YAB Launches Year with ‘Getting Active’ Focus

We were excited to welcome this year's Youth Advisory Board members to their first board meeting last month. Pupils aged 10 to 18 from across our nine schools play an important role on the Board as pupil leaders. Not only do they develop their leadership skills, but they also help shape the direction of the Trust on matters that mean the most to them. This year, the Youth Advisory Board will focus on 'Getting Active', as well as raising their profile amongst peers and schools. 

To ensure all pupils understand the role of the Youth Advisory Board, members explored ways to raise the profile of the Board and their purpose. This included ideas such as creating a poster, having a presence on websites, members running assemblies in their schools and even a dedicated social media channel. 

Why focus on Getting Active?  

Research has shown that there are many factors which impact activity levels amongst girls and boys.  

• In England, around 2.2 million children and young people engage in less than the recommended 30 minutes of daily activity.  
• Additionally, 1 in 10 children in the UK are classified as obese or at risk of obesity, often accompanied by low wellbeing.  
•  Children from higher socio-economic backgrounds are more likely to be active, and  
• Although 71% of young people want to be active in schools, globally, girls tend to be less active than boys, with this gender gap widening across countries.  

Within our schools, we see similar patterns of participation. Boys participate in extracurricular clubs at higher rates than girls, and engagement in physical activity declines in older year groups, particularly from year 9 onwards. Pupils with low attendance are less likely to join sporting clubs but for those who do, this opportunity can be a motivating factor for attending school.  

These trends highlight a clear need for strengthening the role schools can play in promoting physical activity for children and young people. 

Trust CEO, Jan Shadick, inspired Youth Advisory Board members with her own reflections on how sport and physical activity helped her overcome shyness at school and motivated her to become a PE teacher, and how it continues to shape her leadership style today.  

The YAB continues to be a powerful forum for pupil voice within the Trust and we look forward to seeing their ‘Getting Active’ ideas come to life and the impact these can have on our schools.

Find out more about the Youth Advisory Board here