Improving Support for Children's Fundamental Movement Skill Development in the Early Years.

What Is Known:
Less than half of children in England are doing 60 minutes of physical activity (PA) a day, which is the WHO recommended amount (Sports England, 2022). A key foundation to engaging in PA is the development of fundamental movement skills (FMS), which are the foundational "building block" motor skills that are critical for children's development of more sport-specific skills in later life. FMS encompass locomotor (e.g., running), object manipulation (e.g., throwing) and stability (e.g., balance) skills (Rudd et al., 2015). The Early Years (EY; ages 3-5 years old) are a particularly important time for FMS development, as this is a key window for learning these skills (Lingam et al., 2012). This argues for making FMS development a particular priority within EYs education.

Giving Early Years Practitioners (EYPs; adults working with children aged 0-5 years in the private, voluntary, and independent EYs sector) the tools to identify and support development is crucial, as there are major later consequences of poor FMS development in the EYs, including negative effects on a child's educational, health and wellbeing outcomes (Barnett et al., 2021; Li, Kawn & Cairney, 2019; Macdonald et al., 2018). Therefore, making sure initial FMS learning is effective first time around is vital because it gives the best chance of avoiding long-term burdens and the need for remedial interventions later. There are also real concerns about FMS ability in the UK, as studies have shown that school children are not meeting the motor skill expectations set (Duncombe and Preddy, 2021; Duncan et al., 2022a; Haynes, 2016), with the COVID-19 pandemic likely to have further worsened this trend (Guan et al., 2020).

What Is Not Known:
There is a lack of research into the barriers and facilitators to FMS assessment and intervention in the Early Years, as well as a lack of tools that are feasible for monitoring FMS levels in schools and pre-school settings. For example, a lack of staff training and confidence in helping children develop their FMS has been reported (Duncan et al., 2022b), along with little to no perceived understanding of FMS (Duncan et al., 2022b; Eddy et al., 2021). Although identification and support for FMS is more evidence-based in later education, below 5 years of age, EYPs have limited tools to assess FMS development, and evidence-based approaches for supporting FMS development are also limited. For example, as part of the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP), teachers record only a single subjective judgment of whether they feel a child's 'moving and handling' skills are 'above', 'at', or 'below' expectation in their first year of formal schooling (Department for Education, 2018).

Therefore, this PhD aims to take a rigorous, evidence-based approach to supporting children's FMS development in the EYs, via improving both assessment and support. This will be done via four, inter-linking studies, proposed below.
Study 1: Systematically review the evidence base for EYs motor skill interventions, using these findings to work with an industry partner ('50 Things To Do Before You're 5') to ensure evidence-based practice is incorporated into their mobile app that provides information, guidance and supporting resources to parents of children in their EYs.
Study 2: Through partnership with a (Department for Education funded) Early Years Stronger Practice hub, qualitative research will be undertaken with Early Years Practitioners and families to identify the barriers and facilitators to assessing and supporting FMS development in the EYs.
Study 3: Adapt a free, evidence-informed, school-based FMS assessment tool (FUNMOVES) and evaluate its validity for use in EYs settings. This will empower EYPs to identify children with FMS difficulties earlier.
Study 4: Formally evaluate and modify (if necessary) an intervention for improving children's FMS in the EYs, which has shown initial promise in pilot studies in the US