Fit to Succeed - First Report
FIT TO SUCCEED
A partnership between the children of Exeter, Exeter Academic Council, Exeter City Council, Devon Curriculum Services, the Schools Health Education Unit and DC Leisure Management, to promote physical activity and achievement in schools.
SUMMARY
This report describes the establishment and development of the Fit to Succeed project. The results of the pilot project suggest that this scheme can have an effect on young people's participation in physical activity, and that there is a link between physical activity and academic achievement. The project group has won a grant to expand the scheme to all middle and high schools in Exeter.
Pupils are offered free introductory sessions at participating clubs and facilities, and an Activity Record Card to show progress. Those completing 20 sessions will be awarded a certificate. Schools will be provided with a pack, containing all the materials for running the project together with teaching materials.
INTRODUCTION
Fit to Succeed emerged from a number of key concerns identified locally and nationally:
A partnership emerged which enabled these key concerns to be addressed in an innovative fashion. This collaborative approach has been crucial in finding practical ways to help towards solving these problems and at the same time helping to raise standards in school.
Key elements included:
PILOT PROJECT
The pilot project has six main elements:
Free sessions
Pupils are offered five free sessions at clubs or facilities of their choice. Parents and teachers are included by getting reduced rates for facilities.
Class materials
Each participating class was given a set of materials, including an information pack for each pupil regarding the benefits of regular exercise. Each teacher decided how best to present the information to their class.
Fitness record card
As part of the pack, children were given information about where they could get their five free sessions at leisure facilities and sports clubs in the Exeter area. Paid and free sessions were recorded in a "Fitness record card". After the children attended twenty recorded activity sessions, they were presented with a certificate of activity achievement.
Questionnaire
A questionnaire was designed to collect baseline information regarding current levels of participation in physical activity. It also collected data about pupil's perceptions of their own levels of fitness and their enjoyment of PE within school, their perceptions of how much significant adults (like their father or their teacher) enjoyed being physically active. Pupils were invited to say which activities they would like to do more of if they had the chance, so we could identify some of the current barriers to exercise of children and how we can best help them to become more active.
The pilot project in 7 schools started with a survey of 1400 pupils in Years 5 to 7 (age 8 to 12). The questionnaire was then re-administered 6 and 12 months later to act as a monitoring tool.
Control schools
The pilot project also included 4 control schools in a neighbouring town, Tiverton. Pupils of the same age were asked to complete similar questionnaires but did not have access to the benefits of the project.
Some of the questions in the Fit to Succeed questionnaire are identical to ones used in the Schools Health Education Unit's wider Health Related Behaviour Questionnaire (HRBQ), completed by over 37,500 pupils in 1999, so there was the opportunity to make comparisons with this sample as well.
RESULTS FROM THE PILOT
As well as young people taking part in the free and paid sessions at clubs (particularly basketball) and other facilities, other initiatives have been pursued.
Examples include five minutes of exercise between lessons; group aerobics at the start of the day; and ensuring that pupils were drinking enough water.
Examples of pupil comments about their experience of the pilot project include the following: (spelling and grammar true to the original!)
" I thought that fit to succeed was a good idea because it gave me the chance to get out of the house and have fun. The best bit was that it was free.
How it could be improved
Next time it would be a good idea if you made a few more activities such as ice-skating and stuff like that because its expensive and not many people can afford it" [Year 7 girl.]
" I think it was a good idea because people who don’t live with both parents or parants who have no job can try sports like swimming or football for free and then they might continue to do that sport.
Best deals
Swimming at Northbrook is really good you get to swim for two hours and get to use the floats and dive in the ddep end.
How it could be improved
Next time it could be improved it could have more leasure centre involved next time and more chances to do activeties." [Year 7 boy.]
Other Exeter Headteachers, having seen the effect upon local children, were pleased that the project was to be extended to their schools.
SPORTS DEVELOPMENT
Following completion and analysis of the survey questionnaires, we have obtained significant data to inform local decision-making on youth sports development priorities and programmes. This has been a unique opportunity for Exeter to discover which activities our young people want to do more of. It has enabled us to identify appropriate participation opportunities and to provide a mechanism for bringing more young people into suitable local clubs and facilities.
The survey results clearly highlight the changes that are taking place in the perception of sports and physical activity amongst young people and reflect the trends that will undoubtedly continue in the short to medium term. Exeter City Council and other local sports providers need to react to these trends by establishing development programmes which will enable children to develop and fulfil their sporting interests throughout their school life and into their adult years.
