Your Active Partnership
We are an Active Partnership, in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, and our vision is to one day eliminate inactivity so that everyone can have the benefits of an active lifestyle.
Meet the Education team
Learn more about how we are positively changing lives.
Claire Mansfield
Active Schools Manager
Claire manages the Creating Active Schools programme, the Active Lives Survey for Children & Young People, and promotes Swimming CPD.
Jake Jones
Active Lives Officer
Jake delivers the School Games programme across the county, in which 100 schools attended during the 2023-24 academic year.
How are we working in Education?
Learn about the programmes we deliver to embed physical activity into schools.
School Games
A free opportunity to motivate and inspire young people to try different sports, work as a team and participate with other pupils from across the county.
Swimming Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
Resources and training to support your school swimming offer.
Creating Active Schools
Learn how the Creating Active Schools pilot is taking a whole school behaviour approach to increase physical activity in schools.
Active Lives Children & Young People Survey
Learn about the benefits of participating in the Active Lives Children and Young People Survey and Healthy Schools Award.
Our approach to energising education
Our work within education has the same core focus as our work within communities and healthcare - we aim to support those who need it most and create sustainable initiatives.
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Tackle Inequalities
Focusing our efforts and resources on those who need it most. -
Embed & Sustain
Supporting primary and secondary schools across Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin to embed physical activity into their culture and policies, along with futureproofing through workforce education and CPD.
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Influence System Change
Sharing our learning to develop relationships with schools to work with us and create opportunities to influence and ultimately change local systems.
What is it?
School Games is a nationwide initiative to make a clear and meaningful difference to young people.
It's mission is putting physical activity at the heart of schools and providing more young people with the opportunity to participate in physical activity.
Events fall into one of three categories - Engage, Inspire and Compete, which give schools a blended offer of non-competitive and competitive events.
2023-2024 School Games impact
Watch this video highlighting the very positive impact of the School Games events we held during the 2023-24 academic year which saw 1,637 pupils participate in various activities.
School Games FAQs
Take a look here and if you still have a question, please email Jake Jones at jake.jones@energizestw.co.uk
If you'd like to get your school involved, please email your local School Games Organiser (SGO) using the details in the table below.
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What and where are the 2024-25 events?
Take a look at our School Games calendar here.
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Is there a cost?
The School Games events are free to attend, however you are required to provide your own transport for pupils and teaching staff.
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Are the events competitive or not?
Events fall into one of three categories – ‘Engage’, ‘Inspire’ and ‘Compete’ which give schools a blended offer of non-competitive and competitive events.
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How do I get my school involved?
Contact your local School Games Organiser (SGO), you can see their email address in the table below.
School Games Area | School Games Organiser | Contact Details |
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East Shropshire North Shropshire Shrewsbury South Shropshire Telford & Wrekin - Telford College Telford & Wrekin - Langley |
Chris Jew Louis Gray Gareth Nagy Lyndsey Dillon Frankie Williams Frankie Williams |
Working together
Energize and Swim England have joined forces to bring the latest resources and training to help school staff gain the skills and knowledge required to deliver high quality school swimming sessions.
Swimming CPD FAQs
Take a look here and if you still have a question, or if you'd like to arrange a bespoke CPD session with an Institute of Swimming instructor, please email Claire Mansfield at claire.mansfield@energizestw.org.uk
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Swim England Swim Charter
Schools who sign up to the School Swimming and Water Safety Charter will:
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Gain exclusive access to an extensive set of resources and advice to help improve lesson quality and impact
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Receive regular updates, tips and news to keep your lessons fun and exciting
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Receive printed and access to digital resources each year, to help reward and recognise pupil achievement.
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School Swimming and Water Safety
Swim England's free interactive resource gives you an introduction to School Swimming and Water Safety with guidance on national curriculum standards and a summary of the core aquatic and safe self-rescue skills that all pupils should achieve.
Lasting an hour, this online resource is available as soon as you are booked on and it can be accessed multiple times.
To sign up, simply click here.
The Youth Sport Trust and Swim England are also delivering three free School Swimming and Water Safety training sessions. Designed for teachers, teaching assistants and the wider school workforce, the sessions will equip attendees with:
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An understanding of the importance of school swimming and water safety training
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Resources available to adapt and profile within school programmes to maximise learning within school swimming
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Advice and guidance for integrating pupils with SEND into school swimming lessons.
