Youth Sport Trust Conference 2027

Achievement | Enrichment | Inclusion | Play | Wellbeing

Wednesday 24 February 2027

Telford International Centre

Agenda for the Day

Workshop information: There's no need to book main agenda workshops in advance. Simply choose your preferred sessions on the day, subject to availability and capacity.

09:30 - 10:30 | Morning workshops (choose one)

Narrowing the gap: the difference a Well School approach can make

What happens when physical activity, wellbeing and personal development become central to how a school operates? Hear from two schools that have embedded a Well School approach to better understand and respond to children and young people experiencing disadvantage. Explore how a whole-school approach can strengthen engagement, belonging and personal development, support wider achievement and contribute to school improvement.

Key takeaways:

• Explore how a Well School approach can support children and young people experiencing disadvantage
• Hear how schools have used physical activity, wellbeing and personal development as part of a whole-school approach
• Understand the potential impact on engagement, belonging and wider achievement
• Take away practical learning from schools using this approach to support improvement

Theme: Achievement  |  Format: Live Lab  |  School level: Primary, Secondary, SEND and Alternative Provision

Leading through enrichment: empowering young people, building future skills

Explore how enrichment can give young people meaningful opportunities to lead, influence and inspire others while developing skills for the future. Drawing on examples from Multi Academy Trusts and place-based approaches, this workshop will examine effective leadership pathways, recognition and qualifications, and how young people’s contributions can benefit their peers, schools and communities.

Key takeaways:

• Explore what meaningful youth leadership through enrichment looks like in practice
• Understand how to create pathways from participation into leadership and volunteering
• Consider how qualifications, training and recognition can celebrate young people’s achievements
• Discover how leadership experiences can build transferable skills, confidence and future employability

Theme: Enrichment  |  Format: Workshop  |  School level: Primary, Secondary, SEND and Alternative Provision

Inclusion by design: creating equitable PE, sport and physical activity for every child

Inclusion is everyone’s responsibility. Explore how different aspects of a young person’s identity and lived experience can combine to shape their participation in PE, sport and physical activity. Through practical examples and reflection, this Live Lab will help you move beyond one-size-fits-all approaches and design opportunities where every young person can participate, feel welcome and belong.

Key takeaways:

• Understand how overlapping identities and experiences can shape participation and belonging
• Explore how different barriers can combine to create inequality
• Consider how inclusion can be embedded across PE, sport and physical activity from the outset
• Take away practical approaches to creating more equitable, accessible and welcoming opportunities

Theme: Inclusion  |  Format: Live Lab  |  School level: Early Years, Primary and Secondary

More play, better learning

Explore why play is gaining greater prominence in education and what this means for schools. This practical workshop will examine the evidence connecting play with children’s development and learning, introduce the new Play Sufficiency STAR framework, and share practical approaches to embedding more play across the school day.

Key takeaways:

• Understand the changing policy landscape and growing emphasis on play in education
• Explore the evidence linking play, physical activity and children’s development and learning
• Discover the new Play Sufficiency STAR framework and how it can support your school
• Hear how schools are using the Well Schools Play Toolkit and take away practical ideas to increase play

Theme: Play  |  Format: Workshop  |  School level: Early Years, Primary and Secondary

A culture of kindness: improving outcomes for staff and students

What happens when kindness and care become part of how a school operates, rather than simply something it talks about? Hear from school leaders who have put a people-centred culture at the heart of school improvement, creating the conditions for staff and pupils to thrive. This panel will explore the practical approaches they have taken and how a positive culture can strengthen wellbeing, engagement and wider school outcomes.

Key takeaways:

• Explore how a culture of kindness and care can contribute to school improvement
• Hear how schools have built staff and pupil commitment to a shared culture
• Understand how positive and negative cultures can create virtuous or vicious cycles
• Take away practical ideas for creating the conditions in which staff and young people can thrive

Theme: Wellbeing  |  Format: Panel  |  School level: Primary, Secondary, SEND and Alternative Provision

Panel | Belonging Before Participation

Participation doesn't start with a programme or activity. It starts with belonging. This thought-provoking panel explores how representation across gender, ethnicity, and disability influences participation in physical activity and school sport. Hear perspectives from sector leaders from underrepresented groups and discover why diverse leadership matters, what helps young people feel that school sport is for them, and how schools and organisations can create more inclusive experiences that encourage participation. 

