Physical literacy in schools conference

Director at YM Cheer and Dance School and dance and gymnastics coach at Queen Ethelburga's Collegiate.

Cheerleading is an inclusive and accessible sport that offers a dynamic way to engage students of all abilities. Recently recognized by the Olympic Committee, cheerleading combines elements of dance and gymnastics to promote agility, coordination, and teamwork. It introduces creative movement patterns that encourage self-expression—skills often overlooked in traditional games-based PE lessons. As a versatile and evolving sport, cheerleading provides a fresh approach to physical education, fostering both physical literacy and student confidence in a supportive, high-energy environment.

Chris has over thirty years teaching experience in six schools (State, Independent and Boarding); for over twenty of those years, he served as a Director of Sport, in four different schools. Chris believes that sport and physical education should be fun and enjoyable for every single pupil we teach. There is a physical activity for everyone - we just need to help our pupils discover their passion, which will hopefully lead to lifelong participation in something they love. In his current role as chair of PADSIS (Professional Association of Directors of Sport in Independent Schools) Chris' purpose is to support directors of sport in any way he can and to make their jobs as enjoyable as possible.

Chris was a director of sport for over twenty years; he really did love the job - the relationships you form, the memories you create, the people you meet and the experiences you gain are the most rewarding parts of the job. Winning trophies is fantastic, but nothing matches being thanked by a former pupil, asked for some advice, developing a friendship or even being invited to their wedding! Physical activity really should be about fun and enjoyment, forget the results (they will look after themselves!)

Dr Andy Daly-Smith is a Physical Activity and Child Health Professor at the University of Bradford (UK). Within Bradford he co-leads the Centre for Applied Education Research and research on the JUMP project; the UK’s first whole-systems approach to physical activity for children and young people. Andy’s personal research focusses on the implementation and effectiveness of whole-school approaches to physical activity- specifically Creating Active Schools.

David is the director of our Physical Education courses and has a background in teaching and leading Physical Education in a range of school settings. David leads the Centre for Child and Adolescent Physical Literacy's work in and through Physical Education with a particular focus on the future of Physical Literacy via policy, research and practice. David's work is underpinned by his PhD which sought to understand how and why Physical Education policy and practice varies across different school contexts (independent, advantaged and 'disadvantaged'). David’s current work includes knowledge exchange collaborations with The Association for Physical Education, Sport England, The Youth Sport Trust, and Leeds Well Schools Partnership.

Presentation: Taking school context seriously. Enacting physical literacy in complex school contexts

This presentation seeks to understand the influence of school context on attempts to create real and lasting change. In essence, how do schools and teachers enact Physical Literacy for the specific needs of their pupils?

Ffion is a post-doctoral researcher in youth athletic development, a module lead on the science of sport performance course, as well as a leader within the Centre of Child and Adolescent Physical Literacy. With extensive experience in athlete development and elite sport, she serves as Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Queen Ethelburga’s School, Pathway S&C Coach at Leeds Rhinos Netball, and Women’s Head of Athletic and Physical Development at Wales Lacrosse. Ffion's focus lies in movement literacy and long-term athletic, holistic and dual career development, aiming to enhance experiences and opportunities for children and adolescents.

Workshop - Designing a Movement Literacy Curriculum: Practical Approaches and Session Development

In this practical session, participants will explore how to design an effective movement literacy curriculum and create engaging, age-appropriate sessions. Through practical examples, they will learn to incorporate key movement concepts, skills, and progressions into a structured curriculum that enhances athletic motor skills and builds confidence in a fun and engaging way, fostering creativity, coordination, and motor development.

Presentation - What is it Like to be a Student-Athlete? A Multi-National Holistic Impact Evaluation

This session presents research findings from an extensive, cross-continental study involving student-athletes from Europe, Asia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Australia. The session will explore the complex demands faced by student-athletes aged 14-18 (Year 10-13) as they balance sport with academic responsibilities. The research highlights the dual career assets of these young athletes and the positive and negative impacts of this balancing act on their physical/athletic performance, academic progress, psychosocial development, and psychological well-being. The session will offer insights into the unique challenges and opportunities these student-athletes experience, providing a comprehensive understanding of what it is like to be a student-athlete nationally.

Dr Tom van Rossum is a Senior Lecturer in Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy at Leeds Beckett University. Tom’s research is focused on using PE and sport to improve the physical and emotional wellbeing of children and young people. Tom leads the Child Voice group within the Centre for Child and Adolescent Physical Literacy and his recent research has been funded by Nike and the Youth Sport Trust.

