Sainsbury’s Inclusive PE Training 'has arrived at a very timely time'
Sainsbury’s Active Kids for All Inclusive PE Training provides free training and resources for teachers, trainee teachers and school staff to provide a high quality PE curriculum for all young people.
It is designed to improve confidence, knowledge and skill in including, challenging and progressing all pupils by embedding inclusive practice in planning, delivery and assessment.
In order to ensure the workshops is delivered as effectively as possible, the English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS) undertakes regular, thorough analysis of both its method and impact.
Dr Kyriaki “Kiki” Makopoulou, of the School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitative Sciences at the University of Birmingham, is tasked with overseeing the effectiveness of Sainsbury’s Inclusive PE.
“It’s important to me that my children understand the value of, and enjoy engaging in, physical activity. I want it to be a part of their lives.
“I am very passionate about high-quality PE provision in schools. I can see, from personal experience, the impact sport can have on young people in their lives, with their confidence.”
Kiki came to Britain from Greece in 2002, and has since completed a PhD focused on professional development programmes for teachers.
In April 2013 she submitted a research proposal to Sainsbury’s Inclusive PE, and was awarded the project. As the principal investigator, she does most of the day-to-day work herself.
“I monitor the quality of the delivery of the Sainsbury’s Active Kids for All Inclusive PE programme – I collect a lot of evidence about how tutors are doing, what the content of their workshops is and so on – we want to ensure it is of a high quality.
“I also look at analysing the impact of the programme. The aim, of course, is to improve the confidence of participants when it comes to delivering inclusive PE.
“I collect evidence through workshop observations, interviews with the tutors and questionnaires filled in by participants.
"The findings of my work are really listened to – we have regular meetings to discuss findings, based on the research. I am very confident that the outcomes of Sainsbury’s Inclusive PE really are evidence-based. Everything that happens, every change that is made to the programme, is always based on evidence.”
Described as “highly enjoyable, relevant and informative” by past participants, numerous Sainsbury’s Active Kids for All Inclusive PE Training workshops are being arranged for the next academic year.
In 2015, almost 130 Sainsbury’s Active Kids for All Inclusive PE workshops took place across the country. Since the programme began, 5,572 participants have received training through 429 sessions.
And Kiki is clear that throughout the programme’s lifetime changes have constantly taken place to improve the practicality and relevance of the training.
“We noticed that although feedback about the workshops was always very positive, they needed to be more tailored to address participants’ questions. So we went away and tweaked some of the programme’s material and looked to make the training more personalised.
“As a participant you may now benefit from a focus on lesson planning, where best practice is shared and the experience is more inclusive and focused more on experiences from the classroom.
“Feedback always focuses on the positive experience of the practicality of the workshop.”
Sainsbury’s Active Kids for All Inclusive PE Training has been established through a £1 million investment from Sainsbury’s. The four Home Country disability sport organisations alongside Sainsbury’s, with support of Paralympics GB and the Youth Sport Trust, have joined forces in its delivery.
Throughout the past year EFDS has heard positive stories from both participants and tutors, all of which can be viewed in the website. These are supported by the numerous programme case studies also available.
As far as Kiki is concerned, after months spent analysing the training in detail she is clear that Sainsbury’s Active Kids for All Inclusive PE Training works.
“For most teachers who attend Sainsbury’s Inclusive PE, it’s very clear why they are there – they have a passion for inclusion. They have very clear questions that they want answering, or else things aren’t currently happening at their school as they would want them to.
“The workshop, then, has arrived at a very timely time. They can get some practical information on how to be inclusive in practice.
“Those teachers who attend, most learn new skills or tools or learn how to embed what they have learned in their lesson planning. Teachers are making small and subtle, but quite significant, changes in their practise.
“Those small things make PE work for disabled and non-disabled pupils in their classes.”
To benefit from the final year of the Sainsbury’s Active Kids for All Inclusive PE Training Programme and receive your free place on a workshop or to find out about hosting your own workshop, please visit the programme webpage or contact EFDS via email ak4a@efds.co.uk or call 01509 22 77 51.