Key takeaways:

• Understand how representation across gender, ethnicity and disability can influence participation and belonging
• Explore why diverse leadership and relatable role models matter in creating inclusive school sport environments
• Hear perspectives from underrepresented groups on the barriers to participation and what helps young people feel they belong
• Consider how schools and organisations can create more inclusive experiences that encourage participation

Format: Panel | School level: Primary, Secondary, SEND and Alternative Provision

12:35 - 13:35 and 13:35 - 14:35 | Afternoon workshops (choose one)

The following sessions run twice, at 12:35 - 13:35 and 13:35 - 14:35. Delegates can choose one workshop to attend, with lunch taking place during the other time slot. Your allocated lunch time will be confirmed on arrival.

The future of PE: ready for 2028?

With a reformed national curriculum due from September 2028, what could the next chapter of PE look like? This future-focused panel will explore the Curriculum and Assessment Review, the evolving purpose of the subject and what high-quality PE should enable every child and young person to achieve. Hear perspectives from across the sector and consider what needs to change, what must be protected and how the workforce can prepare now.

Key takeaways:

• Understand what curriculum reform could mean for the future of PE
• Explore the evolving purpose of PE and what high-quality provision should enable young people to achieve
• Hear different perspectives on what needs to change and what should be protected
• Consider how schools and the workforce can start preparing for 2028

Theme: Achievement  |  Format: Panel  |  School level: Primary, Secondary, SEND and Alternative Provision

Give them the keys: empowering young people to lead multisport enrichment

Move beyond traditional sports leadership and empower young people to shape, promote and deliver enrichment for their peers. Explore how schools can create meaningful leadership opportunities through multisport enrichment, enabling young people to become recruiters, organisers, activators and role models while building their own confidence, skills and sense of ownership.

Key takeaways:

• Explore meaningful leadership roles young people can take within multisport enrichment
• Discover how young leaders can engage and motivate their less active peers
• Consider inclusive leadership opportunities for a diverse range of young people
• Take away practical ideas for developing a youth-led multisport offer

Theme: Enrichment  |  Format: Workshop  |  School level: Secondary, SEND and Alternative Provision

Addressing inequality in PE: learning from Muslim girls’ experiences to create more inclusive practice

Explore what the experiences of Muslim girls can teach us about creating more inclusive PE. Drawing on consultation and co-design with Muslim girls and schools, this interactive workshop will examine the barriers that can affect participation, confidence and enjoyment, and demonstrate how listening to young people can help schools create meaningful and sustainable change.

Key takeaways:

• Hear directly from the lived experiences of Muslim girls in PE
• Understand how factors including gender, faith, culture and ethnicity can combine to shape participation
• Explore how pupil voice and co-design can identify barriers and inform more inclusive practice
• Take away learning that can help improve PE experiences and strengthen belonging for all young people

Theme: Inclusion   |  Format: Workshop  |  School level: Primary and Secondary

The science of play

Discover what happens when children play and why it matters. Combining neuroscience and education research with practical, movement-based examples, this workshop will explore how play supports children’s physical and neurological development, learning and wider school outcomes – and what the evidence means for everyday school practice.

Key takeaways:

• Understand the neurological and physiological impact of play on children’s development
• Explore the evidence connecting play with learning and wider school outcomes
• Experience practical examples that bring the science of play to life
• Identify practical ways to create more opportunities for play throughout the school day

Theme: Play  |  Format: Workshop  |  School level: Early Years, Primary and Secondary

Developing your Well School

Bring the Well School journey to life, from establishing a clear purpose and developing your approach through to joining the Well School Community and achieving accreditation. Hear from schools at different stages of the journey and explore how becoming a Well School can support improved outcomes, whole-school development and your school’s approach to inspection.

