It’s in line with the national primary curriculum. It helps children master fundamental movement skills. And it can be transformative in its impact on a child’s physical, emotional, cognitive and social development.

And yet gymnastics is barely covered in initial teacher training.

As a result, it’s seen as a difficult and dangerous sport to teach, with teachers left apprehensive about delivering lessons.

But with the developmental benefits it offers, gymnastics is an essential component of the primary curriculum.

So how do you move from fearing the sport to making it one of your favourite to teach?

With this brand new course from Ryan Bradley, former international gymnast and founder and director of RB Gym & Sport.

What will you learn?

The course gives you the skills, knowledge and confidence to plan, teach and assess primary gymnastics.

It’s broken down into three modules. Module 1 focuses on KS1 gymnastics skills and progressions, Module 2 covers KS2, and Module 3 looks at ad...

We’re delighted to announce our third and final keynote speaker at this year’s conference is Will Roberts, Chief Operating Officer of Youth Sport Trust. 

Having experience in the fitness industry and as a sports coach in his home city of Stoke-on-Trent, Will moved into an NGB before joining the Youth Sport Trust team. Now Chief Operating Officer, Will continues to be actively involved in sport in his local community in North Staffordshire as a volunteer coach and club leader.

Will joins us on 25^th November to share his expertise in a keynote speech titled:

The critical ingredient: ensuring physical literacy for young people in challenging times

Where can you get a ticket?

Head over here to find out more about this year’s conference in Birmingham.

Aspire:ED members get exclusive discounts!

Find out more about our membership.

How can you get children engaged in learning, improve their concentration, increase their confidence, make concepts easier to understand and raise attainment?

Get them up and on the move.

Not only is physically active learning proven to facilitate learning, it also boosts physical activity and reduces sedentary time.

And looking at the current picture of children and young people’s health and wellbeing, this is crucial.

• 3 million children and young people now do less than an average of 30 minutes of physical activity a day
• 94,000 fewer children and young people are active compared to pre-pandemic levels
• The number of children with a probable mental health disorder has increased from one in nine in 2017 to one in six in 2021

It’s vital we create accessible, engaging and inclusive opportunities for children and young people to be active. Physically active learning is one way of doing just that.

But where do you start?

Take part in Andrew Stanton’s workshop at this year’s con...

What makes simple and effective assessment?

Join Crichton Casbon, Education Consultant, at this year’s conference to develop your understanding of the three stages of assessment.

Who is Crichton Casbon?

Crichton Casbon M.Ed (Curriculum Studies) is an internationally recognised expert in the physical curriculum.

Recognising the exceptional ability of physical activity to bring happiness, health and success, Crichton’s passion drives his esteemed work in the sector as teacher, advisor, researcher, author and consultant.

Crichton is a curriculum designer with a specialism in Physical Education.

Crichton managed the implementation of the secondary curriculum in England for QCA and directed the PE and School Sport (PESS) project as part of the Government’s national strategy for PE and Sport. Crichton has led the development of three national curriculum programmes of study in PE, national schemes of work and co-authored a book on assessment in PE. A former teacher of PE, geography and ...

What’s your school’s view of break time?

If your first thought is “hard work”, you’re not alone.

Break time is seen as needing to be short and tightly managed by many schools as a result of poor behaviour and the pressure to cover an ever-expanding curriculum and raise attainment.

The purpose of break time can be unclear; there’s a lack of clarity around how it can support school aims and children’s development.

A lot of schools lack the resources to run activities at break, and even if the equipment is there, the lack of training for staff means supervising is done at a distance.

The absence of things to do means children can get bored and they’re left without an effective outlet for their bounds of energy. The result? Behaviour issues, fall-outs, incidents and injuries. 

And so, lunch breaks are being made shorter and afternoon breaks seem to be disappearing.

But quality break times can be key to the physical, social, cognitive, personal and emotional development of children.

