research and innovation hub for physical educators and their pupils 

The Research and Innovation Hub for Physical Educators and their Pupils (RIHPEP) aims to advance knowledge and innovation to improve our understanding and delivery of PE for children of all ages. Our Research aims to further understand, inform and improve theory and pedagogy in Physical Education and sport for young people. Achieved through inter-disciplinary collaboration, the group’s purpose is to bridge the gap between academics and teachers to support the needs of learners and ensure that children are given the best opportunity to achieve optimal physical and mental well-being through PE and sport. 

We will support and collaborate with Physical Educators in Schools and other Educational Sport Settings by:

• Deliver knowledge and information to teachers, practitioners and parents
• Lead resource development to improve delivery of PE and PETE
• Collaborate with practitioners to inform/lead/direct research 

The concept of the group is to "collaborate, create and disseminate" research to advance knowledge and practice within Physical Education.  

Group objectives 

• Publish in the leading peer-reviewed publications in the field 
• Deliver knowledge and information to teachers, practitioners and parents 
• Lead resource development to improve delivery of PE and PETE 
• Collaborate with practitioners to inform/lead/direct research 
• Inter-disciplinary collaboration 
• Disseminate research to a national and international audience 
• Capitalise on the use of technology 

Research and ongoing projects

Movement Orientated Games-Based Assessment 

We recently began working with Nike, the Youth Sport Trust and a group of international academic institutions to create Movement Oriented Games Based Assessment (MOGBA) for children aged 8-12 years. This development and measurement tool will be used by teachers and coaches globally within Nike's 'Made to Play' program to better support children's development of movement skills. Improving children's competence in performing these skills has wider benefits of increasing physical activity, physical fitness, enjoyment and children's self-perceptions of physical and game competence. 

The resource cards will be digitized, allowing coaches and teachers to record, measure and monitor children’s development of movement skills on a web based platform.  

The impact of MOGBA will be evaluated in locations worldwide. It is intended that MOGBA will help to equip children with the movement skills they need to be more physically active, leading to a healthier and happier future. 

 
Movement Assessment Tools 

Tom’s doctoral research was funded by the Youth Sport Trust to develop a teacher-oriented Movement Assessment Tool assessing the fundamental movement skills of children aged 4-7 years old. The project was triggered from recommendations for teachers to be more involved in assessing children’s fundamental movement skills so that they can better support their development. The assessment is one of the first to be designed specifically for primary school teachers to use.  

The initial phase of the research explored the perceptions of teachers and experts to establish the format and content of the Movement Assessment Tool. Findings revealed that teachers wanted the assessment to be simple to use, quick to administer, and that provided valuable feedback to guide future teaching and learning. Based on recommendation from teachers, the assessment was designed as an app to be used on iPads containing a library of video content and a simple on-screen scoring process. 

The final study of Tom’s doctoral research revealed that the Movement Assessment Tool is feasible for teachers to implement within PE lessons and teachers reported improvements in their awareness of assessing children’s FMS as a result of using it.  

The overall findings present a Movement Assessment Tool that allows primary school teachers to assess the fundamental movement skills of children aged 4-7 years old within PE lessons. Considering the shortage of teacher-oriented Movement Assessment Tools, this tool may be attractive to teachers as it enables them to better understand and support children's development of FMS.  


30:30 Wristband Challenge  

 In response to the UK government’s Childhood Obesity Plan (COP) and the well-documented benefits of physical activity in relation to children’s wellbeing (physical and emotional), concentration levels and achievement, our School created The 30:30 Wristband Challenge. The Chief Medical Officer’s (CMO) guidelines recommend that children should complete 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous PA everyday, 30 of which should be completed at school and the other 30, at home.  

The idea was created to allow schools to self-manage a process that would motivate young people to WANT to achieve the target of completing 30:30 PA minutes. 

After one year, it is pleasing to report that over 6,000 young people from 56 different primary schools have earned a bronze, silver or gold wristband, recognising pupils’ commitment to their own wellbeing.  Further wristbands, including a high school version, are now available. 


