1. PA Summit Teenage Girls Evidence into Action – Learning from Practice Niamh Martin

2. Behind the Scenes…  NICE Review – Adolescent girls own views on barriers to being regularly physically active  5 Scottish teenage girls PA projects  3 Questions – sent to key lead in advance  Recorded and transcribed responses  Content Analysis Understanding key barriers to participation among teenage girls in Scotland today

3. Contributions from:

4. The “Voices” Five Scottish teenage girl’s projects covering: Environment: School Community Active travel Geography: Islands Urban Rural Reach: 10,000’s Age: 11-18 years Activities: Team & Individual Sports Dance Outdoor Indoor Water-based

5. Question 1 Does your experience of targeting inactive adolescent girls to participate in your programme reflect the NICE views?

6. Question 2 What additional barriers (if any) have you experienced in: (a)Encouraging inactive adolescent females to begin or enrol in your programme? (b)Encouraging all adolescent females (i.e. previously inactive and already active) to stay and complete your programme.

7. Question 3 Please describe how you have addressed these barriers in: (a) The design and (b) The delivery of your programme

8. A Whistle Stop Tour of Content Analysis...

9. Initial screening (example1) “Girls who are friends with “girly girls” felt that they could not be sporty AND girly and therefore opt out of taking part.” Peers...perceptions...choice

10. Initial Screening (example 2) “The close friendships they make at 13-14 are very influential to young girls. They sometimes go against what they should do because it’s “cooler”, though it depends on who that someone is that voiced that opinion as to whether the others will follow” Peers...influence...perceptions... choice

11. Grouping Information into Themes “ Adult/Leader” “We find it difficult to get a coach who is able to work with the girls who are not motivated or wanting to be there and they find it difficult to gel with them.” “In the island schools we work in, there are no female teachers and the male teachers don’t know what to do with the girls” “Teenage girls have a natural apathy, you need someone who is going to counteract that. I know our leaders find that the hardest thing about their role”

12. Parent Leader Adult Safety Quality Facilities

13. INFLUENCE AdultPeerPerceptionPriorities RESOURCES FacilitiesPartners

14. Top Level Themes InfluenceEnvironmentResources PersonalApproach

15. INFLUENCE AdultPeer Perception Priorities ENVIRONMENT SocialSafetyCultural Supportive RESOURCES FacilitiesPartners

16. Personal MotivationControlSelf-EsteemFemininity Approach TimingRulesStyle

17. “In our BME groups...some of the young women who come to our sessions, their father’s don’t know that they come. Some don’t allow their daughters to take part. There are also issues with boys just being in the same venue, so like if it’s a youth club and there are boys in the other room, that’s still a problem. Then there’s the issue of “when”, Friday is prayer day for Muslims, so we can’t have classes on a Friday. And you have to think about what you’re doing because the clothing can be very restrictive.” INFLUENCE RESOURCES ENVIRONMENT APPROACH

18. BME Teenage Girls – Barriers (example) Approach Resources Environme nt Influence

19. Collective Responsibility Programme Delivery Local orgs, services Local Strategic Planning National Policy

20. