Children and young people

What's physical literacy?

Physical literacy is our relationship with movement and physical activity throughout life.

It’s shaped by how we move, think, feel, and connect.

When children and young people have positive movement experiences that are full of meaning, value, and enjoyment, they’re more likely to grow in confidence, stay motivated, and keep moving.

The video linked belo is for everyone - teachers, coaches, healthcare professionals, NGBs, parents and communities - to build understanding and inspire action.

Watch the animation, share it with your networks, and help us create movement moments that matter.

Watch the animation

Our Physical Literacy Consensus Statement for England

The Physical Literacy Consensus Statement (PLCS) for England has been developed to facilitate a shared understanding of physical literacy for those working in the sport, education, physical activity, recreation, play, health and youth sectors.

The statement is intended for colleagues who work in policy, sport development, research and practice.

Physical literacy belongs to everyone and therefore it's taken a number of organisations to come together to help unite perspectives on it.

The project to develop a PLCS for England began in March 2022 and included desk research, two national consultations and the creation of an expert panel.

More than 50 organisations from the world of sport, health, education, academia, and community sectors came together to ‘unite’ perspectives on physical literacy.

This has been a truly collective process and the expertise, guidance and support of a number of organisations has proved invaluable in the creation of the statement.

Liverpool John Moores University led the work on developing the Consensus Statement and more detail on the process can be found on the their website.

An infographic illustrating that physical literacy is our relationship with movement and physical activity throughout life

The consensus statement helps us to recognise that everyone has a unique and complex relationship with sport, physical activity and movement.

What makes a positive experience for one may be a negative experience for another.

It isn’t always easy to live an active life and we know that personal circumstances and wider socioeconomic factors make a significant difference.

We need to listen and respond to individual needs and circumstances, and recognise that these change over time.

We also need to provide a safe, inclusive and supportive environment.

The consensus statement helps us recognise that everyone has a unique and complex relationship with sport, physical activity and movement and collctively we need to use physical literacy as our guiding principle to develop the wellbeing of our nation at both a national and local level.

Physical Literacy Consensus Statement for England - explained Download the file - 964.67 KB

Positive experiences

The positive experiences collective

From the energy surrounding the launch of the above consensus statement in 2023, The Positive Experiences Collective was born.

There's a recognition that no single organisation or sector group 'owns' the physical literacy agenda – instead, we need collective effort. The Positive Experiences Collective is open to all.

The mission of the collective is to reach a wide audience with resources, peer support, virtual conferences, and creative stories to build confidence and skills, support connection, and inspire advocacy for physical literacy.

Find out more

Positive experiences for all

We've also produced a 'Positive experiences for all' report, that gives a useful overview of the context and purpose for co-developing the Physical Literacy Consensus Statement for England, together with the sector.

It also provides an introduction to the Consensus Statement and outlines a compelling vision for change in our united efforts to tackle the inequalities that exist in sport and physical activity for children and young people.

Positive experiences for all Download the file - 28.09 MB

Useful links

PLCS for England slide deck

Join Dr Lawrence Foweather and Dr Liz Durden-Myers as they unpack the Physical Literacy Consensus Statement for England.

Watch the presentation

'Getting started' guide

A selection of guides to begin to translate the Consensus Statement into practice in Active Environment, community, and education settings.

See the guide

Perspectives from sector leaders

We've captured the thoughts of sector leaders to highlight the essence of physical literacy.

Hear their thoughts

Primary PE and Sport Premium fund

Through the Department for Education, the government's investing into primary schools in the form of the Primary PE and Sport Premium fund.

To support the fund, we’re working with other national partners and the government. Together, we’ve collectively developed this vision for PE and school sport:

All pupils leaving primary school physically literate and with the knowledge, skills and motivation necessary to equip them for a healthy lifestyle and lifelong participation in physical activity and sport.

Children playing hockey on outdoor artificial pitch

Promoting best practice for primary schools

For a comprehensive guide to all aspects of physical activity in primary schools, the national partners have also produced a series of guidance documents to promote best practice for primary schools:

Effective Professional Learning goes further into the objectives of the Primary PE and Sport Premium fund and looks at the best ways to deliver effective professional learning.

Effective Professional Learning Download the file - 738.33 KB

Designed for primary school headteachers, Employment and Deployment of Coaches has more information and guidance on using sports coaches in primary schools.