As a dance specialist with 20 years of experience working in primary schools and within the community, Steph understands the time pressures that come with planning, researching and resourcing an engaging creative curriculum for your pupils.

Add in a lack of confidence or experience in a subject, and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.

Steph’s workshop is a chance to change that. It’s a chance to gain the knowledge and skills to deliver dance with confidence at your school.

Steph is a dance specialist, a qualified children’s fitness instructor, and is currently joint PE coordinator at Delves Junior School in Walsall. Steph also works for Inspire Activity, a company delivering Community Games events throughout the Midlands, inspiring children and families to become more physically active.

Join Steph at this year’s conference to gain ideas and structures to apply to different year groups, covering a range of topics and dance genres.

Get your ticket here. 

Key details

Date: Friday ...

When it comes to a child’s development, gymnastics can be transformative.

The impact ranges from physical to emotional to cognitive to social.

Here we break down that impact and take a closer look at why gymnastics is an essential sport to teach in primary school.

Teaching gymnastics develops key physical skills

If you’re looking for a sport that covers just about all of the physical skills that children need to develop, gymnastics is your answer.

Flexibility, strength, technique, speed, control, coordination and balance are all developed through gymnastics. Which leads us on to our next point…

Teaching gymnastics is in line with the national curriculum

KS1:
“Pupils should develop fundamental movement skills, become increasingly competent and confident and access a broad range of opportunities to extend their agility, balance and coordination, individually and with others.”

KS2:
“Pupils should be taught to develop flexibility, strength, technique, control and balance [for example...

It’s part of the national curriculum, boosts physical and mental health, and is both a life and a lifesaving skill.

And yet 1 in 4 children leave school unable to swim.

Primary schools are faced with a multitude of challenges when it comes to delivering swimming and water safety lessons. Funding, teacher training, curriculum pressures, facility access, just to name a few.

The fear is, if action isn’t taken, that 1 in 4 could rise to 6 in 10 children by 2025.

Speedo’s Swim United campaign is calling on the Government to invest in primary school swimming to affect real change.

And we too must unite to take action, to do everything we can to ensure every child has the opportunity to learn to swim.

Which is why we’re delighted to announce that Ashley Jones, Water Safety and Drowning Prevention Manager for Swim England, will be joining us at The Active Primary Schools Conference to deliver a keynote speech.

Ashley is responsible for supporting school swimming, water safety interventi...

Birmingham 2022 saw thousands of athletes from 72 nations and territories compete in the largest-ever integrated programme of para sport over 11 days.

And what an 11 days it was.

With over 1.5 million tickets sold, more medals awarded to women than men for the first time, and being the most sustainable Games ever to have taken place, it was a record-breaking event.

The power sport has to inspire, to unite, and to transform illuminated Birmingham and beyond.

As part of its aim to inspire the next generation, Birmingham 2022 delivered a comprehensive programme of activities in schools.

The programme created pathways for children and young people to get closer to the Games and feel part of a festival of sport and culture.

And you have the chance to learn all about that programme and the legacy of the Games at The Active Primary Schools Conference in November.

We’re delighted to announce that the Birmingham 2022 team will be joining us to deliver a keynote speech.

The team is set t...

Do you want to boost the quality of your primary school's PE, sport and physical activity (PESSPA) to inspire children to be more active, more often?

Join us at The Active Primary Schools Conference to discover how you can do just that.

Some of you may know the conference as the West Midlands PE and School Sport Conference and may be wondering why the name change?

Since its launch back in 2017, the conference has grown year on year. The new name is a reflection of that growth and fuel for further growth. We want to continue to expand our reach to support as many primary schools as possible to raise the standards of PESSPA.

What is The Active Primary Schools Conference?

The conference is a full day event for primary schools to gain knowledge, confidence and a bank of actionable strategies to take their school’s PESSPA to the next level.

Keynotes from industry experts, practical and theory-based workshops, and a marketplace full of innovative resources and services that work mean y...