To give an example of the changing nature of sports perceptions amongst young people, the data below came from the responses to a survey question relating to PE activity at school.
The question was:
"What do you enjoy most about PE ?"
The top three activities shown by the boys responses could have been predicted by most people - but consider the result shown by the girls’ responses and you will see that some changes have most definitely taken place in girls sporting interests.
Top three PE sporting activities
We also asked the children if there were anything that they would like to do more of, if they had the opportunity.
(Note: numbers shown are a count of responses not a percentage)
TOP TWELVE* ACTIVITIES
(*The only activity omitted from these lists is Horseriding – which would have been 1st in the girls list with 101 responses and 11th in the boys list with 14 responses. However, it was not felt to be an appropriate physical activity and was therefore excluded from this analysis)
It is clear from these results that young people are now being attracted to new activities such as martial arts. It is also evident that sports more traditionally associated with boys are also appealing to girls (eg: Football & Basketball). A particularly encouraging result was a noticeable increase in interest between the two surveys in Baseball/Rounders. This followed a programme of Baseball development which took place in four of the pilot schools with assistance from the local Baseball club. This is yet another activity where there appears to be a significant level of interest amongst both sexes.
The Fit to Succeed project will enable us to prioritise Sports Development resources to develop activities that have the greatest chance of getting young people to adopt regular habits of physical activity participation. By ensuring that these activities are locally available and sustainable we can help to create a community that will be active from childhood, through adolescence and into adulthood.
A partnership between the children of Exeter, Exeter Academic Council, Exeter City Council, Devon Curriculum Services, the Schools Health Education Unit and DC Leisure Management, to promote physical activity and achievement in schools.
SUMMARY
This report describes the establishment and development of the Fit to Succeed project. The results of the pilot project suggest that this scheme can have an effect on young people's participation in physical activity, and that there is a link between physical activity and academic achievement. The project group has won a grant to expand the scheme to all middle and high schools in Exeter.
Pupils are offered free introductory sessions at participating clubs and facilities, and an Activity Record Card to show progress. Those completing 20 sessions will be awarded a certificate. Schools will be provided with a pack, containing all the materials for running the project together with teaching materials.
INTRODUCTION
Fit to Succeed emerged from a number of key concerns identified locally and nationally:
- Headteachers reported lethargy in the classroom and increasing difficulties in motivating children to reach their academic potential.
- Many children in Exeter and elsewhere are not sufficiently active to maintain good health. Lack of activity has been particularly identified in girls.
- Even more concerning, the levels of recorded obesity are high and increasing.
- At the Sports Centres Consultative Group, which had Exeter Youth Forum representatives on its committee, a number of problems regarding access to activities were highlighted.
A partnership emerged which enabled these key concerns to be addressed in an innovative fashion. This collaborative approach has been crucial in finding practical ways to help towards solving these problems and at the same time helping to raise standards in school.
Key elements included:
- Teachers have the motivation to get children into clubs and activities and schools are keen to investigate a possible link between active bodies and active minds;
- Children have the interest in a variety of activities;
- DC Leisure have the facilities and are keen to involve more children;
- Devon and Exeter Councils have the contacts with schools to bring partners together;
- The Schools Health Education Unit has the research expertise to monitor the effectiveness of the project.
PILOT PROJECT
The pilot project has six main elements:
- access to free sessions
- record card to count towards certificate
- class materials
- schools' newsletter
- monitoring questionnaire
- comparison with control schools
Free sessions
Pupils are offered five free sessions at clubs or facilities of their choice. Parents and teachers are included by getting reduced rates for facilities.
Class materials
Each participating class was given a set of materials, including an information pack for each pupil regarding the benefits of regular exercise. Each teacher decided how best to present the information to their class.
Fitness record card
As part of the pack, children were given information about where they could get their five free sessions at leisure facilities and sports clubs in the Exeter area. Paid and free sessions were recorded in a "Fitness record card". After the children attended twenty recorded activity sessions, they were presented with a certificate of activity achievement.
Questionnaire
A questionnaire was designed to collect baseline information regarding current levels of participation in physical activity. It also collected data about pupil's perceptions of their own levels of fitness and their enjoyment of PE within school, their perceptions of how much significant adults (like their father or their teacher) enjoyed being physically active. Pupils were invited to say which activities they would like to do more of if they had the chance, so we could identify some of the current barriers to exercise of children and how we can best help them to become more active.