Employment and Deployment of Coaches Download the file - 1 MB

Active Partnerships

There are 43 Active Partnerships across England that play a role in advocating, supporting and sign-posting schools to help them make best use of their premium funding.

Learn more about the Active Partnerships

Who are the national partners?

The Association for Physical Education is the only physical education subject association in the UK. It's committed to being the representative organisation of choice for people and organisations delivering or supporting the delivery of physical education in schools and in the wider community
Active Partnerships aim to improve lives by growing grassroots sport and physical activity. More information can be found here
UK Coaching is the lead coaching agency in the UK and has collaborated with national partners to produce a free-to-access web portal with all the information schools need to maximise the use of coaches in their school through the Primary PE and Sport Premium. For more information, visit the Coaching in Primary Schools portal
The Youth Sport Trust is a national charity building a brighter future for young people through PE and sport. Through 20 years' experience, it's developed a unique way of maximising the power of sport to grow young people, schools and communities through the development of qualities including creativity, aspiration, resilience and empathy.

Studio You

Studio You is a digital platform for secondary schools that gives PE teachers across England access to a free digital library of video-based lessons.

It’s been created with teachers and young people, through surveys and focus groups, to inspire even the least engaged students to feel confident and comfortable being active in PE.

We have invested more than £2million of National Lottery funding into a partnership with Hopscotch Consulting to create this video-on-demand platform, featuring less traditional disciplines such as yoga, combat, dance, fitness and Pilates.

Video lessons and supplementary teaching guidance have been designed with support from the Association for Physical Education, EMD UK and Activity Alliance, and the platform offers PE teachers practical support on how to use the video content in their schemes of work.

We have also recently partnered with Bodyform, the leading period care brand, to create some bespoke resources to empower teachers to talk to their students about periods and how they might impact being active.

Four participants in the Studio You videos pose for a photo in the studio

Insight informing the investment

From a deep dive into the Active Lives Children and Young People Attitudes Survey results (Dec 2022), we found only 20% of secondary school age girls say they feel confident when exercising or playing sport compared with 40% of boys.

Alongside this, only 35% of girls enjoy taking part in sport and exercise compared to 56% of boys; this ‘Enjoyment Gap’ was also highlighted in and is the focus of the latest phase of the This Girl Can campaign.

This gap is something Studio You aims to shrink by making PE lessons less competitive and focus on the fun and rewarding nature of being active. Ultimately, to equip the girls, who tend to disengage with PE, with healthy physical activity habits for life.

Focus groups conducted on our behalf by Future Thinking, suggested a resource that allows girls to choose their own exercise programme may help these girls re-engage with PE.

With this resource, we aim to help teachers to improve teenage girls’ experience of PE in the years where research tells us girls are most likely to drop out of physical activity.

Studio You group of teens smiling

This Girl Can

Studio You is powered by our This Girl Can campaign that inspired more than 3.9 million women to get active.

In line with This Girl Can’s focus on representing the vast spectrum of women who enjoy getting active, Studio You features small groups of diverse and relatable instructors in its videos to deliver lessons that help make PE accessible, fun and rewarding for inactive students.

Timeline

Studio You was piloted in 20 schools across the country in Autumn 2020. It is now used in 55% of state secondary schools in England and will remain totally free for teachers to register and access the lessons and resources.

Find out more

Studio You

School Games

The School Games aims to make a meaningful difference to the lives of children and young people through positive experiences of sport and physical activity.

The Games consists of three types of provision:

Intra-school
Local inter-school
Wider opportunities e.g. larger inter-school or county

The School Games is delivered through a network of 450 School Games Organisers (SGOs), funded by the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport and the Department for Health and Social Care.

In recent years, the SGO Network has adapted the focus and format of the programme to better engage underserved and inactive children and young people.

This has been achieved through a more inclusive approach that prioritises participation, inclusion and fun - ensuring the School Games remains accessible and relevant to all.

To date, more than 19,000 schools have signed up to the School Games website. This will give more than 150,000 young people a competitive experience, with more than 11,000 young volunteers supporting these events.

Impact to date

Since 2010, the School Games has offered 13.4 million participation opportunities for young people (Get Active Strategy 2023)
26,057 events were completed in the School Games network in 2023/24, involving 2,320,376 young people
19,967 schools are registered in the School Games network and are supporting our mission
453 targeted case studies of impact were reported nationally
8,356 Inclusive Health Check questionnaires completed to provide insight into inequalities in schools and tackle these through a bespoke action plan
8,506 total School Games Mark applications completed with 1,704 schools at platinum status.

