What is it and what is it used for?
The School Sport Survey is an online survey of pupils aged 7-16 and teachers
who are responsible for physical education (PE) and school sport delivery.
All schools in Wales with pupils aged 7 to 16 are invited to take part.
It explores children’s and young people’s participation in sport in school and in
the community, and collects information from teachers about the provision of
various PE and sports activities in schools across Wales.
It helps us understand the role that PE and sport play in contributing to the
physical, social, and emotional well-being of all pupils.
Data from the survey allows Sport Wales and Welsh Government to track
sports participation trends, and provides evidence to help shape sports policy
and plan the delivery of sport across Wales.
Recap on School Sport Survey 2011...
Nearly 40,000 pupil responses were received - over 27,000 responses were
received in the final three weeks of fieldwork
580 schools took part in the pupil survey, the provision survey, or both
elements (432 primary and 148 secondary).
On average, pupils took 29.5 minutes to complete the survey - 37.8 minutes
for primary pupils and 23.7 minutes for secondary school pupils
Sport Wales’ Research team dealt with over 600 queries about the survey
during the fieldwork stage, mostly from schools and mostly during the final
month of fieldwork.
198 schools – (149 primary schools and 49 secondary schools) qualified to
receive individual reports of their results
Blaenau Gwent, Conwy and Pembrokeshire received a full set of results.
Caerphilly, Carmarthenshire, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Merthyr Tydfil and Torfaen
qualified for two or more elements of survey results.
Key audiences
Sport Wales and Welsh Government – a base to shape sports policy, monitor
and track trends of participation and provision across Wales;
Schools and Estyn Inspectors – it provides evidence on how sport and PE in
the school are contributing to pupils’ well-being, focusing on the outcomes in
the Common Inspection Framework;
Local authorities/Regions/Consortia – data to inform local planning and
delivery;
National Governing bodies – sport specific insight to inform local regional and
national planning;
Pupils and Young Ambassadors.
Benefits of taking part
Schools
Benefits of taking part
Schools that achieve a balanced sample of responses will receive an
individual report of their results. They will be able to demonstrate:
Levels of engagement in P.E and sport;
Pupils’ participation and enjoyment in learning;
Does school provision meet the needs of all learners?
Are connections being made with the local community?
Evidence of the pupil voice, engaging with the learner and giving them
responsibility;
That they are monitoring of progress over time.
Estyn recognise the survey as an effective tool for evidencing well-being in their
self-evaluation guidance for schools.
The School Report
The individual school level report focuses on the four well-being
outcomes indicated in Estyn’s Common Inspection Framework for
Schools in Wales:
Attitudes to keeping healthy and safe
Participation and enjoyment in learning
Community Involvement and decision-making
Social and life skills
What can the data tell us about pupils’ well-being?
Attitudes to keeping healthy and safe:
What do pupils think about the contribution PE and sport make to being
healthy and having a balanced lifestyle?
How do pupils feel about taking part in PE and Sport? Are they comfortable
taking part?
Do pupils choose to prioritise sport and physical recreation in their leisure
time?
Participation and enjoyment in learning:
Do pupils enjoy PE and school sport? Are there differences between boys
and girls and different year groups?
Do pupils get involved with extracurricular activities?
Are pupils keen to practice and improve their skills in PE and extracurricular
sport?
What can the data tell us about pupils’ well-being?
Community involvement and decision making:
Is there evidence of the learner voice? Do pupils put forward ideas about PE
and sport and feel that their opinions are listened to?
What motivates your pupils to take part? What are the barriers?
Do pupils get involved in community club sport and go to leisure centres
when they are not at school?
Social and life skills:
Do pupils feel they have the necessary skills to take part? Are there
differences between boys and girls and different year groups?
Do pupils help and get involved in PE lessons and sport?
Are pupils confident to try out new activities?
Do pupils encourage their friends and family to get involved, and do they feel
supported themselves?
Benefits of taking part
Eight prizes of £1,000 for sports equipment were offered in a prize draw for
schools (two per region) and all qualifying schools received a certificate. The
2011 winners were:
Ysgol Syr Thomas Jones, Anglesey
Ysgol Botwnnog, Gwynedd
Monkton Priory CP School, Pembrokeshire
St David's R.C. Primary School, Torfaen
Ysgol Yr Eos, Rhondda Cynon Taf
Treorchy Comprehensive School, Rhondda Cynon Taf
Brynconin C.P. School, Pembrokeshire
Mount Pleasant Primary, Newport.
Benefits of taking part
Local Authorities
Benefits of taking part
Local Authorities that achieve a sufficient number of survey responses will
receive a tailored report of their results. This will include:
Participation levels in extracurricular and club sport – how often do young
people take part?
Which sports do young people take part in with community clubs?
Which sports do they want to do more of?
What are the barriers to participation, and what would encourage young
people to do more sport?
Do young people use the leisure centre and other community facilities such as
parks, playgrounds, swimming pools and skate parks?
Have the schools in the authority made formal links with community clubs,
and in which sports?
Are young people members of a sports club, and in which sports?
