To try and redress this decline in pupils’ physical development Loughborough’s Dr Rebecca Duncombe and Professor Pat Preedy created ‘Movement for Learning’. The daily programme gives children opportunities to move, improve fine and gross motor skills and inhibit primitive reflexes (baby reflexes that should no longer be present). Activities include throwing, catching, balancing, drawing large letters in the air, articulating sounds and skipping. To assess the effectiveness of the programme the team recruited children from two schools, with some doing the daily Movement for Learning exercises and others not. “The results show a definite improvement for those children that took part in the Movement for Learning programme,” explains Dr Duncombe. “We know that there is a link between physical development and achievement in the classroom so the findings of this research are especially important. We are hopeful that, as a result of this project, we will be able to help reverse the recent decline in physical readiness for school and for learning.” Professor Pat Preedy added: “Changes in our modern world mean that many children are moving less and are not developing the physical skills that they need for learning. It has been most rewarding to see how a short, daily programme can help children to get back on track for learning.” Fifty other schools are currently following the Movement for Learning programme and are due to provide feedback after the summer. The team plan to make the programme freely available for all schools by 2018.