The SGO Network

The School Games Organiser network has multiple aims - these are:

Active minutes

Advocate and position the delivery of the Chief Medical Officers' daily active minutes guildelines for all young people, as a universal offer to maintain and grow school engagement.
Read more about Active minutes
Helping schools prioritise the delivery of the CMO's recommended 60 active minutes a day, or 20 a day for students with special educational needs (SEND).

Supporting improvements in students' physical literacy and social, emotional and physical wellbeing.
Read less about Active minutes
Positive experiences

Ensure all competition has a clear intent and creates positive experiences based on the motivatiion, competence and competition of the young people that need our support the most.
Read more about Positive experiences
Using local insight to target young people who'd receive the greatest benefit from involvement in competitions.

This includes students from low socio-economic backgrounds, minority ethnic groups, SEND students and girls.
Read less about Positive experiences
Engagement

Have a clear focus on secondary school engagement and transition points.
Read more about Engagement
Prioritising delivery in secondary schools while also recognising the impact on students transitioning in early Key Stage 2 and from Key Stage 2 to 3.
Read less about Engagement
Youth voice

Support the personal development of targeted young people through youth voice and leadership.
Read more about Youth voice
This includes opportunities across the full breadth of the School Games, which incorporates physical activity, competition, high quality leadership and youth voice.
Read less about Youth voice
Value of the Games

Advocate and engage key stakeholders on the value of the School Games in supporting local provision and improve the experience for young people and their families.
Read more about Value of the Games
Showing the role the School Games can play in making a meaningful difference to the lives of young people. Encouraging engagement from local stakeholders including senior leadership teams, public health and parents.
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In 2025, we funded an independent review of the SGO Network - the findings of which can be seen in the report below.

SGO Network review Download the file - 3.15 MB

Find out more

The School Games

Advice and ideas

Simple ways to help children and young people get active this summer

We’ve prepared some advice and ideas for activity providers based on the insight we have on children and young people’s activity levels and attitudes about being active.

Our research shows that children and young people’s activity levels are lower than they were before the pandemic and this is even more pronounced for those from less affluent families and from some culturally diverse communities.

On top of this, we know that some groups of children and young people have also been feeling less confident when taking part, aren’t finding sport and being active as easy and aren’t enjoying being active as much as they used to.

All of this is important to consider when designing and running activities and tailoring messaging for parents or carers. Here are some of the things to bear in mind:

Focus on the fun and enjoyment

What we know

Enjoyment is the biggest driver of children and young people’s activity levels, and there’s an established link between them feeling positive about taking part in sport and physical activity, and then doing so.

Feeling confident when taking part, and finding sport and being active easy (competence), could be low for children and young people who’ve had lots of disruption or not been able to do an activity for a long time because of the pandemic.

How you can help

Focus on providing activities based around being fun and informal. Tailor your messages to emphasise what your activity will be like – enjoyable, a chance to have a good time with friends, helping to build confidence. If parents/carers know it’s going to be something fun, their child(ren) are likely to know that too.

Create a friendly, safe and positive environment and ease children and young people into activities without focusing too much on developing skills and/or fitness. Actively involve them in helping to shape activities where you can – listen to their needs and try to act on their feedback.

Try to make it family-friendly

What we know

Family has a major influence on participation. We know there are strong associations between the attitudes and behaviours of parents/carers and those of their children – the more active a parent/carer is, the more active their child(ren) are. And the more positive a parent/carer feels towards sport or activity, the more likely their child(ren) are to be active.

How you can help

Think about ways you can make activities fun and family-friendly, that focus on opportunities for active play or a chance to try an activity that might be new or different. Messaging should centre around activities that are easy to access, don’t take a long time to do, are low cost or free, or that can be done flexibly in a range of places – for example at home or at the local park with little or no equipment, or just walking, scooting and cycling.

Offer a choice

What we know

While the pandemic has created many barriers to being active, choice has been key in helping to maintain older girls’ activity levels and enjoyment in particular.

For some children and young people, the past 16 months have been a chance to do things differently – so some have enjoyed being active more than usual, using the extra time to take ownership of what they do and trying out new things in a way that feels safe, supported and free from pressure or judgement.

How you can help

Consider providing a range of different opportunities and activities that cater for a range of abilities, and tailor your messaging to bring this to the fore.

