Active Start Early Years training hailed a huge success in its first full academic year of delivery
Active Start early years programme, which brings the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum to life through physical activity and active play, has proved a huge success in its first full academic year of delivery.
Over 83 early years settings across Cumbria have benefitted from Active Start with 125 early years practitioners successfully completing the free training.
With the aim of helping children to be healthy, to learn, and be active for life, over 1,250 take home packs have also been distributed providing more opportunities for early years children to be physically active at home.
Active Cumbria, part of Cumbria County Council’s Public Health Team is leading the delivery of the Active Start programme which is funded by the Sellafield Social Impact Fund.
With an initial focus on Allerdale and Copeland, 11 courses have been held at various locations across the county enabling Early Years professionals to learn more about the importance of physical development and the impact this has upon children’s reading, writing, and social skills.
Kelly Alty, Active Cumbria Development Officer and Active Start Programme Lead, said;“Active Start is designed to provide early years professionals with the tools they need to incorporate active play and movement across the broader curriculum. The training and resources supplied provide everything needed for delivery which makes it easy to introduce Active Start in early years settings. These year one achievements are just the start - we have high ambitions for the programme and are already looking forwards to building on this first year success.”
Over 95% of those attending the Active Start training said they felt more inspired and motivated to improve children’s physical activity and play whilst 87% felt their skills and knowledge in supporting children’s physical activity and play had increased.
Stephanie Carrick, Early Years Setting Manager, Howgill Family Centre, Cleator Moor Nursery said: “We are delighted to be involved in the Active Start programme as this has really helped us to consider how we incorporate physical activity and movement into all the work that we do here in the setting. One of the first things we did after the training was to look at the resources we already had within our setting. We were surprised to see how much of our existing equipment could be used to support the activities but also how easy it was for other members of the team to deliver them.”
In addition to the Early Years training, over 29 teachers and teaching assistants participated in a Key Stage 1 focused Active Start course providing skills and knowledge to incorporate physical activity into the wider curriculum.
The new 2022/23 academic year will see Active Start expand into more settings across Cumbria with training taking place at various venues across the county. Families will also be supported through the rollout of an Active Start Family Learning programme to help families move together more.
For more information regarding the programme and to express interest in attending a future free training course please visit www.activecumbria.org/activestart
