Yorkshire Inclusive Health Check
As Inclusion Lead based at Newsome High School in West Yorkshire and School Games Organiser (SGO), Linda Stacey ensures that the 46 schools that she supports all understand the value of the School Inclusive Health Check.
“Few staff seem to ask for development guidance following their Inclusive Health Check (IHC). It's not top of their to do list. It’s useful but with no immediate deliverables.”Linda Stacey, Inclusion Lead, W. Yorkshire
Linda encourages and helps her schools to use it to challenge and improve their inclusive planning and delivery and has seen first-hand its impact on a school’s ambition and direction. However, Linda and her SGO colleagues perceived that some schools across the county might not be using the IHC to its full potential. They wanted to understand the extent to which the IHC was being employed by schools and the impact it had on young people’s experience of inclusive sport. If the IHC was being under-utilised, they would seek an understanding of how to address this.
“I think many teaching staff use the IHC to ratify what they're doing rather than to challenge themselves.”Linda Stacey, Inclusion Lead, W. Yorkshire
Table cricket event, West Yorkshire
“I was concerned about the IHC just being a tick box exercise, but I now feel that I can go to my schools with a clearer idea of how it can be used to develop inclusive PE and sport in schools.”Colin Crowther, SGO, West Yorkshire
Discussion with schools validated perceptions that the IHC is rarely used as working tool:
Completion of the IHC has made teachers realise the importance of inclusion. As a result of the IHC, a few schools have ensured that their School Sport Organising Committee (SSOC) includes at least one young person with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Other schools have asked for training in achieving the widest involvement of young people in PE and a positive experience for all.
“This is a medium-term project: change won't be evident until next year. Schools need to set targets for people to make change.”Linda Stacey, Inclusion Lead, W. Yorkshire