Think about ways of reducing any pressure or judgement so that children and young people can work at a pace and in an environment that suits them. For example, this may mean less focus on performance or competition, or being more relaxed about any kit that they need to wear. Create opportunities to connect with friends in a relaxed, informal environment.

Sources: Sport England, Active Lives Children and Young People Survey Academic Year 2019/20; Sport England (2020) Children’s experience of physical activity in lockdown

You can download these tips in a handy one-pager to keep and share with others.

Helping children and young people get active over the summer holidays Download the file - 46.55 KB

Example social media posts

Encourage parents or carers to get active with their children

Click below to see some social media posts you can use or tailor for your own channels.
Read more about Encourage parents or carers to get active with their children
Looking for fun ways to keep the kids active? Discover a huge range of fun activities from Disney dancing to Cosmic Kids Yoga ?‍♀‍
https://www.sportengland.org/jointhemovement?section=get_active_with_the_kids

Who said being active couldn't be fun? Get inspired with 10+ fun ways to keep moving with your little ones this summer.
https://www.sportengland.org/jointhemovement?section=get_active_with_the_kids

Parents, need some new ways to keep the kids entertained, active and having fun?
Discover 100s of ideas from the Active Recovery Hub to bring the fun this summer!
https://www.yourschoolgames.com/active-recovery/

Got Disney-loving kids?
Get them dancing along to their favourite songs from Moana, The Jungle Book and more, with these 5 free & fun Disney dance-along videos
https://www.thisgirlcan.co.uk/activities/disney-workouts/

Only got 10 minutes?
These Disney and Pixar inspired bursts of fun will really get you and the kids laughing and moving!
https://www.nhs.uk/10-minute-shake-up/shake-ups

National Trust have collated a great set of activities and ideas to help keep the kids active and, most importantly, having FUN! Take a look ?
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/summer-family-activities-for-every-adventurer
Read less about Encourage parents or carers to get active with their children

Free images

We have over 250 free-to-use images of children and young people playing sport and getting active, which you can use with your messaging - from social media posts to leaflets, posters and more.

Once you've logged into our image library or registered, just click on 'refine search' and select 'children and young people' to find the images you need.

Image library

Funding

Return to Play: Small Grants

Our Small Grants fund is particularly encouraging applications from organisations working with communities who’ve suffered worse health outcomes and the most significantly reduced activity levels as a result of the pandemic – this includes young people aged 16-24, and girls and women.

The fund focuses on awards of between £300 and £10,000 that support clubs and community groups respond to the challenges of retuning to play during the pandemic, and getting people active for the first time after it.

Return to Play: Small Grants

Return to Play: Active Together

Active Together is a crowdfunding initiative helping sports clubs and their organisations to set up and run their own crowdfunding campaigns to help sustain themselves through the coronavirus crisis.

Support could come with a potential financial pledge from us to help you towards your crowdfunding target.

Return to Play: Active Together

Why work with families?

Our research has shown that families, parents and carers play a key role in shaping a child's attitudes to being active and their activity levels later in life.

They can model active behaviour by taking part with children, but can also model sedentary behaviour.

Adults often facilitate access to various opportunities for their children to be active and so it's important to support them in understanding the benefits of being active.

Father holding daughter's hand as she's walking

Most current opportunities involve children playing with other children, leaving adults sidelined, but the benefits to a child's development are different when they're active with adult family members compared to when they're active with their peers. And children can also play a role encouraging their parents or carers to be active.

More than half (51%) of children and young people enjoy taking part in sport and physical activity, and enjoyment is the biggest driver of participation.

Our research has shown that 93% of children and young people enjoy taking part with their family, and 96% of adults did too. So, engaging whole families can have a real benefit, on family relationships, mental wellbeing and motivations to keep active.

Our investment

As part of our current strategy, Uniting the Movement, we're continuing to focus on developing positive experiences of sport and physical activity for children and young people, including a focus on families in lower socio-economic groups as several research studies show that children from these families are less active than those from higher socio-economic groups.

We want to give families inspiration and confidence to be active together, allowing for quality family time.

And from our previous investment into 39 Families Fund projects, we've put together a series of resources that show what we've learned and the impact it made.

Find out more

Youth voice

A young boy chases a girl during a game of tag rugby, with both players sporting wide smiles.

If children and young people (CYP) have experiences that are based around their needs, feel fun, safe and positive, and give them a sense of confidence, they're more likely to want to be active in the future.