The pilot project in 7 schools started with a survey of 1400 pupils in Years 5 to 7 (age 8 to 12). The questionnaire was then re-administered 6 and 12 months later to act as a monitoring tool.
Control schools
The pilot project also included 4 control schools in a neighbouring town, Tiverton. Pupils of the same age were asked to complete similar questionnaires but did not have access to the benefits of the project.
Some of the questions in the Fit to Succeed questionnaire are identical to ones used in the Schools Health Education Unit's wider Health Related Behaviour Questionnaire (HRBQ), completed by over 37,500 pupils in 1999, so there was the opportunity to make comparisons with this sample as well.
RESULTS FROM THE PILOT
As well as young people taking part in the free and paid sessions at clubs (particularly basketball) and other facilities, other initiatives have been pursued.
Examples include five minutes of exercise between lessons; group aerobics at the start of the day; and ensuring that pupils were drinking enough water.
Examples of pupil comments about their experience of the pilot project include the following: (spelling and grammar true to the original!)
" I thought that fit to succeed was a good idea because it gave me the chance to get out of the house and have fun. The best bit was that it was free.
How it could be improved
Next time it would be a good idea if you made a few more activities such as ice-skating and stuff like that because its expensive and not many people can afford it" [Year 7 girl.]
" I think it was a good idea because people who don’t live with both parents or parants who have no job can try sports like swimming or football for free and then they might continue to do that sport.
Best deals
Swimming at Northbrook is really good you get to swim for two hours and get to use the floats and dive in the ddep end.
How it could be improved
Next time it could be improved it could have more leasure centre involved next time and more chances to do activeties." [Year 7 boy.]
Other Exeter Headteachers, having seen the effect upon local children, were pleased that the project was to be extended to their schools.
SPORTS DEVELOPMENT
Following completion and analysis of the survey questionnaires, we have obtained significant data to inform local decision-making on youth sports development priorities and programmes. This has been a unique opportunity for Exeter to discover which activities our young people want to do more of. It has enabled us to identify appropriate participation opportunities and to provide a mechanism for bringing more young people into suitable local clubs and facilities.
The survey results clearly highlight the changes that are taking place in the perception of sports and physical activity amongst young people and reflect the trends that will undoubtedly continue in the short to medium term. Exeter City Council and other local sports providers need to react to these trends by establishing development programmes which will enable children to develop and fulfil their sporting interests throughout their school life and into their adult years.
To give an example of the changing nature of sports perceptions amongst young people, the data below came from the responses to a survey question relating to PE activity at school.
The question was:
"What do you enjoy most about PE ?"
The top three activities shown by the boys responses could have been predicted by most people - but consider the result shown by the girls’ responses and you will see that some changes have most definitely taken place in girls sporting interests.
Top three PE sporting activities
| Boys | Girls | ||
| 1. Football | 38% | 1. Gymnastics | 18% |
| 2. Rugby | 8% | 2. Basketball | 15% |
| 3.= Basketball | 7% | 3. Football | 11% |
| 3.= Hockey | 7% | ||
We also asked the children if there were anything that they would like to do more of, if they had the opportunity.
- Children could choose from a list of nearly sixty leisure activities including activities such as walking, youth club, fishing etc.
- There was little change in the responses from the first to the second survey so the results shown below are from the March 2000 questionnaire.
(Note: numbers shown are a count of responses not a percentage)
TOP TWELVE* ACTIVITIES
| Boys | Girls | ||
| 1. Football | 75 | 1. Swimming | 82 |
| 2. Martial Arts | 62 | 2. Gymnastics | 78 |
| 3. Hockey | 52 | 3. Dancing | 51 |
| 4. Rugby | 46 | 4. Basketball | 49 |
| 5. Swimming | 37 | 5. Martial Arts | 45 |
| 6. Cricket | 36 | 6. Tennis | 39 |
| 7. Basketball | 35 | 7. Football | 30 |
| 8. Baseball / Rounders | 31 | 8. Netball | 29 |
| 9. Tennis | 29 | 9. Rollerblading / Skateboarding | 23 |
| 10. Cycling | 23 | 10. Cycling | 22 |
| 11.= Rollerblading / Skateboarding | 12 | 11. Hockey | 21 |
| 11.= Gymnastics | 12 | 12. Baseball / Rounders | 15 |
(*The only activity omitted from these lists is Horseriding – which would have been 1st in the girls list with 101 responses and 11th in the boys list with 14 responses. However, it was not felt to be an appropriate physical activity and was therefore excluded from this analysis)
It is clear from these results that young people are now being attracted to new activities such as martial arts. It is also evident that sports more traditionally associated with boys are also appealing to girls (eg: Football & Basketball). A particularly encouraging result was a noticeable increase in interest between the two surveys in Baseball/Rounders. This followed a programme of Baseball development which took place in four of the pilot schools with assistance from the local Baseball club. This is yet another activity where there appears to be a significant level of interest amongst both sexes.
