New Inclusion 2024 inclusive education hub to improve future PE experiences
The new Inclusion 2024 inclusive education hub launches today. Education practitioners across England will have access to all the essential resources for inclusive PE in one space. It is created in partnership by Activity Alliance, Youth Sport Trust and Department for Education. The partners’ ambition is to support more teachers responsible for PE and school sport to engage more disabled students. The impact will mean more young people have accessible, positive, and meaningful experiences that will last a lifetime.
The Inclusion 2024 programme aims to increase and improve opportunities for young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to engage and participate in physical education and school sport. The project is funded by the Department of Education and led by the Youth Sport Trust on behalf of a consortium of organisations including Activity Alliance, the British Paralympic Association, nasen and Swim England.
The new free online hub is a result of collaboration with schools, expert practitioners, local, and national partners. It is built based on the growing concern that many disabled children continue to miss out or have negative experiences in PE and school sport.
Findings from the My Active Future report, released by Activity Alliance in 2020, reinforced the activity gap between disabled and non-disabled children. Disabled children are less active than their peers and experience more barriers. Worryingly, the national charity and leading voice for disabled people in sport and activity, found:
- One third of disabled children take part in less than 30 minutes of sport and physical activity per day during term-time (30% vs 21% of non-disabled children).
- Only a quarter (25%) of disabled children say they take part in sport and activity all of the time at school, compared to 41% of non-disabled children.
- Disabled children’s activity levels decrease significantly, as they get older. Activity levels for disabled and non-disabled children are similar when they first start school (Key Stage 1 83% during term-time compared to 84%). By age 11, disabled children are less likely to be ‘active or fairly active’ (Key Stage 2 - 77% vs 85%).
The gap widens more significantly by the time they are 16 (Key Stage 4 - 52% vs 72%).
- Disabled children are twice as likely to be lonely compared to their non-disabled peers (72% vs 36%). They are more likely to feel they have no one to talk to, feel left out, and to feel alone.
The Inclusion 2024 inclusive education hub allows teachers and school staff to privately self-assess their inclusion of disabled students in PE and school sport. The self-assessment questions explore their approach to inclusion across school leadership and management, inclusive teaching and training, pupil engagement, and extra-curricular provision. Practitioners then receive a personalised report, with advice and useful resources to improve their practice.
The hub also contains additional relevant resources, gathered from across the country and globe. This reduces searching time and gives teachers a ‘go-to’ place for inclusion knowledge. They can also return to the hub to retake the self-assessment in order to continually improve their practice.
Teachers, school staff and other associated professionals can register on the new Inclusion 2024 inclusive education hub here.
For more information or to ask further questions, please email programmes@activityalliance.org.uk or call 01509 227750.