Details of sessions:
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Monday 4 November, 3:15-4:45pm. Virtual delivery. Sign up here
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Wednesday 6 November, 3:30-5:00pm. Virtual delivery. Sign up here
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Friday 8 November, 12:30-2:00pm. Virtual delivery. Sign up here
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Online Support Teacher of School Swimming Training
Aimed at staff who will actively assist in the delivery of school swimming lessons to small groups of similar ability pupils, the Support Teacher of Schools Swimming course will cover:
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How to identify activities that will positively impact students' learning
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Health and Safety considerations of organising and delivering a school swimming programme
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How swimming and water safety can be delivered to meet school swimming outcomes
Costing £40 per person, the course involves 6 hours of online learning which can be completed at your convenience.
Book your place on the Support Teacher of School Swimming course.
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Teacher of School Swimming Training
The Teacher of School Swimming Course aims to equip school teachers and support staff with the knowledge and skills needed to deliver swimming lessons in line with the national curriculum. This blended learning course covers:
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How to engage with pupils, helping them to progress
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Key stages 1 and 2 programmes of study
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Health and safety considerations of organising and delivering a school swimming programme
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How swimming and water safety can be delivered to meet school swimming outcomes
Costing £99 per person, the course involves approximately 8 hours of online learning, followed by one day of face to face poolside teaching.
Book now for Support teacher and Teacher of School Swimming:
Date: 11th November, 2024 at Abraham Darby Sport and Leisure Centre, Telford TF7 5HX
Closing date for bookings: 28/10/24
Register here
Date: 17th March, 2025 at Shrewsbury School, SY3 7BA
Closing date for bookings: 17/3/25
Register herePlease note that anyone wanting to book a place will need to register for an account here.
If you want to be invoiced rather than pay by card, you will need to set up a company account. Please refer to this guide or to videos here.
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Supporting Pupils with SEND in School Swimming
This course provides teachers with the adaptations and tools needed to improve the overall experience for pupils with SEND who attend school swimming lessons. The course covers:
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Barriers to participation for pupils with SEND
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Ways to adapt swimming lessons
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Good practice in health and safety
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Effective communication methods and resources for pupils with SEND, to help introduce the main swimming strokes and other aquatic skills.
Costing £38 per person, the course includes a 4.5 hour interactive workshop and 1.5 hours pool time.
Book now for Supporting Pupils with SEND in School Swimming:
Date: 27th November, 2024 at Abraham Darby Sport and Leisure Centre, Telford TF7 5HX
Closing date for bookings: 13/11/24
Register here
Please note that anyone wanting to book a place will need to register for an account here. If you want to be invoiced rather than pay by card, you will need to set up a company account. Please refer to this guide or to videos here.
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An active school is one which provides opportunities for pupils and staff to be active throughout the school day from arriving in the morning, during lessons and breaktimes to after school. It is also one where everyone from local authorities to school leaders and pupils play their part in creating an active culture.
The Creating Active Schools (CAS) framework promotes a whole systems approach to school improvement and provides a structure for embedding physical activity at the heart of a school’s ethos.
The approach was piloted across Yorkshire in 2019 and was rolled out as a national pilot during the academic year 2021-22 across 17 Active Partnerships.
Fill in the form to receive a copy of the CAS framework via email.
Watch our videos
See how implementing the Creating Active Schools framework is increasing activity levels and improving the lives of young people and teaching staff alike.
Click on the video opposite to watch a playlist of videos on our YouTube channel.
Run your own training session
Interested in running your own training session or creating a bespoke Creating Active Schools action plan? Check out this video and download the CAS template (use the form above) to get started.
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Creating Active Schools FAQs
Find out more about this national pilot which is having a huge positive impact in schools across Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin.
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How many schools in our county are using this?
Since December 2021, Energize has supported 19 schools as part of the pilot:
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12 primary schools in phase 1 (2021/22)
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a further 5 primary schools and 2 secondary school in phase 2 (2022/23)
14 of the schools are located in Shropshire and 5 schools in Telford & Wrekin area.
The pilot has helped schools to start embedding physical activity into their ethos and culture, by using the CAS framework to influence behaviour change.
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The impact seen so far...
Of the schools piloting the Creating Active Schools programme in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin:
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100% said activity levels increased
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93% said pupil wellbeing improved
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86% said movement is now embedded throughout school life
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73% said pupil behaviour improved
Feedback from schools demonstrated that physical activity was a key factor in improving whole school outcomes - behaviour, wellbeing, focus and concentration in the classroom all improved. Staff mindsets changed, confidence improved and 100% of schools reported that staff would advocate for physical activity and movement.
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How do I get my school involved?
Hear from some of our pilot schools in the CAS videos above or watch our whole school training session on our YouTube channel here.
Download the Creating Active Schools framework or read our Creating Active Schools Learning report or one page impact flyer.
