Consultation response to Welsh Government Health, Social care and Sport Committee Inquiry into physical activity of children and young people
12th September 2017
Rob Baynham, Sport Coordinator, ColegauCymru
Introduction
ColegauCymru /CollegesWales welcomes the opportunity to respond to Welsh Government’s Health, Social Care and Sport Committee Inquiry into physical activity among children and young people. ColegauCymru represents the 13[1] further education (FE) colleges and FE institutions in Wales[2] and exists to promote the public benefit of post compulsory education and learning.
Colleges are major providers of general education provision in Wales, helping to produce some of the best learner outcomes. Colleges are the predominant providers of funded vocational and technical education in Wales, providing about 85% of the total provision.
FE Colleges in Wales have a long history of promoting competitive sport and inter-college competitions. Further information on the work of Welsh Colleges Sport can be found on its dedicated website.[3]
FE Colleges in Wales support a wide range of sport, physical activity and wellbeing activity for a full time student population of around 45,000 learners. ColegauCymru manages projects funded by colleges and Sport Wales to create new and innovative activity, develop leadership and employability and tackle issues around inequalities in sports participation.
On a wider scale, projects also enable ColegauCymru to create new partnerships with governing bodies and other organisations, accessing other streams of funding for the sector.
All project activity is guided to work towards one or more of the following strategic level outcomes:
· Increasing participation in Sport and Physical Activity
· Developing workforce and future employability
· Embracing the Sporting Pathway – recreation to competition
· Tackling Inequalities in Participation - reducing the gender gap
· Improving the Wellbeing of FE students.
The FE sector continues to invest socially and financially in Sport and physical activity from college budgets. Areas of interest to this inquiry could include:
· Sports Curriculum - 3000 Students studying FE and HE in colleges
· Current FE investment in new Sports Facilities on campus and in the community
· Support for elite and talented athletes
· Competitive sports programmes in 14 sports
· Students trained as volunteers and deployed in community settings
What do we know about physical activity levels in children in Wales? How robust is the data on this issue?
In the context of the FE sector the term “Children and young people” primarily involves work with students aged 16-19. Following discussion with Welsh Government the term “Children” for this consultation involves people under 18 years of age. The training of vocational students who will work in Childcare, Sports Development, Health and Education should also be a consideration when looking at impact on “Children” and early years.
Prior to 2014 there was limited data available on the physical activity levels of FE students in Wales, particularly in relation to specific vocational groups or gender based differences.
In 2015 ColegayCymru and Sport Wales delivered the Sport Wales FE Sport Survey across 12 FE colleges as an extension of the existing Sport Wales School Sport Survey.
The survey had a sample size of 4,568 covering roughly 10% of the FE student population in Wales. The headline statistics produced higher than expected levels of physical activity, volunteering and motivation:
· 49% hooked on sport
· 23% volunteering
· 83% would like to do more activity
The survey also confirmed an expected gender gap in FE in terms of hooked on Sport identifying approximately a 19% difference between male and female students. Although useful as baseline data, ColegauCymru identified that this figure does not provide a robust indication of inactivity levels which may be a more relevant indicator when looking at physical activity and health issues. Hooked on sport could be seen as more of an indication of difference in activity levels among those already participating.
Further research into data by ColegauCymru with the Sport Wales insight team provided data on those students who indicated “no current activity” in their survey responses. It was also possible to filter this data by vocational subject area identifying those with the highest levels of inactivity.
In the following subject areas, inactivity levels were between 48% -50% potentially involving tens of thousands of young people studying in the FE sector in Wales.
According to the survey the subject areas most affected are:
· Childcare / Health and Social Care
· Hair and Beauty
· Travel, Tourism and Hospitality
· Art and Design
· Independent Living Skills / Learning Support*
Students in some of these subject areas are predominantly female supporting other evidence of a drop in participation levels among female learners, once they reach exam age in education (YR9/10). The FE Sport Survey will be repeated in 2018 with the target of 15,000 responses
In 2016/17 a new online monitoring system UPSHOT was also introduced by ColegauCymru to provide accurate data direct from activities. This now provides data as follows:
· 4,683 students participating in physical activity as part of project related activity in the FE sector
· Currently over 50% of project activity involves Female students
· 35% of Females taking part in ten or more sessions in the project lifecycle.
· Average group size between 8-10
· 2200 sessions delivering over 3600 hours in 16/17
· 1283 Student volunteers in project related activity
Activity type (Colleges have to tag the type of activity on UPSHOT when creating registers)
· Enrichment Physical Activity - 59% of project activity – typically non-competitive fitness based sessions
· Enrichment Recreational Sport - 21%of project activity
· Enrichment Wellbeing - 8% of project activity
- Differences in gender based attitudes towards and opportunities for, participation in physical activity in Wales
As indicated in the previous question according to the initial findings there is a clear gender gap of around 19% in participation between male and female students in the FE sector in Wales. This pattern can be observed in similar age groups within the UK, Ireland and Europe particularly among young people encountering step change in educational and social environments. ColegauCymru “State of Play” report 2014
· 58.7 % of male students hooked on sport in comparison to 39.9% of female students
· 24% of male students inactive in comparison to 38% of Female students
When focusing on attitude to participation and utilising feedback from the FE survey the following gender based differences were observed in response to the question - “I would do more physical activity if?” :
· “If I had more time” - Female 51% / Male 35%
· “If it was cheaper” - Female 34.6 % Male 20.1%
· “If I was more confident” - Female 26.1 % Male 12.4%
· “If I was fitter” - Female 26.3 % Male 14.5%
A possible explanation for these responses could include the social impact of moving from secondary education to College and added responsibilities for younger siblings, employment and increases in volume of study should be considered when looking at attitudes to participation among female students.
In addition, many of the vocational subjects listed as having high levels of inactivity among female learners also involve regular placement in industry alongside study. Childcare being a clear example at level 3 with a full study timetable and 1-2 days placement on a weekly basis.
The extent to which Welsh Government policies are aimed at whole populations and/or particular groups and what impact that approach has on addressing health inequalities?
While there is reference in many of the Welsh Government policies to education and schools, FE colleges are not always to the fore or included in this respect. The recent Welsh Government review of Sport Wales has identified the FE and HE sectors as areas with potential to generate increased impact in terms of the development of sport and physical activity.
Many of the high level outcomes from Climbing Higher and similar updated Welsh Government policy documents have been used in guiding development of strategic priorities for FE projects and n particular, the five strategic level outcomes listed previously.
The partnership with Sport Wales and support and guidance from the Sport Policy team at Welsh Government have both been effective in guiding project activity in the FE sector. ColegauCymru has used this support at a policy level to guide strategic planning in colleges in Wales across a range of networks and platforms. However a clear contributor has been the ongoing support provided by colleges in terms of finance and personnel.
Dissemination of this work and other examples of best practice has resulted in a direct impact on strategy at a college level with further new strategies evolving and changes in some of the following areas to support funded projects.
- Colleges introducing new strategies for sport, physical activity and wellbeing including Coleg Cambria’s - Active Cambria as a sector-leading example
- Projects focusing on Health and Wellbeing of students and mental health including the LUSH project at Bridgend College and Healthy Colleges at NPTC group
- Employment of new officers and roles in FE colleges to support the delivery of FE projects including NPTC Group’s Health, Physical Activity and Wellbeing officer
- Student-led projects and student placements becoming more common-place with the introduction of the YSDA project, Football Activators and new leadership activity linked to HE sector.
The Welsh Colleges Sport Strategy group has continued to support this area of work and provide a platform for new ideas and strategic development. The Sports coordinator represents ColegauCymru, FE and Welsh Colleges Sport on various groups including the AoC Sport national operations group, Sport Wales CSP project stakeholders reference group and Wales Activity Tourism Organisation consultation group.
There is a clear need for further work in the following areas to address health inequalities and support the health and wellbeing of FE students:
· Clearer definition of the term Physical Activity in context and who is responsible for what at a national, regional and local level.
· Further Education colleges and Education in general to be given more of a role in tackling health inequalities – currently planning can tend to lean towards NHS / Public Health and Sport Wales or refer only to Schools in terminology.
· Development of qualifications that truly encourage physical activity and enrichment activity among 16-19year olds. Activity embedded into study programmes.
Barriers to increasing the levels of physical activity among children in Wales and examples of good practice in achieving increases in physical activity and in engagement with hard to reach groups, within Wales, the UK and internationally
Barriers within the FE sector in Wales are also prominent in other countries for similar demographic groups across the UK and Europe. (State of Play, 2014)
At an individual level as indicated in the responses from the FE Sport Survey 2015, these could include time, cost and confidence as factors. At an institutional level based on project activity via UPSHOT they would include similar themes including staffing resources, facilities and student workload.
ColegauCymru has undertaken work in the following areas to try to reduce these barriers and better understand how to engage with hard to reach groups
· Upskilling and increasing physical activity levels among students studying childcare through the Childcare Physical Literacy Project
The Childcare and Physical Literacy project was developed following a successful pilot project at Coleg Gwent funded by Sport Wales in January 2016. The project focused attention on the potential of upskilling students working with early years and also getting a cohort with levels of 50% inactivity to be more active.
To support this work ColegauCymru, in partnership with the behaviour change team at the Welsh Audit Office, coordinated a seminar challenging play stereotypes in September 2017. This seminar discussed new ways of working linked to the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act. Presentations were delivered by Sport Wales (Physical Literacy), Public Health Wales (Daily mile), Cardiff, and Vale College on early years environments in Norway.
Completion of the ColegGwent project identified many positive outcomes including more skilled and active childcare students, an additional unseen development was the ability of fellow students to help lead this new activity.
http://www.coleggwent.ac.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2625&cookie=3#.WSflAJ_TWEc
· Creating new leadership opportunities for FE and HE students as part of student management teams for Sport, Physical Activity and Wellbeing.
As part of partnerships with YA Cymru and First Campus, project activity includes examples of outstanding SMT programmes and leadership activity by FE and HE students. One highlight from the 2016/17 year has been the emergence of current HE students who had previously worked on FE student Management teams in the first two years of the project, returning to support project activity in 2016/17 as part of degree course placement and the Young Ambassadors programme.
Kiera Davies – NPTC group / Cardiff Metropolitan University / Platinum YA / Netball Coach / Official
Previously a Sports Student and SMT member at NPTC group, Llandarcy, Kiera has led training sessions and workshops for the Erasmus+ YSDA project, supported social media delivery on projects, delivered a keynote speech at the WCS conference and workshops on Physical Literacy to FE staff and students. Kiera also volunteered as a Netball Umpire at the WCS regional competitions 2017.
Conor Lees – Coleg Gwent / Cardiff Metropolitan University / Youth Sports Development Ambassador / International Trampolinist
Previously a sports student and SMT member at Coleg Gwent Cross Keys, Conor elected to complete over 120 hours at his old college supporting delivery of activity, training of the current SMT and completing all project reporting for Coleg Gwent via UPSHOT. Conor has also presented at the YSDA conference and will travel to Hungary in September to share experiences with other European Ambassadors
· Creating new opportunities at an EU level for student ambassadors from Wales to work with their peers developing sport for BMW populations. Erasmus+ Youth Sports Development Ambassadors Project.
The Erasmus+ YSDA (Youth Sport Development Ambassadors) project involves 7 EU partner countries. This project started in January 2017 has seen 28 YSDA and mentors recruited in partner countries and mobility visits underway for all partners.
In April 2017 the project was launched in Wales with the YSDA conference attended by the Minister for Sport, Rebecca Evans. AM. Presentations were made to delegates from the Sport and Education sector by partner countries, Cardiff Met HEYA and BME Sport Cymru.
More information is available on the project website and facebook pages
http://www.ysda.eu/en/home.html
https://www.facebook.com/YSDAProject/
Physical Activity Guidelines and how we benchmark physical fitness in children
Current guidelines and indicators can be confusing particular when comparing between WHO, EU and more local guidelines. For example in some cases benchmarking for successful project activity can be confused with recommended activity levels for health from Government.
Trends appearing in the FE sector would support the need for more detailed guidelines in particular in relation to the intensity of physical activity. It is apparent from student feedback on new collaborative projects in 2016/17 that the intensity of activity is a major factor in engagement of new participants. More research into the impact of both intensity and length of activity would be useful in this areas of study.
(Feedback from Collaborative Sports Projects at Bridgend College and Gower College Swansea 2016/17, Colegau Cymru Active Wellbeing report 2016-17
When engaging with hard to reach groups in the experience reported by our colleges, it has been critical to spend some initial time building trust and developing a social connection with target groups. This can involve longer sessions with lower levels of activity. When delivering activity more frequent, shorter, medium intensity activities are proving most effective.
Measurement of activity levels among disengaged groups in FE is an area that needs careful consideration though. Engagement often involves avoiding terms such as Sport/Fitness / testing / evaulation etc. Measurement of other factors such as enjoyment may be more beneficial at certain stages than progression on a form of fitness test.
Value for Money of Welsh Government spending to promote exercise in children
ColegauCymru would welcome an overview of the current spending by Welsh Government on promotion of exercise in children and allocation to the FE sector in relation to education and community programmes
Grant funding from Sport Wales provides FE colleges with funding currently working with approximately 5-10% of an FE population with at least 30% inactivity levels
The cost of project activity is currently in the region of £150K per year with cost per session delivery around £30 and per student £4 per session and £1 per hour.
Colleges also provide enrichment funding to support delivery to both active and inactive students and would welcome the opportunity to be involved in wider initiatives and projects.