Gavin is a head of PE at Bishop Young C of E Academy serving a deprived area in Seacroft, Leeds. He has been a qualified teacher for 15 year and is now in his 8th year as a curriculum leader. In this role Gavin’s focus has been to design a curriculum suitable for all pupils providing a holistic approach to pupil’s engagement both inside and outside of the classroom. The relationship between physical education and lifelong participation and providing all pupils with the opportunities to flourish through sport and PE is the main driving force.

Enhancing opportunities for children by bridging the transition from movement to sport in Key stages 3.

This session will introduce Move 2 Sport, a movement-based resource co-produced with PE teachers to bridge the gap between movement and sport. Drawing on the experiences of both teachers and pupils, we will explore how Move 2 Sport supports the transition from primary to secondary PE while enriching learning opportunities. This session will highlight evidence-based practices for fostering more effective and engaging movement-based PE lessons and the positive impact this has on competence, confidence and motivation.

Fieke’s research centres on understanding what constitutes a healthy sporting environment, and how sport may contribute to athletes’ development. Through the use of mixed-methods evaluation based research designs, her work has explored the impact of football academy, sport-school and community sport programme involvement on the holistic development of youth athletes.

Ella has over six years' experience in researching the topics of lifetime stressor exposure, the enhancement of mental health, well-being, and performance, and psychophysiological responses to acute stressors, among athletes. Within this, she has experience in using both qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research. In particular, Ella provides athletes with a platform to share their voices through the use of creative and innovative methodologies.

Presentation: A day in the life of… Understanding what it is like to be a sport-school student- athlete

The session will focus on sharing the findings from a research project exploring the day to day reality of being a sport-school student-athlete. For seven days, student-athletes at an independent sports friendly school completed daily audio diaries as well as a time tracking diary. The session will provide an insight the type of stressors and demands student-athletes face and how they spend their time. We will explore how student-athletes experience the demands place on them as well as how they cope with them.

Qualifying as a PE teacher in 2009, James assumed multiple middle and senior leadership positions over the following 12 years, including serving as Head of PE across two schools. James transitioned to the Youth Sport Trust (YST) in 2021, following a brief period as a content writer for ITT provider Teach First, contributing to the national rollout of the Early Career Framework. At YST, he oversees the strategic direction for secondary physical education. His responsibilities often involve direct collaboration with schools and educators. Additionally, he coordinates large-scale projects related to PE in schools, such as the Sport England Secondary Teacher Training Programme, implemented by YST from 2018 to 2023, which reached 76% of secondary schools in England.

Kate is the new CEO of The Association for Physical Education having been Head of Physical Education and Achievement at the Youth Sport, Director of Specialism and teacher of PE 13 years teaching in four secondary schools and working across six primary schools in the North West of England.

A driven educator, passionate about people and every child having the opportunity to be the best version of themselves. A committed physical educationalist who believes in every child accessing a well-structured and scaffolded curriculum delivered by knowledgeable, highly skilled, and enthusiastic teachers. Energetic, committed always seeking to improve. A firm believer in the transformative power of physical education and physical education for life in shaping lives.

Dave is a Professor of Sport Consulting at Leeds Beckett University and the Director of MET Sport Consultancy and has led over 100 national and global projects concerned with coach education, improving children’s health, wellbeing, physical activity, movement and physical literacy on behalf of national and international sport organisations. He has been responsible for designing and evaluating programs reaching thousands of coaches and teachers. Dave has led on the design and evaluation of national coach development programs including the Elevate program for the Australian Institute of Sport and US Soccer’s coach educator framework. He has also led a Nike initiative, involving the design and evaluation of a games-based, movement assessment intervention involving 25 million children and over 10,000 coaches across 20 countries. He has amassed a wealth of experience of working with National Sports Organisations, leading projects involving evaluation of systems, networks and programs. Dave is also an Adjunct Professor of Sport Coaching at La Trobe University in Melbourne and continues to support multiple stakeholders in their coach education and coach developer work, as well as supporting talent pathways.

Presentation: How do we get everyone to buy-in to Physical Literacy?

Several countries have Physical Literacy (PL) consensus statements, well done! Some have even inculcated these into their national curricula and broader physical activity programs, bravo! However, whilst these huge strides have been taken, we are left with the small task of implementing these policies and strategies. Often, asking those practitioners responsible for supporting a child’s PL journey involves a significant change in their mindset. Whether that be for a coach to integrate broader aspects of child development than the technical aspects of their sport, a parent to support how their child is feeling more than how they compete, or a PE teacher to change their approach to the curriculum.

