Table 2 General improvements to the Action 3:30 intervention based on process evaluation findings

TA

Identify the commitments of the children before selecting the days the club will run.

Children didn’t know which days the club would run on. This meant some children had other competing commitments and couldn’t always attend.

Identify the best days for the club to run to maximise attendance (i.e., avoiding clashing with alternative school activities)

CFG

Amend hand-outs so they can be used by children on their own in addition to with others (if possible)

The activities on the hand-outs were often designed for use with family and friends but some children said they couldn’t use them when they had no one to play with. The hand-outs could have more pictures of the game being played.

• Adjust games to include more games that can be played solo.

• Include more pictures of the game being played.

• Include more games that don’t need special equipment or suggest alternatives

TA & CFG

Revise programme to increase engagement of girls

TAs: Girls were less interested in the club and presented a greater challenge than the boys in terms of motivation. CFG: Boys tended to dominate team games

• Adapt session plans to include activities that will engage girls and identify ways to make session more appealing to girls (i.e. less direct completion and more within person goal setting and monitoring)

TA, CFG & KC

More age appropriate sessions

TAs: Some of the games were too easy (especially for those who played sports outside of school);

• Amend sessions that are too easy

• Lower age group to year 5

TA & KC

Conduct intervention in Year 5 s not 5 & 6

Year 6 s tend to be less enthusiastic (especially girls) & have SATS, & thus a younger group may have higher attendance.