Nursery World - Physical development

Physical development expert Dr Lala Manners describes a successful training model in Manchester and why it can be replicated, in the final instalment of a two-part series

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In Manchester, children have below-average school-readiness scores and low levels of physical activity – with a quarter doing less than 30 minutes of activity each week in 2015, according to Sport England data. Settings tend to rely on external activity providers to fill the ‘physical development’ gap, which was compromising their ability to contribute directly, and take responsibility for, their children’s health and well-being. With 225,000 children under five in Greater Manchester, there was significant room for improvement.

Prior to 2015 some groundwork in this area had been done by Manchester GreaterSport, a charity set up to promote physical development for people of all ages. But lack of grassroots information meant creating an effective training model proved more challenging than anticipated. So, Sharon Skade, under-fives development officer for the charity, tried to find out which particular issues needed to be addressed.

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