Enhancing the well-being, health and life aspirations of secondary school pupils: The Be the Best You Can Be programme

Lead Research Organisation: University of Bath
Department Name: Department for Health

Abstract

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Description The BtBYCB programme was refined and improved as a result of the award.
Exploitation Route By showing which aspects of the intervention work and why, the results have the potential to contribute to policy decisions as they relate to translating research into practice. Indeed, as the principles underpinning the proposed work (i.e., SDT) have been shown to be invariant, the methods of intervention and the mechanisms underpinning adaptive and sustained behaviour-change are of direct relevance to other domains. For example, direct impact may extend to research and practice in clinical settings (e.g., smoking cessation), medical sciences (e.g., preventive and behavioural medicine), and higher education sectors (e.g., promotion of autonomous and "deep" learning). Areas of policy-making that may benefit directly from the results include Local Authorities (including LEAs), Primary Care Trusts, and NHS schemes designed to target adaptive educational engagement, well-being and health. Further funding has already been sought in an attempt to bring such impact to fruition.
Sectors Education
 
Description Our ESRC award helped us to refine, improve and evaluate the Be the Best You Can Be (BtBYCB) school-based intervention (http://www.21stcenturylegacy.com/). This programme was successfully launched by 21st Century Legacy in March 2011. BtBYCB aims to inspire, engage and empower young people to find their unique potential and to follow their dreams. In April 2012, the BtBYCB initiative was integrated into the New Curriculum for Secondary Schools (under the subject heading of PSHE; Key Stage 3). That is, via ASDAN Education, the completion of BtBYCB now results in 3-credits towards the Certificate of Personal Effectiveness GCSE equivalent qualification. By the end of 2013, BtBYCB had already been delivered to over 125,000 pupils in a diverse range of schools across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Dr David Hemery CBE, founder of 21st Century Legacy, "Schools report that the enthusiasm generated by BtBYCB, driven by the programme's focus on personal agenda, is leading to increased aspirations in other areas of students' lives". The development of the programme received support from the Chair of Ofsted who commented that the unique characteristics of BtBYCB "gives your dynamic project a real credibility that is not often found in other projects whose aspirations may be similar".
First Year Of Impact 2012
Sector Education
Impact Types Societal
 
Description Pennington Biomedical Center 
Organisation Louisiana State University
Department Pennington Biomedical Research Centre
Country United States 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution The methods that we used during our NPRI-2 award helped us to be selected as the UK site for a 12-country study examining the determinants of childhood obesity. We also used the methods in a subsequent ESRC award (ES/H009914/1) and collectively these awards built our profile in this area.
Collaborator Contribution Pennington Biomedical Center are the coordinating centre on a $6m award from industry to conduct the first international study across 12 countries from 5 continents using objective measures. Our experience of these measures and thus Pennington's selection of Bath as the UK site, was in part due to us first using these methods in our NPRI-2 and ESRC awards.
Impact Katzmarzyk, P. T., Barreira, T. V., Broyles, S. T., Champagne, C. M., Chaput, J.-P., Fogelholm, M., Hu, G., Johnson, W. D., Kuriyan, R., Kurpad, A., Lambert, E. V., Maher, C., Maia, J., Matsudo, V., Olds, T., Onywera, V., Sarmiento, O. L., Standage, M., Tremblay, M. S., Tudor-Locke, C., Zhao, P. and Church, T. S., 2013. The international study of childhood obesity, lifestyle and the environment (ISCOLE) : Design and methods. BMC Public Health, 13 (1), 900. Katzmarzyk, P.T., Church, T.S., Chaput, J. Hu, G., Kurpad, A., Lambert, E.V., Maia, J., Matsudo, V., Olds, T., Onywera, V., Sarmiento, O.L., Standage, M., Tremblay, M.S., Tudor-Locke, C., Zhao, P. (2012, October). The International Study of Childhood Obesity, Lifestyle and the Environment (ISCOLE). Paper presented to the International Congress on Physical Activity and Public Health, Sydney.
Start Year 2011
 
Description The challenge to live Olympian : an evaluation of the 'be the best you can be' programme 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Participants in your research and patient groups
Results and Impact An invited presentation in which preliminary findings pertaining to the evaluation of the Be the Best You Can Be programme were presented and discussed.

Research collaboration.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2010