Sport England launches Physical Literacy Consensus Statement

Physical literacy is our relationship with movement and physical activity throughout life. 

The new Physical Literacy Consensus Statement represents a culminaton of 18 months' work to explore the importance of physical literacy in providing positive experiences of movement and physical activity for all - a key priority in Sport England's Uniting the Movement strategy.

The statement facilitates a shared understanding of physical literacy for people working in the sport, education, physical activity, recreation, play, health and youth sectors. It was created by an expert group of researchers and professionals, including people from Liverpool John Moores University, Coventry University, the University of Bradford and the University of Gloucestershire.   

Today's publication event has been organised to give organisations working across England, the opportunity to digest, reflect and consider what the new Physical Literacy Consensus Statement means for the sport and physical activity sector. 120 delegates are expected to attend, most of whom are Sport England system partners.

At today's event, Adam will give a short presentation that, amongst other things, will look at the importance of why adopting a physical literacy informed approach in practice will support disabled children, young people and their families to have more positive experiences of sport and physical activity.

He will say:

"A line in the consensus statement particularly stood out to me is that 'everyone has their own strengths, needs, circumstances, and past experiences that affect their relationship with movement and physical activity'.

"If we can embed physical literacy across the sector, and everyone takes a moment to think about that one line. A lot of our work would be done for us.

"A sector that adopts physical literacy has a proper understanding and delivery of person-centred approaches. It has a more confident workforce that understands the importance of physical literacy and how to deliver positive, inclusive experiences. And it embeds co-production and co-design approaches to provide opportunities based on motivations and needs."

The project to develop the Physical Literacy Consensus Statement for England began in March 2022 and included desk research, two national consultations and the creation of an expert panel. Over 50 organisations, including Activity Alliance, from the sport, health, education, academia, and community sectors came together to feed into the review.

Adam will add:

"We are true advocates of physical literacy. We fight for the need to have positive and meaningful experiences available to all individuals irrespective of ability or background.

"Removing barriers and creating truly inclusive opportunities will ensure that negative and long-lasting connections to sport and activity for disabled people can be removed. Adopting a physical literacy-informed approach holds immense potential in fostering a positive and inclusive experience for disabled people in the realm of sport and physical activity."

Activity Alliance is proud to support today's publication and will look to apply the principles of physical literacy to our work to improve the quality of experiences disabled children and adults have of sport and physical activity. 

Commenting on the new statement Tim Hollingsworth, Chief Executive, Sport England said:

"We must ensure children and young people have positive experiences of sport and physical activity that are fun, inclusive and help them develop.

"The new Physical Literacy Consensus Statement for England provides a framework to help us explore this in greater depth and is relevant for all ages and everyone working to improve the activity levels and health of our nation.  

"It must be seen as one of the first steps in our efforts to promote positive experiences and lifelong participation for all children and young people, but particularly for those who face the greatest inequalities. Putting the concept of physical literacy into practice is now our collective task."

The consensus statement itself will be supported by a series of resources that help bring the concept of physical literacy to life for our sector, including audio stories and a more detailed booklet to situate the consensus statement into a wider context.

Sport England will continue to work with national and local organisations to embed the philosophy of physical literacy into the structures and systems that influence children and young people’s activity levels.

View the Physical Literacy Consensus Statement for England here.

 
Photo credit: British Blind Sport.