All data is broken down by school year and gender.
Benefits of taking part
Local authority staff can benefit from supporting the survey process - it can help
build relationships with schools & pupils and assist in shaping the future
planning and delivery of community sport.
1. During the fieldwork phase, staff could offer to assist individual schools
while their pupils complete the survey, as this provides an opportunity to
discuss sport directly with users and start to understand the customer base.
2. Staff could build in a second ‘feedback’ phase once school and local
authority reports have been distributed. These results can be discussed with
teachers and pupils and used for future planning. Pupils can be signposted to
clubs or local activities and the process provides a means of developing good
relationships with school staff and pupils.
The tailored reports will provide an evidence base on which to shape local
plans. The survey offers a means of capturing a wide base of information
about users and non-users of community sports development and education
services.
Response rates: Consortia
Primary pupil
responses
Primary
provision
Secondary
pupil
responses
Secondary
provision
North Wales
2680
102
4257
31
South West and Mid Wales
4501
118
6529
48
Central South Wales
3599
97
6895
35
South East Wales
5410
80
5769
28
Response rates: Central South
Primary pupil
responses
Primary
provision
Secondary
pupils
Secondary
provision
Bridgend
533
10
769
1
Cardiff
375
16
933
8
1379
18
672
3
Rhondda Cynon Taff
1008
38
3360
13
Vale of Glamorgan
303
7
1161
2
Merthyr Tydfil
 = qualified for local level reports
Response rates: South East
Primary pupil
responses
Primary
provision
Secondary
pupils
Secondary
provision
Blaenau Gwent
1569
23
1238
5
Caerphilly
2012
28
2488
9
Monmouthshire
153
6
527
3
Newport
350
7
1001
6
Torfaen
1324 
14
505
3
 = qualified for local level reports
Response rates: South West and Mid Wales
Primary pupil
responses
Primary
provision
Secondary
pupils
Secondary
provision
Carmarthenshire
771
31
2013
11
Ceredigion
77
8
457
4
Neath Port Talbot
435
7
729
7
1645
33
1560
8
Powys
647
19
553
5
Swansea
926
12
1216
8
Pembrokeshire
 = qualified for local level reports
Response rates: North
Primary pupil
responses
Primary
provision
Secondary
pupils
Secondary
provision
Isle of Anglesey
60
7
522
2
Gwynedd
350
23
1005
7
1654
34
1802
6
Denbighshire
188
7
318
3
Flintshire
64
6
71
4
Conwy
 = qualified for local level reports
Reviewing 2011
Issue
Solutions and actions
Communication to schools – lack
of awareness.
Earlier planning, several alternative ways of communicating
with schools will be implemented.
Schools do not want to take part.
Advocacy plan, resource development and messaging.
There were issues with IT systems
and the server ‘crashing’.
Contractor is undertaking development and testing work –
October and November 2012.
Questionnaire - too long.
Sometimes difficult for younger
pupils. Welsh version needs
improving.
Questionnaire review by Research team and external
steering group. Will be piloted again with teachers and
pupils.
High levels of staff resources
required during fieldwork phase.
A good deal of time was spent re-issuing links to schools
and LAs. LAs will support this process in 2013.
Options for reducing the number of queries about response
rates are being built into 2013 plan.
Dissemination of the results was
too slow. Schools put in a lot of
effort in 2011 and didn’t get a
report.
Reporting systems will be set up by the contractor before
the fieldwork begins.
An option for improving the speed of the dissemination
phase is being discussed with partners (via collation of
school census information).
Quarter 1: July – September 2012
Letter to all schools from Sport Wales (July)
August-September: Invitation to tender and appointing a contractor
Planning team briefings – meeting internal colleagues and external partners
and beginning the advocacy process.
First School Sport Survey Steering Group meeting held 26th September
Quarter 2: October - December
Developing supporting resources/advocacy tools;
Questionnaire development - Setting up questionnaires online, piloting and
testing functions with contractor;
Letter to Directors of Education from Sport Wales;
By year end - identifying local contact points for direct communication with
schools;
Quarter 3: January – March 2013
Resources uploaded to website so that schools can access them in advance
(including advocacy resources and technical/guidance packs, calculators);
Communication with local contacts about the final process;
Second Steering Group meeting.
Issuing individual log-in links to each school;
LAs collecting Pupil Level Annual School Census (PLASC) data. Submit data to
Sport Wales using template provided to PESS teams;
Quarter 4: April – July …and onwards
Survey begins. Fieldwork phase – April 8th to end July;
End of July – Close survey and weight data;
Analysis and reporting (August/September/October);
Dissemination of reports and other survey outputs: September onwards.
School and local authority reports will be distributed first.
Role of the local contact(s)
Using the Excel template sent out by Sport Wales, check that the email
addresses for schools are correct to allow automated emails to be sent
centrally by Sport Wales and Snap. A named contact in the school to be
included in the database where possible.
The local contact in each LA (and/or PESS consortium?) will be supplied with a
list of all schools in their area and their individual ‘survey log in’ details.
