2014/15 Skills2Play/Sport programme evaluation

The Primary School Physical Literacy Framework reflects the importance of the development of children’s physical literacy; “the motivation, confidence, knowledge and understanding that provides children with the movement foundation for lifelong participation in physical activity.” It also provides clear guidance as to how schools can maximise opportunities to develop the physical literacy of their pupils. Skills2Play and Skills2PlaySport are two complementary primary school physical literacy initiatives designed to support the objectives of the new Framework. Together they comprise the Skills2Play/Sport programme. Throughout this report the term Skills2Play/Sport refers to the programme, comprising both initiatives (Skills2Play and Skills2PlaySport). The programme consists of training and a resource and equipment package, which includes activity cards for both Skills2Play (blue cards) and Skills2PlaySport (purple cards) supplied to primary school deliverers by the Youth Sport Trust. Skills2Play is targeted at Key Stage 1 (KS1) and focuses on generic skill development through a range of play activities that focus on stability, object control and locomotion. Skills2PlaySport is targeted at lower Key Stage 2 (KS2) and includes multiskill activities that build from the generic skills but also introduce the connectivity with the sports through the development of skills specific to sporting ‘themes’, namely ‘Invasion’, ‘Striking and Fielding’ and ‘Net/Wall’. Further themes are currently at varying stages of development and include ‘Aquatics’, ‘Gymnastics’, ‘Athletics’ and ‘Wheels’.

ABOUT THE EVALUATION
The Centre for Sport, Physical Education & Activity Research (SPEAR) was commissioned by the Youth Sport Trust to conduct an independent evaluation of the Skills2Play/Sport programme between January 2014 and July 2015. The initial stages of the evaluation focused on the pilot programme undertaken in fifty primary schools. In May 2014 SPEAR produced the Pilot Evaluation Report, which captured teachers’ experiences of the training, resources and delivery of the Skills2Play/Sport pilot programme. The programme was then rolled out to 1,000 schools nationally and the objectives of the Evaluation of the national Skills2Play/Sport programme were as follows:

1. To assess how Skills2PlaySport and Skills2Play are being delivered and sustained in primary schools to support children’s physical literacy development.
2. To investigate the impact of Skills2PlaySport on the development of lower Key Stage 2 children’s physical literacy over 12 weeks of the programme.
3. To investigate the impact of Skills2Play on the development of Key Stage 1 children’s physical literacy over 12 weeks of the programme.