Key takeaways:

• Understand the different stages of the Well School journey
• Explore how to establish a clear purpose and build your approach across the school
• Hear practical learning from schools developing and embedding the Well School approach
• Understand how the approach can contribute to improved outcomes, school improvement and inspection

Theme: Wellbeing  |  Format: Workshop  |  School level: Primary, Secondary, SEND and Alternative Provision

14:45 - 15:45 | Afternoon workshops (choose one)

Supporting positive futures: the role of PE, school sport and physical activity

How can PESSPA help young people prepare for life beyond school? Drawing on themes from the Milburn review and examples from schools, this Live Lab will explore how inclusive provision, leadership and enrichment can build confidence, connection and skills for life, supporting young people to take positive next steps into education, employment or training.

Key takeaways:

• Explore how PESSPA can develop skills that support young people beyond school
• Understand how inclusive provision can strengthen confidence, connection and engagement
• Hear practical examples of leadership and enrichment creating opportunities and pathways for young people
• Consider how PESSPA can support young people who may need additional help to identify and take their next steps

Theme: Achievement  |  Format: Live Lab  |  School level: Primary, Secondary, SEND and Alternative Provision

Who’s missing? Designing inclusive enrichment through youth voice

Who takes part in enrichment, who doesn’t, and why? Using young people’s voices, real-world personas and lived experience, this interactive workshop will explore how different barriers can combine to prevent participation. Identify who is missing in your setting and consider how to design more inclusive enrichment opportunities with young people, not simply for them.

Key takeaways:

• Understand how different and overlapping barriers can affect participation in enrichment
• Use youth voice, real-world personas and lived experience to challenge assumptions about who is missing and why
• Identify groups within your own setting who may be missing out
• Develop practical approaches to increase participation and belonging through more inclusive enrichment

Theme: Enrichment  |  Format: Workshop  |  School level: Primary, Secondary, SEND and Alternative Provision

Active by design: shaping inclusion bases where young people belong

As schools develop inclusion bases, how can physical activity become a core part of the offer rather than an optional extra? Drawing on emerging research and practical examples, this workshop will explore how purposeful movement can support emotional regulation, readiness to learn, positive relationships and belonging, helping young people reconnect with school life.

Key takeaways:

• Understand the role physical activity can play within internal alternative provision and inclusion bases
• Explore how purposeful movement can support regulation, relationships, learning and belonging
• Discover practical approaches using flexible, youth-led activity, inclusive sport and enrichment
• Consider how physical activity can help create meaningful pathways back into wider school life

Theme: Inclusion  |  Format: Workshop  |  School level: Primary, Secondary and Alternative Provision

Every child moving well

See how schools are using play to help every child move more and thrive. Through Live Lab examples from primary and secondary settings, this session will bring the Move Well pillar to life, showing how schools are using play to tackle inactivity, support children’s physical and emotional development, and respond to wider whole-school priorities.

Key takeaways:

• See how primary and secondary schools are embedding more movement throughout the school day
• Explore how play can help address inactivity among different groups of pupils
• Understand how play can support children’s physical and emotional development
• Discover how an increased focus on play can contribute to wider whole-school priorities

Theme: Play  |  Format: Live Lab  |  School level: Primary and Secondary

Developing an effective health and wellbeing curriculum

What does an intentional, embedded health and wellbeing curriculum look like in practice? Hear from primary and secondary Beacon Well Schools that have made health and wellbeing a planned and timetabled part of school life. Explore the approaches they have taken, the lessons they have learned and the impact on pupils, staff and wider school outcomes.

Key takeaways:

• Explore what an intentional and embedded health and wellbeing curriculum can look like
• Hear how primary and secondary schools have developed and timetabled their approaches
• Learn from the challenges and lessons schools have encountered along the way
• Understand the potential impact on pupils, staff and wider school outcomes

Theme: Wellbeing  |  Format: Workshop  |  School level: Primary and Secondary