How do I know if The Movement Program will help my child?

How do I know if The Movement Program will help my child?

The Leigh Academies Trust has conducted extensive trials since 2003 in both Secondary and Primary Schools and found The Movement Program helps to improve learning ability, educational progress and improves GCSE examination results.

The Movement Program has been rigorously developed and evaluated, by measuring the effect of the movements with large numbers of children in both Primary and Secondary Schools. It is most suitable for children aged 8-13 years.

From 2010 onwards, The Movement Program was developed as a collaborative project between Leigh Academies Trust and Learning Solutions, an organisation based in Yorkshire that specialises in improving learning through developmental movement and sound programs.

The outcome of this process is a carefully constructed, progressive sequence of movements which become increasingly complex over the course of the program. They are easily accessible, fun, and therefore effective in raising educational outcomes.

A full statistical analysis was conducted and it was very evident that The Movement Program had a significant impact upon reading by comparison with the control group who had received no intervention.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 1. Reading results following implementation of The Movement Program.

Reading levels in The Movement Program (TMP) group rose significantly* over the 6-month period compared to the control group who had no intervention.

*Statistical analysis not yet published by Leigh Academy Trust shows p=0.008, a highly significant gain in the TMP group.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 2. The retention of primitive reflexes following implementation of The Movement Program

A statistically significant reduction (p=0.041) can be seen in the retention of primitive reflexes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 3. Balance and coordination improvements following TMP

Significant improvements in balance and coordination (p=.041) were also seen when comparing the TMP group to the control group.

Improvements in such areas as balance and coordination and a reduction in the retention of primitive reflexes are understood to be an important factor in strong reading and attention skills.

Following these strong initial results Leigh Academy were interested to see if this relatively short intervention in Year 7 would have a long-term impact upon GCSE examination results. In theory, improving basic sensory skills should improve academic performance. Using the Fisher Family Trust predictions from Year 6 they were able to compare the results of TMP and control groups as well as the 125 ‘good readers’ group who were not initially involved and had received no intervention.

Between the implementation of the 12 week program in Year 7 and the Year 11 GCSE results no other intervention was used, all students were within the same school environment and received the same teaching.

The graph below shows the significant improvements gained by the group who followed The Movement Program in Year 7.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 4. English Language GCSE results in Year 11 compared to FFT predictions. (p=0.013)

The students who followed the 12 week TMP programme in Year 7 gained significantly stronger GCSE English results compared to the 150 pupils in the normal teaching and good readers groups.

Conclusion

Reading is a skill that needs practice. However, many students have not developed the basic sensory processing, timing and attention levels to be able to decode words, scan the page to read or be able to concentrate. The Movement Program offers a unique way to help develop the underpinning skills for literacy and attention that cannot be achieved by simply undertaking extra reading. This not only impacts upon literacy and attention but can lead to wide-ranging improvements in timing and rhythm for movement, sports and other areas of daily life.