Email Claire Mansfield at claire.mansfield@energizestw.org.uk
Active Breaks & Learning
Learn about the benefits of including more movement into a young person's day.
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Why it's important
Engaging in physical activity means that pupils' blood flow to their brain increases. This increase in blood flow results in more energy and oxygen to the brain, allowing them to return to the classroom energised and ready to perform better.
Not only does promoting Active Breaktimes help children improve their physical and mental wellbeing, it also builds resilience and trust with their peer group.
Additional benefits include:
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Developing growth mindset
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Building friendships
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Improving classroom behaviour
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Returning to the classroom ready to learn
Using older children as playground leaders or mentors can prove effective in engaging reluctant children in games and activities.
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During the day
Breaktimes are the perfect time to get children moving and meeting their target of 30 minutes of activity a day at school. You can also reduce sedentary behaviour in the classroom by encouraging movement every 20-30 minutes.
Explore ways to make your curriculum more active or introduce movement breaks to keep children engaged and energised.
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Free resources
Some of these free resources which may help you engage those harder to reach children:
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Visit the Youth Sport Trust and School Games Active Recovery Hub for over 250 activity ideas. These help to boost activity before, during and after school. Resources can be filtered by age and when the activity is planned to happen.
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Find 10 minute games for active breaks on Better Health, Healthier Families.
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Find ideas for active breaktimes with BBC Supermovers. They offer a huge range of resources from KS1 and KS2 active learning videos covering English, Maths , Science and PSHE to active videos for use in classrooms at wetplay times.
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Find free short interactive classroom based activities with Go Noodle.
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Join the Imovement to access active blast videos. Perfect for using in the hall as an alternative to playground games.
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Complete My Activity Passport. Great for reluctant children who can work through a ticklist of activities.
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Find all your favourite Disney tunes and join in with Disney Dance Alongs.
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Help your children to improve their performance with The Youth Sport Trust 60 second challenges.Try a range of activities and download a challenge tracker to track your performance.
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Use PE premium funding
Furthermore, there are additional resources which can be purchased using PE premium funding to help encourage Active Breaktimes:
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Try a skipping workshop with Skip2bfit. With each child having their own skipping rope, it's a great way to keep children active.
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Find PE resources, games and themed topics with The PE Shed.
For more information, email Claire Mansfield at claire.mansfield@energizestw.org.uk
What is it?
The Active Lives Children and Young People Survey gives anyone working with children aged 5-16, key data to help understand children's attitudes and behaviours around sport and activity. Participating schools will receive a bespoke school report which compares their school data with the national average.
Click on the video opposite to watch the 1st of 3 videos about The Active Lives Children and Young People Survey.
The Survey & Healthy Schools Award
Developed with the Department for Education (DfE), the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, the survey provides Sport England, government and other partners with an understanding of activity levels and behaviours, to help shape future policy and investment decisions.
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How do I take part?
Schools are randomly sampled by Sport England to take part on an annual basis. Those selected will be contacted by Energize to see if they are able to participate. In addition to the school report, sampled schools will receive credits for the surveys completed to put towards sporting and wellness equipment.
Schools who wish to participate but have not been sampled, can still undertake the survey by opt-ing in. If you wish to do this, please email claire.mansfield@energizestw.org.uk.
All surveys are online and schools will be sent the relevant URL links by Energize:
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Pupil survey
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Teacher survey
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Parent survey (only for year 1 or year 2 pupils)
Surveys take about 20 minutes to complete. Sampled schools will receive links for one class from three different year groups. Opt-in schools will receive key stage specific links. There is no restriction to the number of classes that can take part; additional links can be sent out to sampled schools if they wish more classes to participate.
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Tips for completing the survey
In order to ensure that you complete sufficient surveys to receive your school report and also gain a Healthy Schools Award, we have compiled a short video and downloadable PDF with tips on the best way to complete the surveys.
Watch our Tips for Completing the Active Lives Survey video:
or download our Tips for Completing the Active Lives Survey PDF.
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The Healthy Schools Rating Award
As part of the Active Lives Survey, teachers are required to complete an online survey. Schools are questioned on four areas:
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Food education
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School food standards
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Physical Education
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Active Travel
The responses to this survey is assessed as part of the DfE's Healthy Schools Rating Scheme (HSRS), and a rating and certificate issued to the school.
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Eliminating Inactivity in Education
Pupils who have the MOST to gain from being active are often the ones who are currently the LEAST active. By encouraging just a few more minutes of physical activity each day, schools can help improve pupils’ physical and mental well-being, while also positively impacting their academic performance and engagement. This is why our focus is on ELIMINATING INACTIVITY, to create healthier, more successful learning environments for all.