We’ve focused on one of our partner schools, Brickhouse Primary School (one form entry school) which is based in Rowley Regis, Sandwell, West Midlands. We wanted to measure the impact of WOW Active by tracking data following a cohort from Reception to Year 6 (like the NCMP) to identify any positive impact as a result of running the WOW Active programme. The reason why we chose this school is because it is situated in Sandwell which has higher than average obesity and deprivation rates.

Brickhouse Primary School is single form entry school based in Rowley Regis, Sandwell in the West Midlands. The area faces high levels of deprivation, and as such many of the school’s pupils are missing opportunities for participation in activities which contribute to their holistic wellbeing, including the requisite levels of physical activity – as recommended by the UK’s Chief Medical Officer.

For the school, all of this brought additional concerns in relation to the health and wellbeing of pupils.

What were the challenges Brickhouse Primary School were facing?

The school’s senior leadership team were becoming increasingly concerned about the higher-than-average obesity rates of pupils enrolled at the school. They understood that this was reflected in schools PE achievements, in pupil’s general fitness levels and through a widespread disengagement with exercise.

The school felt that the issues had brought about an apathy for PE, school sport and physical activity and wanted to turn the tide on the issue quickly. Understanding the issue is an important part of the battle, but resolving it is an entirely different challenge.

School leaders were keen to identify and implement a solution that helped pupils improve their physical activity levels but also brought learning and the confidence to participate.

What solution did Brickhouse Primary School implement?

Having considered various options, from self-run programmes to activities delivered by external providers, school leaders at Brickhouse Primary School decided to invest in the WOW Active programme with Premier Education.

Our team ran the WOW Active programme throughout the academic year, delivering 4 fun-focused physical activity assessments in total, with 6-8 weeks between each assessment.

The assessments helped staff at Brickhouse Primary School to collate an accurate set of data on each individual child to assess and understand their physical literacy and activity levels.

What impact did Wow Active have on the situation?

Brickhouse became a WOW Active partner school, and has continued to have WOW Active delivered for the past six years (they are still receiving this programme now 2023).

After five years of delivery, the same children were assessed in October 2022 and the impact within the school is clear to see. These pupils are now exceeding the WOW Active Midlands Average Score – and PE, School Sport and Physical Activity is thriving within the school – along with pupil wellbeing.

The data and schools’ results are below:

WOW Active Assessment 1 – 12/10/2017

WOW Active Assessment 1 – 13/10/2022

“The WOW Active programme has been an integral part of our P.E curriculum for years now. Not only does it provide key data and reports but it also gives children a chance to thrive and achieve by gaining personal bests each time. Children walk away from assessments with a sense of achievement and determination to better their scores next time.”

Sophie Eccles, PE lead, Brickhouse Primary School

The entry level of Brickhouse children in KS1 is well below the Midlands Average Score. With the school maintaining the running of WOW Active each year, this cohort of children identified in the assessments have shown a significant increase in their scores demonstrating a vast improvement in both their physical literacy and overall fitness levels by the end of KS2.

What is WOW Active?

The WOW Active Physical Activity Programme has been developed to improve children’s physical literacy and activity levels. Designated to be fully inclusive and support every child to achieve their personal best scores, the programme can be delivered by the WOW Active team or run independently by the schools.

The WOW Active Physical Activity Programme was set up in the West Midlands for a few reasons. Physical activity, along with childhood obesity has been a steadily increasing concern over the past 15 years with the West Midlands specifically having one of the highest rates of obesity and physical inactivity across the country.

WOW in the first instance provides further opportunities for children to be physically active and links closely with the aims of the national curriculum for KS1 and KS2. WOW focuses more on physical literacy and the development of fundamental skills along with improving overall fitness levels (rather than skill development in different sports).

Each year group have a bespoke assessment (selected exercises) where every child aims to compete against themselves and achieve their personal best score. Unlike sports and other competitive activities, every child can succeed in the programme (by beating their personal best scores) offering those children who tend to be disengaged or unwilling to participate in PE, Sport, and physical activity, usually with an incentive to do so. Schools who run the WOW Active programme see a positive working environment which is engaging and inclusive.

Following each class assessment, scores are recorded which enables teachers to track, monitor and assess each individual child’s progress. Reports also offer a breakdown of gender, key stage, SEN, EAL and Pupil Premium progress where target intervention groups can be identified to help aid and support development.

Read and watch more about the programme WOW Active – Premier Education (premier-education.com)