Annexes
ColegauCymru State of Play 2014
State of Play 2014:
a report on
sports and enrichment provision
in further education in Wales
Acknowledgements of partners
This report has been developed by the ColegauCymru Sports Coordinator with the support of Senior Officers from Sport Wales. In particular, Sport Wales’ Carwyn Young has provided guidance on the planning and development of the National Sport Development Plan.
Information on volunteering and leadership has been provided by Rob Guy of Sports Leaders UK and Emma Roberts of Young Ambassadors Cymru. The research department at Sport Wales, through the involvement of Rebecca Mattingley, has provided data and support on current Sport Wales research into participation.
Contents
1. Introduction
2. Current Data
3. Context
4. Current offer for FE sports students
5. Results from Audit of sports provision 2014
Sport Curriculum Provision
Competitive Sport Opportunities
Sports Enrichment / Recreation opportunities
Access to sports facilities
Barriers to Participation
Community Volunteering
6. Conclusions
Annex: SWOT Analysis
|
1. Introduction |
State of Play 2014 is an initial audit of sports
provision in further education (FE) in Wales in 2014.[4]
The findings of the audit have helped develop the strategic priorities contained in the ColegauCymru National Sports Development Plan.
There are clear opportunities for development in FE. Direct grant funding and better planning would contribute to raising the bar in participation and volunteering in this sector.
Regional and institutional variations are also visible and the need to share good practice and develop all aspects of sport and physical activity within FE is critical to the success of the project.
Three of the key FE targets set by Sport Wales:
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|
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2. Current Data |
There is a dearth of data on participation in FE sports in Wales,
and particularly so for the 16-19 age group. In compiling
this report, several source documents have been referred to in
order to put the results into context and to provide a basis for
future development.
The reports identify that the 16-19 age group typically sees a drop off in activity levels, particularly amongst young women.
The graphs below, which present data from the Sport Wales Schools Sport Survey and Active Adults survey, show girls’ activity levels dropping from school Year 7 onwards, with the gender gap being particularly marked for ages 16-24.
Figure 1
Some simple statistics of Year 10/11 girls also highlight some of the reasons for this drop off in activity and highlight the gender differences at this pre-college age:
Figure 2[5]
|
Year 10/11 |
girls |
boys |
|
Members of Sports Clubs |
32% |
52% |
|
enjoy PE a lot |
35% |
58% |
|
enjoy sport in school clubs a lot |
21% |
39% |
For FE the challenge will be to find baseline data that indicates how often the students in the 16-19 age group are actually participating in three sessions of sport or physical activity per week.
In addition to the data available in Wales, research in similar fields undertaken in Europe, Ireland and England was used to provide a comparison.
At a European level there is a significant gender gap in participation in the 15-24 age group.
|
EU Countries Overall, men in the EU exercise, play sport or engage in other physical activity more than women. This disparity is particularly marked in the 15-24 age group, with considerably more young men tending to exercise or play sport on a regular basis than young women (74% vs 55%).[6] Euro Barometer on sport |
In Ireland the gender gap and the impact of exams for 14-16 year old is also apparent but also the benefit of sport to those who continue to participate is highlighted.
|
Ireland Girls are more likely to drop out than boys. The public examination system has a strong negative impact on participation in sport: students are far less likely to participate during exam years and this has a lasting effect on participation later. Nevertheless, those who do play sport get, on average, better Leaving Certificate results.[7] |
There are examples where significant action is being taken in EU
countries to develop participation among 16 – 19year olds
including the “Sport Maker” programme in FE in England.
Overall in England funding and support for the 16-19 age group has
seen major improvements in participation since 2012.
|
England
|
The need for a Colleges Sport Survey is apparent to complement both the Schools Sport Survey and Active Adults Survey compiled by Sport Wales and allow benchmarking with the AoC Sport Survey in England.
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3. Context |
The initial audit involved 16 FE sports departments across Wales.
In Wales there are currently 17 college sports departments across
various sites / campuses, in comparison there are 341 FE sports
departments in England with the smallest region being the North
East with 21 and the largest the South East with 65.
College sports departments involved in the initial audit of sports provision are listed below:
Table 1
|
Region |
College |
Campuses / Sites involved |
|
South East |
Coleg y Cymoedd |
Nantgarw Campus |
|
Ystrad Mynach Campus |
||
|
Coleg Gwent |
Cross Keys Campus |
|
|
St David’s Catholic College |
All |
|
|
South Central |
The College Merthyr Tydfil |
All |
|
Cardiff and Vale College |
All |
|
|
Bridgend College |
Pencoed Campus |
|
|
South West |
Coleg Sir Gâr |
All |
|
Gower College Swansea |
All |
|
|
Pembrokeshire College |
All |
|
|
NPTC Group |
Neath Campus |
|
|
Mid Wales |
Brecon Campus |
|
|
Newtown Campus |
||
|
North East |
Coleg Cambria |
Yale and Deeside (combined) |
|
North West |
Grŵp Llandrillo Menai |
Coleg Menai |
|
Coleg Llandrillo |
|
4. Current Offer for FE Sports Students |
There are currently approximately 45,500 full time students in FE in Wales of which the vast majority are within the 16-19 age group. Over 3000 of these students are studying full-time sport courses (data from audit 2014) this represents around 7% of the FE learner population at this age. It is apparent from the audit that this group will participate regularly in sport, volunteering and community coaching through the curriculum and their individual sporting interests.
Students in FE in Wales currently access sport and physical activity through the following options:
Figure
3. Opportunities for FE students in Wales
Data on sports students was used as a starting point for research to give a picture of the current sports volunteering workforce and level of sports provision within colleges which tends to be managed by sports departments.
The range of provision varies greatly both geographically and between individual institutions, Welsh colleges regularly punch above their weight winning British Colleges Sports titles in competitive sport and UK awards for volunteering Figure 4 below shows the level of success for 2013/14 for colleges from Wales.
Figure 4. 2013 / 2014 Welsh Colleges’ Sporting Successes
|
British Colleges Sport - Cup winners
|
|
British Colleges Sport Awards
|
|
British Colleges Sport National Championships – Bath 2014 Gold Medals
Silver Medals
Bronze Medals
|
|
5. Result of Audit of Sports Provision 2014 |
The results from the audit were collated to provide the best
opportunity for benchmarking against other information currently
available. All information is provided as a national figure,
with indication given of the upper and lower limits of the
provision in places.
FE Sports Curriculum Provision
Gender gap 23% of FE sport students are female and 77% are male.
Age range 94% of sport students study on FE courses (16-19); 6% are studying HE courses in FE (19+).
Range of courses The sport curriculum offer in FE varies from entry level 3 through to Foundation degree courses.
Size of sports departments Variation from 35- 420 students per college.
Average size of departments
Wales: 190 students; England: 235 students
(AoC Colleges Sport Survey 2013).
Competitive sport opportunities
Average of 20 competitive sports opportunities.[8]
Football is the most widely provided male sport in colleges with 28
college teams participating in organised competition; this is
followed by rugby with 17 teams.