The Fit to Succeed project will enable us to prioritise Sports Development resources to develop activities that have the greatest chance of getting young people to adopt regular habits of physical activity participation. By ensuring that these activities are locally available and sustainable we can help to create a community that will be active from childhood, through adolescence and into adulthood.
Results from the surveys:
We have carried out three surveys and processed over 5000 Fit to Succeed scripts. Changes over the pilot project year included:
EXPANSION WITH RIGHT FIT
We want to extend the project to all state middle and high schools in Exeter. We plan to involve over 10,000 pupils between the ages of eight and fifteen.
An application was made to the Glaxo/Barnardo's 'Right Fit' organisation for funding, which was successful. With the co-operation of the City Council, we are appointing a full time project coordinator to work with the schools and the clubs/ facilities to keep the momentum going and maintain the high profile achieved at the outset.
The questionnaire will be introduced at the beginning of the scheme and then re-administered 6 and 12 months later to act as a monitoring tool.
Parents will be included in the scheme directly by being offered reduced rate access to leisure facilities, and schools will be encouraged to hold evening meetings for parents who would like to know more about the project.
Part of the process also includes setting up pupil councils in schools, which will allow children to be actively involved in the steering of the Fit to Succeed group.
The results of the project will be presented to the schools, whose pupil councils, staff and heads will feed back to the project ideas for improving participation.
FINDINGS FROM THE PILOT PHASE
We have carried out three surveys and processed over 5000 Fit to Succeed scripts. We have been able to identify several important features of the relationship between young people’s exercise levels and other aspects of their lifestyle.
It has been widely recognised that physically active children are more alert and are better learners. A major project aim therefore would be to increase the overall levels of exercise reported by the youngsters involved in the project.
ACTIVITY LEVELS
PERCEIVED FITNESS
HOW FIT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? … VERY FIT
SPORT 'LAST NIGHT'
TYPES OF ACTIVITY
Running games
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND SCHOOL PERFORMANCE
We believed that those who reported exercising hard three times a week or more are more likely to achieve higher SATs scores. The following table is derived from the initial data collected for Year 7 pupils. We were able to immediately link this up with their SATs scores for Maths and English.
We looked into the correlation between those who are entitled to free school meals and the links between school performance and levels of activity. There is a statistically significant link between the data for the boys and their English SATs results. The difference is less obvious for Maths and in the data for the girls, but the step upward is also clear.
INFLUENCE OF PARENTS Results show that the more that Mum or Dad enjoy being physically active, the more active sports you are likely to take part in.
The data supports this: here the girls' average is only 1.26 clubs if their dad doesn't enjoy being active at all. This rises to 1.75 clubs last week if their dad enjoys physical activity 'a lot'.
There is a statistically significant link between how much Dad enjoys physical activity and the participation levels of his daughter. Only 32% of girls whose dad does not enjoy physical activity at all exercised 3 times or more last week. For those dads who enjoy it 'a lot' this figure has risen to 48%
The link is also clear for the boys.
There is a statistically significant link between how much Mum enjoys physical activity and the participation levels of her son. Only 42% of boys whose mum does not physical activity at all exercised 3 times or more last week. For those mums who enjoy it 'a lot' this figure has risen to 54%.
The link is not as clear for the girls.
Fit to Succeed
Fit to Succeed is a partnership project aiming to promote physical activity and achievement among young people in schools.
The partners are:
Classes of pupils are provided with:
How well are we doing?
The project has a monitoring questionnaire including items about:
Results from the pilot survey have shown:
Contact Angela Balding, at the Schools Health Education Unit for more information.
We have carried out three surveys and processed over 5000 Fit to Succeed scripts. Changes over the pilot project year included:
- We found an increase between in the proportion of Year 7 girls taking part in hard exercise three times a week between October 99 and July 2000. The proportion of Year 6 girls taking part in hard exercise three times a week was higher in Exeter than in the control sample, and higher than levels found in the Schools Health Education Unit databanks.
