A new Sport-England funded programme has engaged more than 15,000 school children in regular activity by upskilling lunchtime assistants and other school staff to deliver sessions.

Led by youth activity specialist Fit For Sport, the Engage To Compete programme trained over than 700 school staff in the boroughs of Tower Hamlets and Sandwell to deliver regular physical activity sessions. Lunchtime assistants, teaching assistants, teachers, PE coordinators and senior leadership teams were shown how to engage all children in activity and help them to achieve the CMO guidelines of 60 minutes of activity a day for every child.

With a focus on lunchtime activity – a key time to get children active – 44 schools across the two regions benefited from training and guidance on how to increase physical activity, develop competition and deliver the Engage To Compete challenge: a set of simple challenges to measure children’s physical literacy and fitness levels including stamina, agility and co-ordination.

As a result of Engage To Compete, the schools reported an improvement in children’s behaviour and concentration levels, as well as reductions in staff time spent dealing with incidents from the playground. Children’s activity levels also improved and staff felt more confident to take an active role in play time.

“Being part of the Engage To Compete programme has totally changed the way we run our playground and Fit For Sport has given us a new lease of life with a broad range of ideas on how to engage our pupils in physical activity,” said Joanne Hingley, a PE teacher at St Hubert’s School in Sandwell.

“As well as improvements in the playground, Engage To Compete has resulted in a more positive atmosphere in the classroom too.”

The initiative dovetails with recent reports such as ukactive’s Blueprint for an Active Britain and Public Health England’s What Works in Schools and Colleges to Increase Physical Activity? in calling for physical activity to play a far more prominent role in the school day. Currently, only 21 per cent of boys and 16 per cent of girls aged 5-15 years old meet the recommended guidelines of at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity every day – with participation figures continuing to fall.

Fit For Sport CEO Dean Horridge said the Engage To Compete programme had been able to activate a sustainable programme in schools for less than £11 per child and pointed to a number of other cost-effective activity programmes available to educators.

Fit For Sport has also developed the Healthy Active Schools System – a free online activity measurement tool for schools to track, monitor and evaluate all children’s activity levels in their school – and is also offering a free playground audit to 100 schools interested in creating an active playground. To apply or for more information on the Healthy Active Schools System, contact: [email protected].