Netball is the most popular sport for female students with 12
college teams playing in competitive leagues with football being
the second most popular choice with 8 teams.
This data matches the most popular sport / activity trends in schools identified by the Sport Wales school sport survey 2013.
|
Sport / Activity |
2013 |
2011 |
||
|
|
Girls |
Boys |
Girls |
Boys |
|
Netball |
32.0% |
|
28.6% |
|
|
Football |
|
51.3% |
|
41.4% |
Sports Enrichment / Recreation opportunities
This area provides 31% of the total number of sport / physical activity opportunities provided in Welsh colleges. Of this opportunity the offer varies significantly per college from zero enrichment activity that involves sport / physical activity to 15+ activities / week.
The average number of sports enrichment opportunities (i.e. non-competitive sport or physical activity) offered in Wales is 7 in comparison to 20 per college in England.
There are 35 different sports enrichment activities available across Welsh colleges.
The most widely offered activity in Wales is using college gym facilities followed by football / 5 aside.
Access to sports facilities
This varies greatly for colleges across Wales. Some have outstanding facilities that equal university sports parks, others rely on partnerships with local authorities, clubs and universities to support sports activities. Many of the colleges in Wales open their facilities to the wider community either for sports development use or as commercial ventures.
There is a considerable amount of local development work being undertaken that could increase the number of synthetic grass pitches available for college use. This includes venues adjacent to colleges or onsite at Bridgend, Ystrad Mynach, Llanelli, Newtown, Swansea and Bangor.
Table 3: comparison of college owned facilities in England and Wales
|
Facility |
%
of colleges
|
%
of facilities |
||
|
|
England |
Wales |
England |
Wales |
|
Sports Hall |
82% |
69% |
87% |
82% |
|
Gym / Fitness Facility |
90% |
88% |
46% |
50% |
|
Grass Pitches |
63% |
25% |
74% |
50% |
|
Synthetic Turf Pitch |
37% |
25% |
91% |
75% |
Barriers to Participation
Sports departments were asked what they perceived to be the main barriers to increasing participation in their respective colleges and these were grouped under the main headings listed below.
It is recognised that many other factors including enjoyment levels and previous experiences of PE will also determine how staff and students approach participating in new activity.
Table 4: Barriers to increasing participation in FE sport in
Wales
Availability / lack of facilities 69% (of colleges)
Timetabling constraints 44%
Availability of staff / resources 44%
Budgetary constraints / Funding 38%
Partnerships
Colleges support a significant amount of community volunteering through partnerships and relationships with a wide range of organisations.
The most common partnerships within FE include Sports Leaders UK, local authorities, local primary schools, the Welsh Football Trust and the Welsh Rugby Union, with 60% of colleges having some form of partnership with all of these organisations already in place.
Community Volunteering
Volunteering hours completed by sports students in FE in range from less than 500 hours per college to over 3,000 per college with potential to engage all sports students in community volunteering activity.
Examples include:
Welsh Football Trust Football Leaders Awards – 300 leaders =
3000 hours
Sports Leaders UK courses 2013/14 totalling around 1300 hours.
Table 5: Sports Leaders UK courses 2013/14 totalling around 13000 hours
|
College Name |
Number of Leaders |
Hours |
|
Gower College Swansea (Ty Coch) |
303 |
3030 |
|
Grŵp Llandrillo Menai (Coleg Llandrillo) |
163 |
1630 |
|
Bridgend College |
150 |
1500 |
|
Coleg Sir Gâr |
108 |
1080 |
|
NTPC Group (Neath Campus) |
106 |
1060 |
|
NTPC Group (Newtown Campus) |
86 |
860 |
|
The College Merthyr Tydfil |
86 |
860 |
|
Coleg Gwent |
85 |
850 |
|
Coleg y Cymoedd |
60 |
600 |
|
Coleg Cambria |
37 |
370 |
|
Pembrokeshire College |
35 |
350 |
|
Gower College Swansea (Gorseinon Campus) |
27 |
270 |
|
Grŵp Llandrillo Menai (Coleg Menai) |
27 |
270 |
|
Cardiff and Vale College |
26 |
260 |
|
6.Conclusions |
The following areas have been identified from the current state of play in colleges as the priorities for successful development of FE sport in Wales:
|
|
These strategic
priorities will provide a framework to allow colleges to identify
how they can contribute towards achieving the key outcomes.
The strategic priorities will also identify how FE Sport in Wales
needs to develop at a national and institutional level.
Each priority will have specific aims, action and performance measurements relevant to its role that allow the main outcomes to be divided into practical working objectives.
Aims, actions and measurements will need to be designed to allow smooth collaboration and comparison between FE and partner organisations.
More detailed information on any of the information in this report is available on request from the sports coordinator at ColegauCymru.
|
Annex: SWOT Analysis |
Summary of data and information gathered by the
audit of sport departments and meetings with NGBS and other third
parties.
|
Strengths · FE college networks already in place for sport and curriculum · Experience of staff within FE sector · WCS success in elite college sport · Potential workforce of 3000 sports students · Potential volunteering capacity of 120,000 hours · Students already completing 5 x 60 programme and other Sport Wales initiatives in school · Current examples of good practice in developing participation and volunteering. |
Weaknesses
|
|
Opportunities
|
Threats · Unstable nature of funding to FE and FE sport – rollercoaster approach · Tighter curriculum provision creating pressure on college staff resources – introduction of Learning Programmes and ILPs · National and local mergers – AoC / BCS, local authorities, colleges · Sustainability of new sports and new fitness activities within the college environment · Funding for new sports facilities – heavily dependent on funding from external sources. |
ColegauCymru Active Wellbeing Report 2016-17
Active Wellbeing Project Report 2016/17
31st August 2017
|
Acknowledgements |
This report has been written by Rob Baynham (Sports Coordinator) with the support of the Welsh Colleges Sport Strategy Group (WCSSG), project leads in Colleges and Sport Wales Staff. In particular, thanks to Geraint Jones as Chair of the WCSSG, Susie Osborne, Sport Wales Project Officer and ColegauCymru staff for support and guidance in completing this report.
The report is intended for Sport Wales and ColegauCymru as evidence of Sport Wales funded project activity in colleges during the 2016/17 academic year.
|
Contents |
1. Introduction
2. Strategic Developments
3. Budget
4. Project Overview
5. UPSHOT
6. Childcare Physical Literacy
7. Sports Coordinator
8. Core funded Projects
9. Collaborative Projects
9.1 Bridgend College
9.2 NPTC Group
9.3 Gower College
9.4 Pembrokeshire College
10. Summary
11. Annexes
|
1. Introduction |
This report provides information on the impact of Sport Wales funded projects in the FE sector in Wales for the 2016/17 academic year. The primary focus will be on those projects managed by ColegauCymru and supported by Welsh Colleges Sport with information also provided on strategic developments and benefit of work undertaken by ColegauCymru. This is the final year of a three-year project (Increasing Sports Participation and Volunteering amongst 16-24 year olds in Further Education in Wales).