 Fit2Learn Project 

 Paul, Kate and Tom are about to begin work with three secondary schools in Leeds to improve the emotional and mental wellbeing of a group of pupils through an innovative classroom-based activity programme, having won £26,500 of funding with the Fit2Learn project.  Full information can be found here: https://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/news/2021/01/fit-2-learn-physical-education-project/ 

 

Training and Consultancy

Youth Sport Trust conference summary  

 Paul and Kate recently spoke at The YST’s Learning Academy conference. Attended consisted of their extended workforce including course tutors (delivering YST training programmes), Athlete Mentors (ex and current professional/ Olympic athletes), Development Coaches (Mentors to local School Games Organisers and school sport partnerships) and Team Leaders (young leaders training to help other young people). Full information can be found here.

 
Department for Education  

 Tom, Kate and Paul recently contributed to a new bank of resources for the Government’s Department for Education (DfE) to help train teachers on relationships, sex and health education. Full information can be found here.

 
BeyondTheGame2020 Online Conference 

 On Friday 26th June, Kate led a PE training event called ‘BeyondTheGame2020’ which 260 PE teachers attended across the country. The event ‘sold out’ in three working days of it being advertised, and she would have liked to have taken more attendees on had there not been a limit on Microsoft Teams due to it being online in light of COVID19. The conference was created to be a great place to: 

• Network as a collective of PE teachers 
• Bring people together and reduce the feelings of loneliness during lockdown 
• Learn new topics; Kate led two training sessions within it on closing the gender attainment gap in PE and moving from PE teacher to middle/senior management within the day. 
• Share information – the event provided an opportunity to help disseminate two key pieces of contemporary research through the conference into the PE teaching field.  
• Bond together as a group of PE practitioners and professionals 
• Try out new technology - this was the first time Leeds Beckett School of Education had hosted an event of this size and it was a huge success.  

External examiner work 

Kate is also the external examiner for the University of Greenwich Secondary and Primary PGCE with QTS programs. These are rated ‘outstanding’ by OFSTED.  
 

publications and resources

Newsletters

March 2021 newsletter

Publications

• Glazzard, J. and Bancroft, K., (2018). Meeting the mental health needs of learners 11-18 years. St Albans: Critical Publishing. 
• van Rossum, T., Foweather, L., Hayes, S., Richardson, D., & Morley, D. (2021). Expert recommendations for the design of a teacher-oriented movement assessment tool for children aged 4-7 years: a Delphi study. Measurement in Physical Education and Exercise Science, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1080/1091367X.2021.1876070 
• Morley, D., Miller, A., Rudd, J., Issartel, J., Goodway, J., O’Connor, D., ... & van Rossum, T. (2021). Exploring Coaches’ Perceptions of the Feasibility of a Movement-Oriented Games-Based Assessment Within “Made to Play” Programs. International Sport Coaching Journal, 1(aop), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1123/iscj.2020-0038
• Morley, D., Banks, T., Haslingden, C., Kirk, B., Parkinson, S., van Rossum, T., ... & Maher, A. (2020). Including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities in mainstream secondary physical education: A revisit study. European Physical Education Review, https://doi.org/10.1177/1356336X20953872  
• van Rossum, T, Foweather, L., Richardson, D., Hayes, S. & Morley, D. (2019). Primary teachers' recommendations for the development of a teacher-oriented movement assessment tool for 4-7 year old children. Measurement in Physical Education and Exercise Science, 23(2), p.124-134.: https://doi.org/10.1080/1091367X.2018.1552587
• Morley, D., van Rossum, T., Richardson, D. & Foweather, L. (2019). Expert recommendations for the design of a children’s movement competence assessment tool for use by primary school teachers. European Physical Education Review, 25(2) p.524–543. https://doi.org/10.1177/1356336X17751358
• van Rossum, T. & Morley, D. (2018). The role of digital technology in the assessment of children’s movement competence during primary school physical education lessons. In, J. Koekoek & I. van Vilvoorde. Digital Technology in Physical Education. Routledge: London. 
• Morley, D., Till, K., Ogilvie, P., & Turner, G. (2015). Influences of gender and socioeconomic status on the motor proficiency of children in the UK. Human movement science, 44, 150-156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.humov.2015.08.022

Podcast available

In Summer 2020, Kate recorded a podcast on the impact of COVID19 on girl's Physical Education.

Please email PEeducators@leedsbeckett.ac.uk for the link.

Department for Education resources
 
Kate, Tom and Paul worked on creating some of these resources, these can be located here.