefited directly.
• Sustainable relationships have been formed across different professional disciplines that support information sharing when appropriate.
• There has been a positive shift in the relationships created between early years and KS1 teachers.
• Schools are adopting a more collaborative approach with feeder nurseries to address school-readiness issues and better understand the physical development needs of Reception children.
• Possibilities are emerging to share resources – one school is now a designated ‘hub’ for physical development training.

See what use Bertram Nursery Group made of the training at https://bit.ly/2zjFlzr