FE Colleges in Wales support a wide range of sport, physical activity and wellbeing activity for a full time student population of around 45,000 learners. Sport Wales funded projects provide an opportunity for colleges to create new and innovative activities, develop leadership and employability and tackle issues around inequalities in sports participation. On a wider scale, the project has also enabled ColegauCymru to create new partnerships with governing bodies and other organisations, accessing other streams of funding for the sector.
During 16/17 project activity has taken a new direction with funding for some larger collaborative projects, new project developments and co funding provided for the Erasmus+ Youth Sports Development Ambassadors project. All project activity is challenged to work towards one or more of the following strategic level outcomes:
· Increasing participation in Sport and Physical Activity
· Developing workforce and future employability
· Embracing the Sporting Pathway – recreation to competition
· Tackling Inequalities in Participation - reducing the gender gap
· Improving the Wellbeing of FE students.
Although not reported on directly in this document the FE sector continues to invest socially and financially in Sport and physical activity from college finances. Areas of interest to Sport Wales could include:
· Sports Curriculum - 3000 Students studying FE and HE in colleges
· Current FE investment in new Sports Facilities on campus and in the community
· Support for elite and talented athletes
· Competitive sports programmes in 14 sports
· Students trained as volunteers and deployed in community settings
Students from Coleg Cambria participating in physical activity as part of enrichment sessions
2. Strategic Developments
ColegauCymru has undertaken strategic development work across a range of areas during 2016/17 both as an advocate for the FE sector and to share best practice from project activity within the sector. This has included representation with Welsh Government Ministers, the former chair of Sport Wales and representatives from NGBs and similar organisations.
Work undertaken by the Sports coordinator has included commissioning research on the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act and its impact on the FE sector. In September strategic partnership work was undertaken with the Wales Audit Office around behaviour change and the WBFGA. This involved hosting a seminar “Another way to play” challenging some of the traditional approaches to Play environments with experts from Sport Wales, Public Health Wales and initiatives in Germany presenting.
Dissemination of this work and other examples of best practice has resulted in a direct impact on strategy at a college level with new strategies evolving and changes in some of the following areas to support funded projects.
· Colleges introducing new strategies for sport, physical activity and wellbeing including Coleg Cambria’s - Active Cambria as a sector-leading example
· Projects focusing on Health and Wellbeing of students and mental health including the LUSH project at Bridgend College and Healthy Colleges at NPTC group
· Employment of new officers and roles in FE colleges to support the delivery of FE projects including NPTC Group’s Health, Physical Activity and Wellbeing officer
· Student led projects and student placements becoming more common-place with the introduction of the YSDA project, Football Activators and new leadership activity linked to HE sector.
The Welsh Colleges Sport Strategy group has continued to support this area of work and provide a platform for new ideas and strategic development. The Sports coordinator also represents ColegauCymru, FE and Welsh Colleges Sport on various groups including the AoC Sport national operations group, Sport Wales CSP project stakeholders reference group and Wales Activity Tourism Organisation consultation group.
3. Budget 2016/17
The core budget remained the same for the 16/17 academic year and was distributed as below within the project.
An additional £8k co-funding was also provided by Sport Wales for the Erasmus + YSDA project.
|
Grant Funding |
Colleges |
Amount per college |
Total |
|
Core Funding |
13 |
£3k |
£39K |
|
Collaborative Projects |
4 |
£15 |
£60k |
|
Childcare / Physical Literacy |
10 |
£1k |
£10k |
|
UPSHOT online Monitoring |
13 |
|
£13K |
|
Sports Coordinators Salary |
n/a |
|
£26250 (50%) |
|
Welsh Colleges Sport Conference 2017 |
13 |
|
£1750 (50% contribution |
|
YSDA Project |
Indirectly supports 4 colleges |
N/A |
£8k |
|
|
|
Total |
£158K |
All grant funding has been received from Sport Wales and allocated where project activity has taken place. In the case of the Collaborative and childcare projects there were delays in delivery due to the reasons listed below and any remaining funding will be allocated in the Autumn term of 2017 on completion of delivery.
|
Project |
College / s |
Reason / Amount to pay |
|
Collaborative project |
NPTC Group |
Appointment of new project officer between Jan 17 – March 17. £7.5K allocated - £7.5K remaining |
|
Collaborative Project |
Pembrokeshire College |
Project timeline adjusted to allow for new build of sports facilities to be completed. £7.5K allocated - £7.5K remaining |
|
Childcare projects |
7 / 10 colleges to complete training and deliver in Autumn term 2017 |
Delays in identifying PL trainers in some regions until March resulted in projects being postponed from a January 17 start to a September 17 start. |
In the case of one college, there is concern that project delivery has not met the outcomes set out for 16/17. This situation is currently being reviewed and funding will be withdrawn if necessary.
Additional funding
There is a range of funding related to the sports project and other projects that contributes to the Sports Coordinators’ salary, Welsh Colleges Sport and additional projects. This funding includes partnership projects with NGBs (FAW Trust and Street Games) that are indirectly funded by Sport Wales. ColegauCymru also continue to provide additional administrative and management support for projects from college core funding. An overview is provided below:
|
Organisation |
Contribution |
Project / Category |
|
ColegauCymru |
£35k from College core subscriptions |
Sports Coordinators Salary 50% £26250 Welsh Colleges Sport competitions £1250 AoC Sport affiliation fees £7500 |
|
ColegauCymru |
£10k management fees |
Admin support / CEO and Management work / Hosting of meetings / events |
|
EACEA |
£280k |
Erasmus + YSDA project Approx. value of £80k to Wales as a partner organisation |
|
FAW trust* |
£8K |
Football activators project funding |
|
Street Games Wales* |
£10k |
US girls projects in FE Colleges overseen by ColegauCymru |
|
First Campus |
£5k |
HE in FE work placements supporting delivery in 5 colleges as part of HEFCW reaching wider programme |
College Contributions / Partnership / Sponsorship
FE Colleges support project activity, festivals, training events, tournaments and trials by providing facilities, transport, staff and student volunteers. In most cases this support is provided free of charge and without this type of support this activity would place a significant financial cost on colleges / projects.
Partnerships with HE providers allow facilities and student placements to support project activity including conferences, training events and support for FE representative sport. Partnership with NBGs provides similar support for regional tournaments and training of volunteers and officials (Welsh Athletics /YA Cymru /FAW trust / WRU / Cricket Wales / Glamorgan / Welsh Netball / Tennis Wales / Outdoor Partnership as examples)
Sponsorship for national teams and regional competitions from external sources including kit suppliers and transport companies is in place. Again without this support much of the competitive / representative offer in colleges would be reduced significantly. This offer currently provides a “Sporting Pathway” for college students to progress from intramural recreational sport to inter regional and national level competition.