- The Exeter Year 7 girls report significantly higher participation levels in 'playing sport last night' compared with the Year 7 girls from 12 months ago.
- There is a significant increase in the Exeter Year 7 girls' perceived fitness over the course of the pilot year. It is also pleasing to see that the 19% of Year 6 girls in October 2000 are much higher than the 8% seen for their predecessors a year earlier.
- There is a clear link in the data between high level activity and high academic performance. Is the link more to do with parents' resources? We looked for the correlation just among those who are entitled to free school meals, and found firstly that the levels of physical activity in this group were quite high, and secondly that there was a similar link between school performance and levels of activity was found.
- Results suggest that the more mum and dad enjoy being physically active the more active their children are likely to be. There is a statistically significant link between how much Dad enjoys physical activity and the activity levels of his daughter (and his son), and a similar link between how much Mum enjoys physical activity and the participation levels of her son (but not her daughter).
EXPANSION WITH RIGHT FIT
We want to extend the project to all state middle and high schools in Exeter. We plan to involve over 10,000 pupils between the ages of eight and fifteen.
An application was made to the Glaxo/Barnardo's 'Right Fit' organisation for funding, which was successful. With the co-operation of the City Council, we are appointing a full time project coordinator to work with the schools and the clubs/ facilities to keep the momentum going and maintain the high profile achieved at the outset.
The questionnaire will be introduced at the beginning of the scheme and then re-administered 6 and 12 months later to act as a monitoring tool.
Parents will be included in the scheme directly by being offered reduced rate access to leisure facilities, and schools will be encouraged to hold evening meetings for parents who would like to know more about the project.
Part of the process also includes setting up pupil councils in schools, which will allow children to be actively involved in the steering of the Fit to Succeed group.
The results of the project will be presented to the schools, whose pupil councils, staff and heads will feed back to the project ideas for improving participation.
FINDINGS FROM THE PILOT PHASE
We have carried out three surveys and processed over 5000 Fit to Succeed scripts. We have been able to identify several important features of the relationship between young people’s exercise levels and other aspects of their lifestyle.
It has been widely recognised that physically active children are more alert and are better learners. A major project aim therefore would be to increase the overall levels of exercise reported by the youngsters involved in the project.
ACTIVITY LEVELS
- Comparisons for the Exeter Year 6 with SHEU wider databanks also showed encouraging levels of exercise in the Exeter sample. By the time the initial Year 6 had been involved in the project for 12 months, boys reported 53% (43%) levels and the girls 39% (33%) for participation in hard exercise at least three times last week. These figures are significantly higher than the wider figures in brackets.
- We see a similar result among Year 7 pupils:
- We collected the third set of data from these individuals in the July, before they disappeared to their high schools so the time of year may be responsible for differences seen.
- The exciting data here however are the increase in activity observed for the girls. SHEU data consistently show that as girls get older, their participation in active sports declines, and the decline continues through to Year 10 and beyond.
- The comparative data from the control sample for October 99 showed levels of 29% for the Year 7 girls and 43% for the boys. (The control sample for Year 7 in Tiverton came from one High school so there may be primary school / secondary school factors to consider).
- The girls figure of 39% is also encouraging considering the drop off usually seen with increasing age. The equivalent figure for the Exeter Year 7 girls at the start of the project was only 32% and the control figure was even lower at 29%.
PERCEIVED FITNESS
HOW FIT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? … VERY FIT
- There is a significant increase in the Exeter Year 7 girls' data over the course of the pilot year. It is also pleasing to see that the 19% of Year 6 girls in October 2000 is a much higher figure than the 8% seen for their predecessors a year earlier. Is this a project effect?
- The control group data are significantly lower than the Exeter data for all groups except for the Year 5 girls.
- Comparisons with SHEU's wider databanks reveal slightly lower figures than the Exeter data, (Year 6 boys 27%, and Year 6 girls 13%).
SPORT 'LAST NIGHT'
- The Exeter Year 7 girls report significantly higher participation levels in 'playing sport last night'. The level has significantly increased over the pilot phase of the project.
- There was a significant increase between the first and second survey in both boys and girls who reported playing sport after school last night. This suggests that the information handed out and the activities offered to children in the pilot project, did have the desired result of increasing participation levels.