Contact can support Sport Wales by being responsible for re-issuing these web
links to schools if they don’t receive or delete their original automated email.
The local contact will receive progress updates on response rates from Sport
Wales, and we hope they will be able to have access to the live monitoring
system.
Role of local contact – PLASC data
Complete excel template that has been sent to PESS teams. For each school,
based on January 2013 data (i.e. the same data as supplied to the Welsh
Government for the School Census output):
Number of boys in each year group (years 3 to 11).
Number of girls in each year group (years 3 to 11).
Percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals.
In return…
Information on the sample required for the survey tailored to each school and
included in their guidance notes.
Quicker release of survey outputs (school reports, headline statistics etc.) as we
can use the information for weighting the survey data)
This will require all local authorities to deliver the information – if there are
gaps we cannot deliver this to anyone.
Development of ‘advocacy’ resources
PowerPoint Presentation – slides will be provided for partners to use to
promote the survey
Supporting Letter from Director of Education to be sought
Example letters outlining what information PE teachers and IT staff
need to know about the survey will be provided by Sport Wales, which
can be distributed via local contacts
Case studies showing how the survey information has been used to
improve local delivery
Example of an individual report for schools - available now
Supporting quotes from partners
Use of website, blogs, social media to promote the survey
Development of practical resources
Planned resources
Guidance pack for schools
Information booklet for pupils
Certificate for pupils who complete the questionnaire (schools or partners
to distribute via download)
FAQ documents – various audiences
Questionnaire examples available online
Calculators for partners to assess and monitor response rates of schools
Access to live monitoring of responses online for 22 nominated partners in
LAs
Hints and tips for running the survey from schools and partners that took
part in 2011
Cowbridge Comprehensive School
500 Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 pupils
completed the survey during their IT
lesson.
The Sport Wales feedback provided a
direct comparison with schools with a
similar percentage of Free School Meal
take up, and with schools across Wales
as a whole.
Gender comparisons were made.
The feedback was user friendly and
included charts and diagrams.
The report was used to facilitate future
planning.
Case study provided by Neil Thomas, Head
of PE at Cowbridge Comprehensive School
Cowbridge – Results and Impact
Survey result: 8% of pupils did not feel safe/comfortable in lessons. Impact
= All members of the department are now booked to complete a basic first
aid qualification.
Survey result – 41% of pupils felt that they had “no voice” in Physical
Education. Impact = the department have now created a ‘Sports Council’ to
feedback to the school council on sport-specific issues.
Survey result: 90% of pupils enjoyed PE lessons and 80% enjoyed
extracurricular PE. Impact = Reinforced perceived areas of strength (the
positive learning environment created in lessons). The school also extended
the range of activities offered by 5x60 to include Golf, Zumba, Squash and
Dodgeball, and pupils had options at KS4
Survey result – fewer girls ‘really enjoyed’ their PE lessons. Impact =
Cowbridge conducted an internal survey with all KS3 girls to find out why
this was. As a result, the department adapted their curriculum to provide
gymnastics rather than dance.
Case study provided by Neil Thomas, Head
of PE at Cowbridge Comprehensive School
Pembrokeshire – using survey results
Ysgol Dewi Sant created a School Sport Council as a result of their survey and
are applying for Active Marc Cymru due to their positive school results;
Ysgol Y Preseli created a sport forum for their School Council;
Maenclochog primary school increased their PE curriculum time from one
hour to two hours as a result of the survey, and have created a School Sport
Council;
Prendergast primary school have set up two extracurricular clubs especially
for girls as a result of their survey. Attendance for both has regular numbers
of 15-20 per week, and the school is applying for Active Marc Cymru.
Tenby Junior School: The PE Co-ordinator shared the results with her School
Council, Young Ambassadors, School Sport Captains and Year 6 class. Pupils
have suggested they have an input in target setting. They also decided that
more parents need to be involved in extracurricular activities and a
Health/Athletics club is due to be set up where parents are expected to
attend with their children to take part alongside their sons/daughters.
Case studies provided by Dan Field, PE
and School Sport Manager, Pembrokeshire
“It seems that last year’s School Sport Survey was
a resounding success – almost 40,000 pupils took
part. The survey itself is an effective way of
giving pupils a voice and giving service providers
a valuable insight into what’s working and what’s
not. Let’s hope we see even more of our pupils
taking part this year so that we can get each and
every one hooked on sport for life.”
Keith Towler, Children’s Commissioner for Wales
“Sport and physical activity play a crucial role in combating
a wide range of health problems that we have in
Wales and help us to enjoy good health. Children and
young people having the basic skills to participate in sport
from an early age and having a positive experience of
school sport, has the potential to make a significant
difference to the health of the nation. The Sport Wales
School Sport Survey provides an important evidence base
for not only what is being delivered in schools, but also
how children and young people perceive what is being
offered. This is invaluable in guiding practical actions for
schools as well as enabling the development of future
policy on a national level”
Chief Medical Officer, Dr Ruth Hussey, OBE
More information on the Sport Wales Community Strategy can
be found via www.sportwales.org.uk
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