All of the above work is managed by the Sports Coordinator.
4. Project Overview
For 2016/17 a change of direction in allocation of project funding was agreed by the WCSSG. The aim was to move away from previous allocation of £5k per college of core funding to £3k core funding with an opportunity to bid for larger “collaborative” projects at £15-20K per project.
This process resulted in two main tiers of Sport Wales related funding managed by ColegauCymru with remaining project funding being allocated to UPSHOT online monitoring and Physical Literacy projects. Development of better reporting systems and sharing of best practice in upskilling non–sporty students had been identified in 2015/16 as key areas of development for project activity.
As indicated previously colleges were tasked with aligning project activity with the five outcomes identified as priorities for the sector and project funded activity. Of these outcomes, three align closely with Sport Wales community sport priority areas and two more closely with Estyn key questions for FE inspections.
The majority of project activity across all projects should be viewed as “new” activity which in many cases would not have been offered without the contribution from Sport Wales and work of college staff. With the use of UPSHOT it is also now possible to review the type of activity that was provided and frequency of participation.
Challenges remain in many areas developing new projects in the FE sector, these include an ever decreasing amount of “enrichment” time for students due to changes in course programmes and increased pressure on college lecturing staff who may previously have been given remission for Enrichment activity and additional activity.
It is clear where colleges have a designated officer or manager in place to oversee this type of activity – particularly in a cross-college role that the quality of project delivery is improved. In many cases these roles are a legacy of Sports Wales funded projects and in some cases new roles following strategic impact of the current project.
Employability and development of a student voluntary workforce, when embedded into college enrichment programmes continues to be an effective and sustainable resource for colleges. The third year of the project has seen mixed results in terms of development of Student Management teams and industrial placements. In some colleges / projects placements have not been as effective as hoped and numbers for management teams have been lower than predicted. Reasons for this have varied from recruitment issues, previous student leaders moving on and support for students from colleges.
While these negative outcomes have been apparent in other colleges they are countered by many examples of outstanding SMT programmes and leadership activity by FE and HE students. One highlight from the 2016/17 year has been the emergence of current HE students who had previously worked on FE student Management teams in the first two years of the project, returning to support project activity in 2016/17 as part of degree course placement and the Young Ambassadors programme.
Kiera Davies – NPTC group / Cardiff Metropolitan University / Platinum YA / Netball Coach / Official
Previously a Sports Student and SMT member at NPTC group, Llandarcy, Kiera has led training sessions and workshops for the Erasmus+ YSDA project, supported social media delivery on projects, delivered a keynote speech at the WCS conference and workshops on Physical Literacy to FE staff and students. Kiera also volunteered as a Netball Umpire at the WCS regional competitions 2017.
Conor Lees – Coleg Gwent / Cardiff Metropolitan University / Youth Sports Development Ambassador / International Trampolinist
Previously a sports student and SMT member at Coleg Gwent Cross Keys, Conor elected to complete over 120 hours at his old college supporting delivery of activity, training of the current SMT and completing all project reporting for Coleg Gwent via UPSHOT. Conor has also presented at the YSDA conference and will travel to Hungary in September to share experiences with other European Ambassadors
YSDA Project
Sport Wales provides co-funding for the Erasmus+ YSDA project involving 7 EU partner countries. This project started in January 2017 has seen 28 YSDA and mentors recruited in partner countries and mobility visits underway for all partners.
In April 2017 the project was launched in Wales with the YSDA conference attended by the Minister for Sport, Rebecca Evans. AM. Presentations were made to delegates from the Sport and Education sector by partner countries, Cardiff Met HEYA and BME Sport Cymru.
Project delivery will follow from January 2018 with the final conference in Italy in September 2018.
More information is available on the project Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/YSDAProject/
(Data and analysis of all funded project activity and outcomes is provided under the appropriate project headings below.)
5. UPSHOT
UPSHOT was introduced as a monitoring system for the FE sector in October 2016 with a view to providing better monitoring and evidence for FE projects. All FE colleges were provided with an UPSHOT account and the capacity to monitor up to ten funded and non-funded “Programmes”.
Initially key college staff attended training sessions with UPSHOT in November with sessions in Cardiff and Wrexham led by UPSHOT staff. Colleges were provided with “demo” accounts for training purposes and additional training from the Sport Coordinator prior to the system going live in January 2017. All colleges attended this training.
Use of UPSHOT has proved challenging in its first year with the primary barrier being sharing of student data on the system and consent. Colleges are in many cases reviewing this data protection procedures due to the forthcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) being introduced on 25th May 2017.
Colleges were reluctant in some cases to complete a “bulk upload” of student data for 2016/17 and this has led to differences in the data fields for individual colleges and the capacity of staff to upload registers. It is anticipated in most cases that colleges have overcome this problem for 2017/18 by including requests for consent in student enrolment paperwork.
The impact of UPSHOT will not fully be seen until the end of 2017/18 but initial improvements in monitoring and evaluation can be seen in the following areas:
· Improved data on number of “unique” attendees and the capacity to compare this with more traditional “head counts”
· Comparison of delivery / participation across X number of projects funded by Sport Wales
· Detailed analysis of frequency of participation v Participant by gender / project
· Analysis of the type of activity being undertaken v Gender / project
· Use of online media library providing college / project media over 200 images and documents uploaded.
· Initial use of mapping of project activity against demographics and areas of deprivation.
Targets for improvements for UPSHOT for 2017/18 include:
· All Colleges completing bulk upload of student data in September / October
· Movement from uploading backdated information to more online monitoring direct from project activity
· Better use of UPSHOT surveys and media options
· Use of student information to create online CVs and people reports for participants
· Better monitoring of volunteering activity.
UPSHOT has improved the ability to monitor projects significantly but potentially the system is only being used at less than 50% of its capacity. ColegauCymru will be coordinating termly training sessions and webinars for FE staff to support the improved use of UPSHOT for 2017/18
6. Childcare / Physical Literacy
The Childcare and Physical Literacy project was developed following a successful pilot project at Coleg Gwent funded by Sport Wales in January 2016. The project focused attention on the potential of upskilling students working with early years and also getting a cohort with levels of 50% inactivity to be more active.
To support this work ColegauCymru, in partnership with the behaviour change team at the Welsh Audit Office, coordinated a seminar challenging play stereotypes in September 2017. This seminar discussed new ways of working linked to the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act. Presentations were delivered by Sport Wales (Physical Literacy), Public Health Wales (Daily mile), Cardiff, and Vale College on early years environments in Norway.