- The interesting point to note here are the changes in the data collected for the older girls. The Year 6 girls' figure for October 99 was 55%. A year on (now in Year 7) it has dropped slightly to 52%, but when the figure is compared to the original Year 7 girls' October 99 figure (43%) it is almost 10% higher. Was this a project effect? All the work that teachers have done to encourage the older girls to keep an interest in physical activity might have inhibited the drop off that is seen in control samples.
- For the same question, in the control group of Year 7 girls for October 2000, the figure is only 24%. A year earlier it was even lower, with 21% reporting that they had played sport the previous evening.
- Comparisons with the Schools Health Education Unit databank figures for 1999 reveal that the Exeter figures are significantly higher than the wider sample, Year 6 boys March figure 68% (59%) and Year 6 girls March 56% (34%).
TYPES OF ACTIVITY
Running games
- The point to note here is the increase in level for the Year 7.
- The Year 6 girls' third figure is also high which is encouraging. At this age it is generally not 'cool' to run about if you are a girl. Are we seeing a change in attitude here?
- The Year 7 data show consistently high levels of active playtime activities. While levels indicated here are above 80%, in the control sample the Year 7 data are below 30%. This might be a secondary school/ middle school effect. The Year 6 girls' data in the control schools show an 80% level but this is still significantly lower than the 86% seen for the equivalent Exeter group.
- When compared to SHEU's databank figures for 1999, the Year 6 figures are in line with the wider sample (Year 6 boys 76%, Year 6 girls 85%).
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND SCHOOL PERFORMANCE
We believed that those who reported exercising hard three times a week or more are more likely to achieve higher SATs scores. The following table is derived from the initial data collected for Year 7 pupils. We were able to immediately link this up with their SATs scores for Maths and English.
- We linked the data for this question with individual pupil test results for Year 7 pupils at the outset of the project. This gave us some initial evidence that there is a link between high level activity and high academic performance.
- The graphs above clearly indicate the proportional increase in those youngsters achieving higher grades when linked to their levels of exercise.
- Over 60% of those boys who achieved Level 5 in their Maths SATs had taken part in hard exercise the previous week on at least three occasions. For the girls there is also a slight increase but it is not as marked as for the boys.
We looked into the correlation between those who are entitled to free school meals and the links between school performance and levels of activity. There is a statistically significant link between the data for the boys and their English SATs results. The difference is less obvious for Maths and in the data for the girls, but the step upward is also clear.
- A year on, the next cohort of pupils saw an interesting change in these data. The boys achieving the lower grades had much higher levels of activity.
- This evidence has had an effect on schools involved in the project. Headteachers in particular are charged with increasing attainment, especially for boys. A variety of methods has been employed by schools to increase activity in school. Examples include five minutes of exercise between lessons; group aerobics at the start of the day; and ensuring that pupils were drinking enough water.
INFLUENCE OF PARENTS Results show that the more that Mum or Dad enjoy being physically active, the more active sports you are likely to take part in.
The data supports this: here the girls' average is only 1.26 clubs if their dad doesn't enjoy being active at all. This rises to 1.75 clubs last week if their dad enjoys physical activity 'a lot'.
There is a statistically significant link between how much Dad enjoys physical activity and the participation levels of his daughter. Only 32% of girls whose dad does not enjoy physical activity at all exercised 3 times or more last week. For those dads who enjoy it 'a lot' this figure has risen to 48%
The link is also clear for the boys.
There is a statistically significant link between how much Mum enjoys physical activity and the participation levels of her son. Only 42% of boys whose mum does not physical activity at all exercised 3 times or more last week. For those mums who enjoy it 'a lot' this figure has risen to 54%.
The link is not as clear for the girls.
Fit to SucceedFit to Succeed is a partnership project aiming to promote physical activity and achievement among young people in schools.
The partners are:
- Exeter Academic Council
- Exeter City Council
- Devon Curriculum Services
- Schools Health Education Unit, Exeter
- DC Leisure Management
- the pupils and staff of local schools
Classes of pupils are provided with:
- Free sessions at local clubs and sports facilities (special deals for teachers and parents)
- Activity record card
- Information about local sporting and physical activities
- Information about physical fitness and health
- Lesson plans and worksheets about physical activity
- Newsletters about the project
How well are we doing?
The project has a monitoring questionnaire including items about:
- physical activity
- attitudes to exercise and fitness
- participation in clubs
- attitudes of family members
Results from the pilot survey have shown:
- Evidence of increased participation in physical activity in project schools compared with control schools
- Evidence of link between physical activity and academic achievement
Contact Angela Balding, at the Schools Health Education Unit for more information.