This session draws on numerous projects, led by Dave and colleagues, that have grappled with a need for transformative change and outlines successful strategies adopted, which could be used to support those involved in PL.

Kevin Till, PhD, ASCC, is a Professor of Athletic Development within the Carnegie School of Sport at Leeds Beckett University. Kevin is the Director of the Centre for Child and Adolescent Physical Literacy. Kevin has published over 220 international scientific peer-reviewed publications and 30 book chapters related to youths, sport, long-term athletic development, talent identification and development, and coaching. His research and applied work has led to policy and practice changes across sports and education. He is also a strength and conditioning coach at Leeds Rhinos RLFC within their academy programs and the coach of his son’s Under 9s rugby team.

Sam is currently writing his thesis following the successful transformation process taken within a large independent using physical literacy as the key driver for change. Prior to starting his PhD, he has past experience of teaching, consulting, leading, alongside managing large PE projects across the primary and secondary school PE landscape. His expertise and passion relate to working with practitioners and the processes needed to enact change within physical education to ensure all pupils have the opportunity to build lifelong positive relationships with physical activity.

His most recent work focuses upon:

• Evaluating school contexts to inform new purposes, visions and directions for physical education.
• Utilising a co-creation process to support the sustainable implementation of new innovative PE programs into curricula.
• Developing and evaluating the effectiveness of the research-informed 'Love2Move' framework supporting the physical literacy journey of 9-12 year-olds (developing competence).

Presentation - Process not product: A step-by-step guide to transform your PE curriculum using Physical Literacy as your central concept.

This presentation offers a step-by-step guide to the transformation taken place at a large independent school who have transformed its PE curriculum using physical literacy. More specifically, this session will detail how a new PE program, 'Love2Move', was initially developed and successfully implemented within the school's new direction for PE.

Practical - Inspiring all to 'Love2Move': A practical demonstration to optimise movement competency outcomes of 9-12-year olds in your PE lessons.

This practical demonstration will immerse you in a Love2Move lesson that is designed for Year 5, 6 and 7 pupils. The practical session will talk through the framework and the use of a mastery environment as its pedagogical underpinning to optimise movement competency outcomes. Make sure you bring your trainers and a willingness to participate in the session!

Steve is the co-founder of Beyond the Physical who specialise in a physical literacy informed approach to PE in primary schools. A qualified teacher and a senior consultant, Steve is currently studying on our (LBU) DProf programme and exploring the impact of a physical literacy informed curriculum on primary aged children.

Workshop: Physical literacy in action - creating content that allows for holistic development.

We will explore how we can ensure simple activities can develop skills beyond the physical. We will discuss the importance of creating activities and games that ensure pupils can be successful across our 'move solve connect' approach.

Tom Shaw is the lead strength and conditioning coach at Moulton College. He is currently undertaking a PhD with Leeds Beckett University, researching neuromuscular performance in male academy and senior women’s rugby league. In addition, Tom works as part of the research and education team at Hawkin Dynamics.

Keira is a Master’s by Research student at Leeds Beckett University, investigating the impact of growth and maturation on the different phases of the countermovement jump (CMJ) throughout an academic year. Alongside her research, she holds strength and conditioning internship roles at Leeds Beckett University, Queen Ethelburga’s Collegiate, and Leeds Rhinos Rugby League, where she coaches various age groups, supporting athlete development across youth and performance environments.

Daniel completed his undergraduate degree in Sports and Exercise Science at the University of Bath, focusing on sports biomechanics and its application to strength and conditioning (S&C). During this time, he gained valuable hands-on experience through several internships as a biomechanics research assistant. This work culminated in a first-author publication in Biology Open, co-authoring a study that examined changes in coordination strategies over a six-week multimodal training programme compared to continued sports participation. Currently, Daniel is pursuing a Master's in Research at Leeds Beckett University, in collaboration with Hawkins Dynamics and Queen Ethelburga's Collegiate. His research focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of discrete-point countermovement jump (CMJ) analysis versus CMJ strategy analysis in detecting periods of neuromuscular fatigue among student-athletes. Additionally, he is exploring the relationship between neuromuscular fatigue and athlete well-being. Alongside his research, Daniel is interning as an S&C coach at Leeds Rhinos, working with academy athletes aged 16–18 years.

Presentation - Performance profiling and fatigue monitoring in school populations: Key considerations and case study insights

This session explores the impact of growth and maturation on strength and power development, assessed at three key time points throughout an academic year. Using isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP) and countermovement jump (CMJ) measurements, the study aims to profile athletes’ strength and power characteristics, providing insights into how physical development influences performance metrics over time.