Completion of the ColegGwent project identified many positive outcomes including more skilled and active childcare students, an additional unseen development was the ability of fellow students to help lead this new activity.
http://www.coleggwent.ac.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2625&cookie=3#.WSflAJ_TWEc
Students and SMT members from Coleg Gwent Cross Keys Campus attending their multi sport session
16 / 17 project outcomes
· 10 college campuses signed up to deliver project
· 3 Colleges completed project with 7 to continue in Autumn 2017
· 3 colleges bringing childcare learners to Welsh Colleges Sport Active wellbeing conference
|
Outcome |
Target |
Actual – July 2017 |
|
Colleges |
10 |
3 |
|
Participants |
200 |
84 |
|
Sessions |
100 |
56 |
|
Hours |
100 |
111 |
Action required:
· Identifying trainers for Childcare Tutors and Learners for Autumn 2017 where local authorities are not able to lead.
· Cardiff Met HEYA team / Graham Haines identified as potential trainers for project
· Training day for College tutors October 2017
· Delivery of outstanding activity in 7 colleges
· Sharing of best practice from successful Childcare projects including Coleg Sir Gar
Childcare students from Coleg Sir Gar successfully climbing Pen Y Fan as their end of project challenge
7. Sports Coordinator
The Sports Coordinator’s work during 2016/17 continued to primarily cover four areas
· Sport Wales Project activity – support for 13 colleges delivering core projects, and four delivering collaborative projects
· Welsh Colleges Sport Activity – 21 regional tournaments, national team manager, WCS conference, WCS Snowdonia Challenge, network meetings and communications
· Management and coordination of additional projects including the Erasmus+ YSDA project, US Girls, Football Activators, First Campus and Childcare / Physical Literacy
· Representation and advisory work for the FE sector including; Sport Wales CSP Stakeholders group, Wales Activity Tourism Organisation consultation group, AoCSport national ops group and meetings with Welsh Government Sport Policy.
Within this time period responsibility for managing UPSHOT and the Erasmus+ YSDA project has increased significantly with the implementation of both from September 2016 and January 2017 respectively.
New events and research work to support projects and share best practice have been introduced during the past year including:
· Commissioned research into the impact of the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act on the FE sector Autumn 2016
· Coordinating “Another Way to Play” seminar with Welsh Audit Office September 2017
· YSDA Project conference and launch April 2017
· Welsh Colleges Sport Snowdonia Challenge 2017.
YSDA project managers and YSDA from 7 EU countries and YA Cymru platinum ambassadors attending training at Leckwith Stadium in April 2017
UPSHOT and data from Welsh Colleges Sport events below provides an overview of the impact of this work and the added-value of work undertaken by the Sport Coordinators via ColegauCymru and the FE sector against the five identified strategic outcomes:
|
Project / Event |
FE Participants (16-24 age group) |
Strategic Outcomes – with focus on |
|
Core funded Projects |
2308 |
All – Tackling inequalities |
|
Collaborative Projects |
761 |
All |
|
Welsh Colleges regional competitions |
1083 |
Sporting Pathway Employability |
|
Childcare / Physical Literacy |
84 |
All – Tackling inequalities, employability |
|
US Girls |
183 |
Tackling Inequalities |
|
First Campus |
115 |
All - Employability |
|
YSDA training / Conference |
39 (28 YSDA, 8 YA, 3 EU Placements) |
Tackling Inequalities. Employability |
|
Welsh Colleges Sport Snowdonia Challenge |
120 (90 participants and 30 volunteers) |
Sporting Pathway, Employability |
|
Welsh Colleges Conference |
170 |
All |
|
Total |
4,863 |
|
The WCSSG, Sport Wales officers, ColegauCymru staff, college staff and students continue to provide a huge amount of support for the work of the Sports Coordinator. While UPSHOT will provide further data and project management, gaps where development and additional support for role remain, these primarily include:
· Social Media, Website and Comms
· Event Management
· Welsh Colleges Sport competitive programme.
8. Core Funded Projects
Equine studies students at Coleg Cambria utilising classroom space for a core session
13 Colleges participated in core-funded projects receiving £3k per college for 2016/17
Project delivery varied significantly across different colleges with some colleges having more established programmes, others working with new strategies for sport and wellbeing and others creating new activity on campuses where previously there was no activity. Overall participation numbers were lower than predicted for 16/17 with one college not returning data for activity. In comparison session, delivery has increased significantly on the original predictions.
|
Outcome |
Target |
Actual |
|
Participants |
2790 |
2308* |
|
Male |
1240 |
1147 (49.7%) |
|
Female |
1570 |
1161 (50.3%) |
|
Sessions |
1647 |
2208 |
|
Volunteers** UPSHOT SLUK Football Leaders MV |
288
|
1,263** 127 838 240 58 |
*St David’s college not included in delivery stats. Coleg Cambria, Gower College Swansea and The College Merthyr Tydfil activity recorded against other programme categories on UPSHOT but included in this data.
**Analysis of volunteering remains a challenge. Data provided from UPSHOT and partners but alignment with funded activity not accurate. This figure is an indicator of volunteering related to project and WCS activity
Core Funding Analysis
Using UPSHOT for monitoring purposes has provided more accurate reporting and the following trends can be observed, particularly in colleges with well-established programmes:
· Overall trend for smaller group sizes when working with tutor groups – e.g. 8 -10 per session rather than the figure of 10-15 used for predictions. In many cases some of the group will participate and some will observe reducing participation but still attending
· An increased % of Female learners participating in project activity from 15/16 but less than the predicted % of learners within the 16/17 target.
· The number of hours of delivery being significantly higher than session hours, 3631 hours delivered in 2208 sessions.
Further analysis via UPSHOT is provided below, one significant data highlight is the difference between traditional “head counts” and the use of online monitoring via registered participants. For core-funded projects, registered participation of 2308 can be compared to head count data of 16,167 participants. This information may provide useful insight for Sport Wales in guiding the way monitoring is completed in other project activity.
UPSHOT data from 2016/17 core funding also provides data on activity type, frequency, cost and participation by Ethnicity that begins to demonstrate more clearly what project activity is taking place.
Activity Type:
Activities can be aligned to a range of overarching “Activity Types” in UPSHOT, reporting for 16/17 indicated that the following were the best attended “types” of activity.
Enrichment Physical Activity - 59% of project activity – typically non-competitive fitness based sessions
Enrichment Recreational Sport - 21%of project activity
Enrichment Wellbeing - 8% of project activity
This indicates that project funding is being directed at suitable type of activity as per college directives and can be used to guide further planning.
Frequency of participation:
The aim of college projects is to engage students in new activity for one session per week with the hope that this contributes to them reaching the “hooked on sport” target of three sessions per week. Colleges have been encouraged to be creative in session delivery and offer sessions in smaller blocks and at times that better match educational commitments (exams / placements etc.). The data taken from UPSHOT indicates that nearly 50% of participation is over 1-5 sessions but significantly over 35% of female students participating attended 10 or more sessions in core-funded projects.
