Footie Families | Research

We are evaluating the impact of Footie Families on children’s motor skills and family physical activity levels

We are asking parents of 2-5 year olds who are participating in the Footie Families programme to take part in this exciting research.

Why is there a need for this research?

Supporting young children to develop motor skills is key for their likelihood to engage in physical activity and help get them ready for school. The FAW Trust have recognised the importance for young people to be supported in developing a broad range of foundational skills for a physically active future. Therefore ‘Footie Families’, an early childhood multi skill programme has been developed in collaboration with the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, for children aged 2-5 to experience alongside their parents or carers.

It is extremely valuable for us to explore family’s experiences of the programme and measure children’s motor skills and parent-child physical activity levels to explore the impact of the programme. This will help us in develop the programme and supporting parents in setting their little ones up for a healthy active future with lots of opportunities for physical activity.

What will taking part involve?
· Take part in the Footie Families programme as you plan to!
· Some parts of the sessions will be filmed to analyse parent-child interactions through play and to ensure the programme is consistent.
· At the beginning and end of the programme, during the session, we will evaluate children’s motor skills with an obstacle course assessment tool.
· We will ask you to complete a short online survey that asks you questions about you and your family such as your physical activity levels. All results will be confidential.
· If you are able to, you will be asked to take part in two 30-minute research appointments (one before the programme and one after) which can be scheduled at a suitable time for you.
· After completing the programme, we would love to hear your feedback and share your experiences of the programme in a breif conversation with the researcher. These can be over zoom online and scheduled at a convenient time for you. This will be audio recorded for analysis purposes but be kept confidential and responses will be anonymised.

How many children will be in this evaluation?
We are asking all families, participating in the Footie Families programme to take part in the research. You and your child’s participation is voluntary.

Is this confidential / anonymous?

· The information collected will be kept secure and private on a password protected hard drive.
· All personal information, such as your child’s name, will be removed from the data and replaced with an ID code. A list linking the number with your name will be kept securely, separate from your data and stored on a locked computer in the research office.
· All answers will be anonymised. All audio recordings and transcripts from any interviews will be stored on a password-protected computer, only accessible by the research team.
· When the results of the study are reported, names will not be used and no information that discloses your identity will be released or published without your specific consent to the disclosure.