Creating positive experiences of being active is one of the ‘big issues’ identified in our Uniting the Movement strategy, where our ambition is to put young people’s needs, expectations and safety first in the design and delivery of activity – particularly for young people from underserved communities or who are the least active.

Young people have a right to have their voices heard and acted upon in matters affecting them, including when taking part in sport and physical activity. We know that youth voice is a key enabler for building positive experiences.

'Youth voice' is an umbrella term that captures a spectrum of activities that focus on meaningful engagement with young people, to understand their views and involve them in shaping solutions and decisions that will affect them.

We are advocating for young people's voices to be heard and acted upon. We want to encourage and support organisations across the sector to incorporate the voices of young people into their practice.

That’s why we’re sharing the Youth Voice Innovation Storybook.

Youth Voice Innovation Storybook

This details the innovative approach we’ve taken to learning about ways to embed youth voice within Sport England, and to support this work across the broader sector.

The storybook shares our approach, as well as practical tools, activities and top tips that we used to successfully engage young people, and we hope will be useful for you too.

Explore the storybook (PDF, 5.93MB)

Front cover of the Youth Voice Innovation Storybook, featuring Post It notes of ideas such as 'everyone should feel involved'.

While the storybook provides lots of great information, we’ve split the document into phases, so if you want to learn more about a specific phase you can skip straight to it using the links in the document.

You can also download the Design Jam briefs introduced in section four of the storybook (p27-28).

Design Jam briefs Download the file - 1.28 MB

Other useful tools and resources

Useful reading

During the research phase of our work on youth voice, we undertook desk research. While this isn’t an exhaustive list of all sources, we found the following informative and influential:

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)

An international human rights treaty that grants all children and young people a comprehensive set of rights.
Read more about UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)
Youth voice is covered specifically by Article 12. This states that every child has the right to express their views, feelings and wishes in all matters affecting them, and to have their views considered and taken seriously.

Find out more
Read less about UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)
The Lundy Model of Child Participation

This is based on four key concepts: space, voice, audience and influence.
Read more about The Lundy Model of Child Participation
The model has been used and adopted by national and international organisations, agencies and governments to inform their understanding of children’s participation and child rights-based participation for both policy and practice.

Find out more
Read less about The Lundy Model of Child Participation
Hart’s Ladder of Children’s Participation

Children’s participation is presented as a metaphorical ladder, with each ascending rung representing increasing levels of child agency (participation), control, or power.
Read more about Hart’s Ladder of Children’s Participation
In addition, the eight rungs of the ladder represent a continuum of power that ascends from non-participation to degrees of participation.

Find out more
Read less about Hart’s Ladder of Children’s Participation
Establishing Youth Voice

A summary report and evaluation of youth voice practices across the #iwill fund, young people in the lead advisory panel and the youth policy development group.
Read more about Establishing Youth Voice
Find out more
Read less about Establishing Youth Voice
The Power of Youth

The #iwill Power of Youth Charter
Read more about The Power of Youth
Based on insights gathered from #iwill Ambassadors, and partners, the Power of Youth Charter provides a framework for your organisation to empower more young people to shape decisions, take social action and make a positive difference.

Find out more
Read less about The Power of Youth
Play Their Way

A grassroots coaching campaign and movement launched in May 2023 by the Children’s Coaching Collaborative.
Read more about Play Their Way
The campaign aims to transform the way that young people are coached to ensure that their rights are respected.

Find out more
Read less about Play Their Way

Latest CYP articles

A young female wheelchair basketballer takes a shot.

Listening to young voices

Our head of children and young people reflects on the success of the Youth Voice Design Jam and the subsequent creation of the Youth Voice Innovation Storybook.

A hand rests on the cover of a document containing the following text: 'Youth voice is the right of young people to be heard. It's your ideas being listened to and acted upon.'

Our Youth Voice Adventure: lessons learned during co-design

Innovation Unit's Savannah Fishel shares what they learned while navigating the rollercoaster of co-design with us.

World Children’s Day

Our senior manager for children and young people celebrates this annual event by discussing the importance of protecting the wellbeing of children and how this impacts our work.

Find out more

Children and young people

What's physical literacy?

Our Physical Literacy Consensus Statement for England

Positive experiences

The positive experiences collective

Positive experiences for all

Useful links

PLCS for England slide deck

'Getting started' guide

Perspectives from sector leaders

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