Creating active schools

An active school aims to embed movement and physical activity into all aspects of the school day, creating a culture of activity throughout the school.

The Creating Active Schools framework (CAS) is a research based, whole school approach grounded in the COM-B model of behaviour change, to increase and improve physical activity in schools.

CAS helps schools to create impactful and sustainable change for physical activity. Underpinned by world-leading research CAS supports schools to build on their strengths while identifying areas of improvement that can be improved step-by-step.

We know that 53% of children are not meeting the Chief Medical Officers’ guidelines of taking part in an average of 60 minutes or more of sport and physical activity a day.

Which means that over half of children are missing out on the crucial benefits of being physically active. Beyond the well-known physical benefits, being active positively impacts mental health by reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression, boosting self-esteem, and enhancing mood. Additionally, physical activity has been linked to better academic performance, as it can improve concentration, memory, and classroom behaviour.

Cultivating the habit of being active from a young age lays the foundation for a lifetime of healthy habits and well-being, providing better outcomes for young people.

Pilot Phase
- Gloucestershire was one of the first areas in the country to pilot the CAS programme in 2022
- 9 schools took part in the initial 2 year pilot
- The programme is funded locally by the Integrated Care Board (NHS)
Focus for 2024-25
- Maintaining the pilot schools
- Onboarding Gloucester Schools
Fully Funded provision

For participating schools the CAS offer is worth £2,000 per year (total programme length = 2 years) and includes:
- Two half-days of 1-2-1 in-school support to complete the initial CAS assessment
- One half-day of whole school training
- Consultation on school action plan
- Termly Community of Practise with other local schools
- CAS license to access online portal which provides CPD, Monitoring & Evaluation and self-assessment tool to log progress