Calderdale PE and Physical Activity Conference 2023

Calderdale PE and Physical Activity Conference 2023

January saw the inaugural Calderdale PE and Physical Activity Conference, organised by Yorkshire Sport Foundation, where thirty PE Leads, senior leaders and headteachers met at The Shay Stadium for a day of keynote addresses and interactive workshops.

Hosted by Alex Ogden, Yorkshire Sport Foundation’s Education and School Sport Manager, the event began with a presentation from Active Calderdale’s Programme Manager, Richard Croker, who explained the strategies and projects that Active Calderdale are leading and funding to support people in Calderdale to be more physically active. With Educational Settings being one of the focus areas to implement an Active strategy, Active Calderdale have funded an Education Project Manager to develop and lead on programmes to support schools, nurseries, children’s centres, and colleges to have an ethos and environment where physical activity is encouraged, embedded and celebrated. This message was backed by presentations from three of Calderdale’s Creating Active Schools Champions, schools who have embedded physical activity into the school day and beyond through initiatives that include active lessons that have seen improved learning and attainment, after school clubs for pupils and their parents and carers, and brain breaks designed to energise pupils and boost readiness to learn. Each of the schools said how easy it had been to implement the programme and that the pupils had embraced it, with teachers reporting positive impacts on learning, attainment, behaviour, concentration, and resilience.

Delegates also learned about the upcoming Healthy Schools Award which will recognise a school’s commitment to and delivery of initiatives that support students’ physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing. Introduced by Becky Greenwood, Public Health Practitioner with Calderdale MBC, she explained that the Award system had been created in conjunction with schools and, following a successful pilot with a small number primary and secondary schools, will launch in early February. Like the Creating Active Schools programme, which itself forms part of the Award, the Healthy Schools Award is entirely free of charge and open to all schools in the borough.

The keynote address was given by Steve Caldecott from the Association for PE who spoke about ‘Reframing an Ambitious PE Curriculum’ and further presentations included an example of active learning from Move and Learn, and the work of the borough’s School Games Organisers.

Feedback on the conference was very positive with attendees saying how much they enjoyed it and what a valuable benefit it had been to their position as PE and Physical Activity Leads in their school with one delegate commenting ‘[it] was superb and very useful’. The first of its kind in Calderdale’s history, plans are already underway for the 2024 event.

In between the presentations delegates were treated to a series of workshops where they could learn how to survive an OFSTED deep dive into PE, tips on enhancing their curriculum, and had opportunity to experience various activities such as team building and skipping that could be included in PE lessons.