Creating Active Schools

A young child is playing hopscotch on an outdoor playground, stepping forward on a chalk‑drawn grid marked with letters and symbols on the tarmac. Another child is partly visible to the side, and a stone wall, metal gate, and playground area can be seen in the background.

Creating Active Schools: embedding movement across school life

Launched in spring 2021 as part of work led by Active Calderdale and aligned with Sport England, Calderdale’s Creating Active Schools programme has grown to support 57 schools, including three secondary schools, a secondary specialist school and an alternative provider.

Using the Creating Active Schools framework, the programme helps schools embed physical activity across the whole school system, rather than treating it as an isolated subject or intervention.

A bespoke, whole-school model

Each school co-produces an action plan through staff workshops and leadership engagement. Plans are tailored to each setting’s needs, including facilities, demographics, and priorities, and are designed to:

Be realistic and low-impact on staff workload
Embed activity across the curriculum and school culture
Align with wider school improvement priorities
Ensure long-term sustainability through leadership commitment

Schools also receive access to a shared resource library and examples of effective practice, supporting continuous improvement and collaboration across the borough.

Linking activity, learning and wellbeing

Now part of Calderdale’s Healthy Schools offer, the programme connects physical activity with mental health, emotional wellbeing, and nutrition.

Schools report improved understanding of the link between movement and wellbeing, alongside a reduction in referrals to external mental health support services. This is supported through Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and resources co-developed with education professionals and Mental Health Support Teams, helping staff use activity to support self-regulation and life skills.

Workshops and online resources are also being developed to strengthen practice in this area.

Stacked bar chart titled “Teacher’s Perceived Impact on Behaviour” showing five areas: Learning Attitude, Sustained Engagement, Attainment, Behaviour in Class, and Behaviour out of Class. In all areas, the majority of responses are positive (roughly two‑thirds to nearly nine‑tenths), with smaller portions reporting no change and very small negative responses. Positive impact is highest for sustained engagement and learning attitude, and lowest for behaviour out of class.

Impact on schools engaging with the CAS programme

Early Years and Wider Workforce Impact

Through Calderdale Healthy Early Years, the approach is extended into nurseries and early years settings, focusing on physical development, play, and school readiness in an increasingly digital world.

A wider system approach is also in place through “Active Conversations” training for professionals, including school nurses, health visitors, and midwives. Early results show:

85% of practitioners now include active conversations in their work
92% report confidence in positive impact

A young child wearing a purple padded coat, white shirt, dark skirt, tights, and black boots steps forward while playing on a painted playground grid outdoors. Other children and playground equipment are visible out of focus in the background, with school buildings behind them.

"In a short space of time, the Active Schools programme has been transformational of culture at Sacred Heart. Children, families and staff alike have already seen the positive impact that a balanced, healthy and active lifestyle can have on emotional health and wellbeing and teaching and learning. Our children have enjoyed new challenges and experiences and our teachers now include more active opportunities in each lesson each day."

Alex Hudson-Crook, Headteacher, Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy, Sowerby Bridge

“One of our school priorities was to look at ways to enhance our provision to provide an environment that promotes positive wellbeing for our pupils, staff and families. After hearing about CAS at a Primary Heads meeting, I immediately saw how the programme would support our aims at New Road. It was important that the introduction of more active learning was easy to implement and didn’t increase the workload of teachers or add to the demands of an already busy daily timetable."

Sharon Harwood, Headteacher, New Road Primary School, Sowerby Bridge

A group of young children stand in a circle inside a school hall, raising their hands while taking part in an activity led by adults. The hall has a wooden floor, light-coloured walls, small chairs along one side, and visible school fixtures including a wall clock, a cross, and a door with an exit sign.

Inclusion and Future Focus

A key priority moving forward is ensuring that all children and young people benefit from high-quality physical activity experiences, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

A developing CPD and resource offer is focused on:

Inclusive physical activity provision
Developing fundamental movement skills and confidence
Supporting positive experiences for all pupils
Strengthening life skills through movement

Looking Ahead

Calderdale’s Creating Active Schools programme continues to evolve as a joined-up, system-wide approach that brings together education, health, and community services. By embedding physical activity into school culture and wider support systems, it is helping to improve:

Physical health
Mental wellbeing
Confidence, resilience, and life skills

At its heart, the programme is about creating environments where movement is a natural, everyday part of growing up, supporting children not just to be active, but to thrive.

CAS Impact report

Download

See the difference education providers can make

Read some of our case studies to see how education providers like you are already making a difference as part of Active Calderdale, by making it easier for people to move more.