Submission to Culture, Media and Sport Committee's Inquiry on community and school sport

It is recognised that families can play a central role in facilitating young people’s engagements with sport and physical activity, providing encouragement, financial support and practical assistance (Haycock & Smith, 2014). However, for children and young people in difficult, disruptive or alternative family contexts, such support systems are not always in place. Our ‘Right to Be Active’ (R2BA) research – examining the sport/physical activity experiences of care-experienced young people in England – highlighted sports clubs and organised sport contexts as ‘missing spaces’ for many care-experienced youth (Sandford et al., 2021a).

Participants identified challenges around knowing what activities were on offer, as well as difficulties in terms of securing the necessary funding (e.g., via social workers or carers) and logistics (e.g., travel). The precarious nature of care placements, and the tendency for frequent placement moves, also played a role and in some cases restricted the capacity for sustained involvement with sports teams or clubs (Sandford et al., 2020, 2021a; Quarmby et al., 2020). Thus, despite positive benefits to be gleaned from participation in sport, care-experienced children and young people can struggle to access sports clubs and coaching contexts. Moreover, many sports coaches lack sufficient knowledge and understanding of marginalised/vulnerable youth that could help them shape more engaging, inclusive and trauma-aware practices (Quarmby et al., 2023b).

Our research around PE in alternative provision (AP) contexts (PEAP Project – Quarmby et al., 2022b) also highlights how marginalised young people can often have negative prior experiences of PE and sport, so providing opportunities that are more meaningful and relevant to young people is key. There is a need to focus on promoting marginalised young people’s strengths and self-belief and PE/sport opportunities should seek to facilitate a sense of achievement, as well as foster feelings of belonging and identity (Sandford et al., 2021a; Quarmby et al, 2022b).

Our research suggests that to enhance practice there is a need for a more connected sporting ecosystem, whereby information about local opportunities is more readily available. As part of this, there is need to recognise that marginalised young people are often in contact with wider services (e.g., local authorities) and so multi-agency working is key. Sports clubs play a central role in facilitating grassroots sport opportunities for young people and so there is a need to consider what they could do to better promote the involvement of marginalised young people.

This might include reviewing policies and procedures, aiding with fees or developing the knowledge, understanding and skills of deliverers. Consideration must also be given here to what support they may need to achieve this (e.g., continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities) and how this might be facilitated (e.g., by leveraging existing infrastructure such as Buddle). Equally, what role representative bodies (such as UK Coaching) as well as individual National Governing Bodies may play in supporting marginalised youths’ engagement in youth sport contexts requires consideration.

Key comment: Projects like R2BA and PEAP have illuminated the power of young people’s voices for highlighting opportunities for positive change in PE and youth sport practices. This suggests a need for further, youth voice-focused work with specific groups to identify barriers/facilitators and support the creation of relevant policies/programmes as well as inform staff training and CPD.

It has been argued for some time that the inclusion of PE in educational curricula ensures more young people benefit from the subject’s physical, cognitive, and social aspects (Hooper et al., 2020). However, despite these efforts, the status of PE relative to other subjects in the curriculum remains a concern (afPE, 2021) with more ‘academic’ subjects and agendas often prioritised (in terms of time, facilities and resource).

Our recent research – with the Association for PE (Core PE Project) and, separately, UNESCO (Global Quality PE Survey) - has echoed these views on a national and global scale (Hooper et al., 2023; UNESCO/Loughborough University, 2024) and has called for more consideration to be given to the positioning of PE as a core subject and central to educational agendas. It is argued that such a move would help to safeguard PE time and encourage further investment in curriculum development, teacher education and school sport provision that would enhance student experience and build positive connections with sport and physical activity.

Our research confirms PE and school sport as being key sites for holistic development, supporting learning across domains and affording opportunities to gain valuable skills, connections and experiences that can aid a positive educational trajectory (e.g., Sandford et al., 2021; Sandford et al., 2024). Moreover, they are important contexts via which to promote social and emotional aspects of learning and socio-moral development, as well as to foreground values-based education (e.g., Hooper et al., 2020). In this respect, they hold special relevance for marginalised youth, who may not have such learning opportunities beyond the school context.

For example, findings from the R2BA Project demonstrate how PE and school sport can support care-experienced young people's acquisition of physical, social and cultural capital, which can in turn facilitate school engagement, aid educational transitions and support personal outcomes (Sandford et al., 2021; Sandford et al., 2024). Meanwhile, the PEAP project (Quarmby et al. 2022b) illuminates how PE and school sport can be spaces for promoting positive development, enhancing key skills and competencies that may aid young people’s reintegration into mainstream schooling. Moreover, our broader work has evidenced how PE and school sport contexts can support the delivery of trauma-aware practices (Trauma Aware Pedagogy in PE Project (TAP) - Quarmby et al., 2022a, 2023b) as well as initiatives focused on disability and inclusion (Playdagogy Evaluation - Sandford et al., 2021b) and vocational/life skills development (Generation Charnwood – Hooper et al., 2024).

