Nursery World - EYFS best practice in schools

What can schools do to ensure their early years children are given adequate opportunity to be physically active? Charlotte Goddard reports

St Catherine's Academy, Sheffield, has transformed its approach to physical activity in the Foundation Stage PHOTOS Guzelian

Our youngest children are not getting enough exercise. Only 9 per cent of two- to four-year-old boys and 10 per cent of girls meet the current guidelines for at least three hours of physical activity a day, according to the NHS Health Survey for England. Meanwhile, figures from Public Health England show that only 17.5 per cent of older children and young people meet current guidelines for those over the age of five, taking part in physical activity for at least 60 minutes a day every day of the week.

Schools have an important role to play in encouraging physical activity – after all, children spend most of their time at school during term time. Increasingly, however, the opposite is happening. Primary schools are reducing the amount of outdoor playtime available: research from University College London (UCL) last year showed five- to seven-year-olds have 45 minutes less break time per week than was the case in 1995.

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