All - 48% 1-5 sessions / 23% 5-10 sessions / 29% 10+ sessions
Female - 43% 1-5 sessions / 22% 5-10 Sessions / 35% 10+ sessions
Male – 51% 1-5 sessions / 25% 5-10 sessions / 24% 10+ sessions
Cost
UPSHOT provides some additional data on cost of delivery at a project and delivery organisation level. Sport England have recently launched a tackling inactivity project in partnership with AoC sport and provide a benchmark of £200 per student to introduce a previously inactive student to new activity.
Core funded activity in 16/17 was delivered at a project level at the following costs*
· £30 per participant, £4 per attendance, £1 per hour delivered
· £33 per session delivered
*data taken from project activity aligned to core funding – actual cost will be slightly lower
Costs vary significantly between colleges depending on resources and activity type. Further research and insight into the cost of participation against level of engagement and activity choices will be conducted in 2017/18 along with a comparison of cost for core funding and collaborative funding in 2016/17
A key issue with UPSHOT reporting for 2016/17 was the consent of students to share their data on the system. This resulted in variation between colleges as to the number of data fields uploaded and limited some analysis. It has provided some useful indicators of the potential of the system and some regional comparisons. Using participation by Ethnicity as an example across those colleges using this data the following is indicated:
· Cardiff and Vale College 18.4% participants from a BME background (287 sample size)
· Ceredigion less than 1% (106)
· Coleg Gwent (Cross Keys) less than 1% (116)
This type of data could be used as a starting point for colleges to identify if they are providing opportunities for students in comparison with their demographics. On a partnership level, it may also provide NGBS and other organisations with an opportunity to identify colleges where they can base future demographic specific projects.
Volunteering
As indicated previously both the type of volunteering and data continues to be a challenge and is a priority for colleges and upshot monitoring for 1718. All colleges have a student management team but this varies significantly in terms of number of members, how it is deployed and recruitment. Some developments for 2016/17 have included:
· Cambria, Bridgend, NPTC, Pembrokeshire all developing their SMTs and linking in to larger projects
· Former FE students now in HE returning to their former colleges to support SMT and project delivery. A mixture of alumni and legacy for SMT programmes from the first two years of the project
· Strong links with the HEYA team at Cardiff Metropolitan University being created. This group is led by former FE students and has delivered training, workshops and presented to FE sector.
9. Collaborative Projects
Collaborative projects were introduced in 2016/17 following guidance by the WCSSG to guide learning from FE projects on some new and innovative themes. After a competitive selection process in September 2017, the following colleges were selected with the themes and an update on progress indicated below:
(Project reports are provided on all four projects in the annexes, these vary from an update on progress to more complete reporting.)
|
Bridgend College |
LUSH – focusing on motivational change across all level 3 learners through a structured programme of interventions. Progress: (Project delivery complete, reporting complete on UPSHOT, some additional review / research advised.) |
|
NPTC Group |
Healthy Colleges – Developing college tutors as healthy college champions to lead on cultural change in tutorial sessions. Progress: Project part delivered due to delay in recruitment of tutors and a major staff change in January 2017. Reporting part completed on UPSHOT. Project to continue into 17/18 with completion June 2018. |
|
Gower College Swansea |
Fit 4 Life – Utilising partnerships and placements to facilitate physical activity among inactive vocational learners. Progress: Project delivery complete, data needs uploading to UPSHOT, further research and analysis required. Project completion November 2017. |
|
Pembrokeshire College |
Community Hub – Creating a new community hub for disadvantaged group using FE college and students as the base for activity: Project Delivery partially complete, data needs uploading to UPSHOT. Project to continue into 2017/18 with completion June 2018. |
Data from UPSHOT indicates that the collaborative projects have had impact on 761 FE students. Currently reporting is incomplete on USPHOT for Gower College Swansea, NPTC Group and Pembrokeshire.
Reporting from the Collaborative projects will require further analysis and research to provide insight into some of the more innovative outcomes that were predicted. Some interesting developments, trends and outcomes that have already been identified from LUSH project delivery at Bridgend include:
· Reduced exclusions and referrals for wellbeing support
· College increasing healthy eating options for students following outcomes of project survey around healthy eating
· Greater insight into activity provision including activity intensity, activity duration and peer group motivation.
· Utilisation of non-traditional spaces – theatres – common rooms etc.
From the Fit 4 Life project at Gower College initial reporting indicates some further interesting trends:
· Student participation and engagement more closely linked to specific subject groups than vocational areas. Better attendance from Beauty therapy and Spa Management in comparison to Hairdressing groups
· Significant differences in participation patterns between vocational areas among female students with positive response to project activity. Childcare attending as larger groups on a monthly basis, Beauty therapy in small group on a more frequent basis.
· Adaptation of project delivery patterns effective in developing participation.
From the Healthy Colleges project at NPTC group:
· Five tutors from vocational areas trained as Healthy College Champions leading on new project activity
· Students engaged in challenges outside of normal college hours in a more social environment
Summary
The Active wellbeing project has experienced change in project delivery and funding mechanisms during the past academic year. Challenges remain working with young people in the FE sector, in many cases picking up the pieces of previous negative experiences not just in terms of sport and physical activity but also in education and Wellbeing.
Project activity has seen progress in terms of understanding delivery trends, introduction of the UPSHOT system and some exciting new projects in the FE sector. Strategic level change is also apparent from work undertaken by the Sports Coordinator with more colleges introducing new strategies, employees and cultural change to support change.
Identifying the number of students engaged in activity and volunteering and improving the quality of this information requires further work. Measuring the wider impact of project activity in the community and showcasing the work of students is also a priority moving forward.
Overall, it can be seen from project reporting that a dynamic and specific approach to delivery and planning is important when working with FE students. The impact of project activity can positively aid retention, behaviour and cultural change in a college. To support this, encouraging young people to lead more and providing support mechanisms including specific project staff appears to aid progress.
The role of schools parents and peers in encouraging physical activity, and the role of Sport Wales, NHS Wales and Public Health Wales in improving levels of physical activity
FE Colleges and students have a clear role in encouraging physical activity. As indicated previously the recent WG review of Sport Wales included some welcome points around future development of work with the FE and HE sector.
It is disappointing that terminology, discussion and planning involves and refers to schools directly but does not always refer to FE colleges. FE colleges provide education for over 50% of the 16-19 year olds in Wales with this figure being much higher in tertiary areas.
FE students in summary are future teachers, childcare workers, sports development officers and perhaps more importantly parents. The word ”future” in this case would involve a period of only a few years from leaving college to employment or building a family.
Many of these students are in regular direct supervision of children as part of their college study and home life and could provide a viable short and medium term solution in encouraging physical activity for their peers and younger children.
EDUCATION including the FE sector should be included alongside those organisations listed in terms of improving levels of physical activity.
In either direction a clearer separation of roles or a more collaborative approach between organisations listed would be useful, currently the situation appears muddied and complex with initiatives such as the Physical Literacy for Schools programme being bounced between different organisations.
ColegauCymru would welcome the opportunity to provide the committee with further information or present on any of the areas in the consultation response.