Supporting fundamental movement in the Early Years - Leicestershire County Council

Across Leicestershire we utilised various local intelligence and data which highlighted the need to provide support and opportunities to develop fine and gross motor skills in children aged two to four.

Another challenge across the sector is the high turn over of staff. Feedback from local practitioners also shows there was lack of knowledge, skills and confidence with regards to supporting children’s fundamental movements. 

Funky Feet Music were commissioned to develop a fundamental movement programme with an associated training package. Six individual fun filled themes were created and delivered to Early Years practitioners across Leicestershire to support with agility, balance, coordination and fine motor skills. 

After initial training, each setting was given practical resources to deliver the programmes within their settings and encouraged to share their learning with others. Staff were tasked to carry out an initial assessment on physical skills with their three- and four-year-olds, and deliver two 40-minute programmes, ‘A day at the zoo’ and ‘A day of adventure’. Further support was then given by Funky Feet onsite with practitioners and children. 

Following the evaluation of phase one, Active Together and Funky Feet took a more targeted approach in phase two by focusing on SEN engagement and opening up the programme to babies and toddlers. Refresher training was provided for those who had already attended training and new settings and group mainly opted for ‘all staff’ training. By delivering in house training this provided an opportunity to talk to managers and directors on why movement matters and parental engagement. Although engagement was predominately with early years settings, there were training opportunities for child minders and community groups as well. 

In phase one, the programme engaged with 147 practitioners from 82 settings across 15 training sessions. 

In phase two, the programme engaged with 420 practitioners from 61 settings across 37 workshops.

A survey was completed by staff both pre and post training and delivery. Outcomes from phase 2 are listed below:

Impact on staff

• 83 per cent reported that their knowledge of Fundamental Movement had improved
• 80 per cent reported that their skills to deliver the sessions had improved
• 73 per cent reported that their confidence to deliver the sessions had improved
• 82 per cent of the people surveyed found their physical health had improved (30 per cent much improved, 52 per cent slightly improved)

Impact on children

• 88 per cent said their levels of Physical Activity had increased
• 97 per cent saw an improvement in Physical Development (72 per cent much improved, 25 per cent slightly improved)
• 94 per cent saw an improvement in Mental Health (54 per cent much improved, 40 per cent slightly improved)
• 97 per cent saw an improvement in Brain Function (50 per cent much improved, 47 per cent slightly improved)
• 97 per cent saw an improvement in Social Development (62 per cent much improved, 35 per cent slightly improved)

To ensure sustainability there was a focus around whole setting training which enabled a variety of staff being able to support and deliver. Liaising with management helped to embed fundamental movement within the ethos and culture as well as ensuring it was embedded into daily practice. Those staff that have moved onto other settings will take their knowledge with them and the hope is that they will implement within their new setting. 

 A number of settings reported that they used the Fundamental Movement programme as a warmup for staff meetings to support the sharing of knowledge and to help with team building. Parent and carer resources were created and distributed to settings to support physical activity in the home.

• Due to lack of funding in early years, a few community settings had closed down.
• By taking a more personalised approach with communication this helped with uptake on the programme.
• Whole setting training is more impactful than individual training.
• There are staff shortages within the sector therefore the majority of training was delivered in the evening and weekends as staff were unable to be released in the day.
• Some settings either did not have the space to store or did not feel comfortable with children using some of the equipment.
• A follow up visit helped with practitioner confidence as well as setting accountability.
• Having management buy in can support with implementation and sustainability.
• Important to have parental and carer engagement throughout.

Lucy Betts,  Active Together, Development Manager

Email: [email protected]