Table 6 Data sources for barriers to implementation theme

Time within an intense curriculum

“There are times where activity will just get knocked on the head, because I’ve got to fit everything in before Christmas, otherwise I’m going to be behind for testing at the end of the year. Next half term it’s pretty much maths and English and reading for them they don’t really have the creative side, the exercise side, the fun bit of education because it’s all test-based.”

S2, M (General PA).

“In the assessments, when we were doing our last test we couldn’t do it.”

S2, F (ABs).

School space for activities to be performed

“We’ve only got one hall slot per year group per week.”

S3, F (BTM).

Sustaining child interest

“They liked doing it initially but then they found after about four or five weeks, because it was repetitive, the same thing, they thought, “Oh Miss, it was getting a bit of a tedious task”, and the number of them completing it dwindled.”

S1, F (PA homework).

“Sometimes you can forget to fill the sheet in.”

S1, F (PA homework)

Parental support

“A lot of the parents are at work so some of them say to you it’s even hard for them to sign a record for the kids this age so the lads do it themselves, but then you haven’t got parental support because the children are actually managing their own, so it’s a really big grey area and I’m assuming that happens in all schools.”

S2, M (PA homework).

“My Dad is at work from very early in the morning to late at night.”

S1, F (PA homework).

School policies

“I couldn’t enforce it because we’ve sent a letter out to parents to say there’s going to be no homework other than learning spellings.”

“I couldn’t enforce it because we’ve sent a letter out to parents to say there’s going to be no homework other than learning spellings.”

S2, M (PA homework).