MOVE and the Welsh Curriculum: enabling successful futures

3rd August 2022

The MOVE Programme is used in 14 schools and 2 health boards across Wales, and we are currently developing the Mini MOVE Programme in collaboration with the Paediatric Physiotherapy team of Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (ABUHB). Ysgol Ty Coch is a Gold Quality Mark accredited special school in South Wales who started using MOVE in 2018. Here, HLTA and MOVE Coordinator Leigh Wharton discusses how the programme fits with the Welsh Curriculum:

“Movement is paramount for young people with complex disabilities to be able to learn and enrich their lives, not only to maintain their physical health but their mental health too. MOVE puts movement at the heart of our school life, so every child has access to motivational movement opportunities that will support them to become more active and independent. 

In March 2014, the Welsh Government asked Professor Graham Donaldson to review the curriculum and assessment in schools in Wales. He did a review of the education system in Wales and came up with 4 Key Purposes of the curriculum that would enable children and young people to be:

• ambitious, capable learners
• enterprising, creative contributors
• healthy, confident individuals
• ethical, informed citizens

Graham Donaldson’s vision to teach ‘what matters’ resonates with educational professionals within the additional needs sector. What matters to a lot of young people, their families and educational staff is for the pupils to be as independent as possible. In line with the new Welsh curriculum, MOVE seeks to ensure that schools encourage their disabled pupils to be ambitious and empower them to be as independent as possible, so that they leave school confident and well-prepared for their future. 

Since the new curriculum in Wales and within my school environment I have noticed a considerable impact on our pupils’ lives; the increased independence promoted by the curriculum and enabled by MOVE has led to better quality of life, inclusion in a wider range of activities, increased accessibility and more time for family fun.  It’s clear that by placing movement at the heart of the curriculum we have been able to celebrate some truly inspiring outcomes and changed lives! We are a school that likes to MOVE!”