Across this body of work, key factors to supporting positive practices include: establishing safe and inclusive environments; providing opportunities for discussion and dialogue; supporting the development of positive relationships that foster a sense of belonging; and privileging/amplifying youth voice.

Key comment: PE and school sport can offer developmental benefits for marginalised youth, but to realise these they must have regular access to these contexts and experience meaningful, relevant activities delivered by trained professionals who understand their specific needs.

While it is acknowledged that some outsourcing of PE and sport within schools can lead to pupil engagement and enjoyment, there are also potential challenges here with regard to ensuring activities align with curricula outcomes and support holistic development (Sperka et al., 2022). Our research identifies the need to focus on curriculum development and delivery (at both primary and secondary levels) (Gray et al., 2022, 2024), as well as investing in staff training and professional development.

Indeed, our research highlights how qualified, specialised PE teachers are vital to the effective delivery of PE within schools and can support young people’s positive development (Hooper et al., 2023; UNESCO/Loughborough University, 2024). Relatedly, our research around trauma-aware practice in PE and youth sport contexts has highlighted the need for further recognition of the impact of trauma and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on young people, particularly those from marginalised groups and the need for practitioners to adopt a trauma-aware lens when working with such individuals. Our trauma-aware principles for PE are intended to help support and guide the development of positive pedagogies in this respect (Quarmby et al., 2022a) and have much salience within broader youth contexts (Quarmby et al., 2023a).

Drawing upon our research, and related work, several recommendations can be offered with regard to supporting schools and sporting organisations to work together to deliver better sporting opportunities. This might be achieved through better coordination of existing investment (e.g., Primary PE and Sport Premium; Opening School Facilities Fund) to provide a more joined-up approach. While such investment is positive, varied funding streams can make for a piecemeal offering. Allied to this, there is need for more tailored, targeted and evidence-based programmes and interventions, run in/through schools but with external support (fostering school-club links).

Key comment: The sporting ecosystem to facilitate the participation of children and young people within and beyond schools is complex and varied. While there is much existing investment and examples of good practice are evident, a more coherent and coordinated offering may lead to better opportunities that enable all young people to benefit from sport participation.

The contemporary lives of children and youth are increasingly identified as being complex, multi[1]dimensional and inter-contextual, requiring individuals to navigate within and across a number of intersecting social fields (Sandford & Quarmby, 2019; Sandford et al., 2024). Within our research, we have found socio-ecological models helpful in mapping these complex landscapes and helping us to understand the systematic challenges that marginalised youth can encounter with regards to accessing sport and physical activity.

Much of this challenge is influenced by a more compartmentalised approach within social structures (i.e., bounded practices at policy, organisational or community levels), resulting in disconnected provision and a lack of clarity regarding ‘whose responsibility’ it is to support youth physical activity and sport participation. Moreover, negative perceptions of marginalised youth can mean that such individuals can face stigmatisation in accessing public sporting spaces, which can deter participation (Sandford et al., 2021a; Quarmby et al., 2022b).

Our research exploring the sport/physical activity experiences of care-experienced youth in England highlighted the complex social landscapes that these young people navigate on a day-to-day basis and noted the significance of people, places and activities in shaping these engagements (Sandford et al., 2020; 2021a). We found that for young people to have ‘good’ experiences of sport/physical activity there needed to be an intersection of these three key factors, but this was often not the case. For example, some participants identified significant challenges in accessing and maintaining contact with sport/physical activity, particularly via organised sport/sport club contexts (Sandford et al., 2021a).

Where positive experiences were noted, participants’ connections had been supported by key individuals (e.g., PE teachers) often within school contexts (Quarmby et al., 2020; Sandford et al., 2024). Other projects have also noted the role of key adults in supporting marginalised youths’ participation in sport, physical activity and PE (TAP Project, PEAP Project - Quarmby et al., 2022a,b, 2023b) and highlighted the need for greater connections between schools, families and communities as well as the active promotion of links between formal (i.e., school) and informal (i.e., sports club) contexts to facilitate participation pathways (Global QPE Survey - UNESCO/Loughborough University, 2024). Such work can be aided through a greater sharing of facilities and resources.

Key comment: Effective communication and supportive networks are vital to ensuring that marginalised young people can successfully navigate complex social landscapes and identify opportunities to engage in meaningful sport and physical activity. This highlights a need for more joined-up, multi-agency approaches in the design and delivery of sport and physical activity opportunities for marginalised youth.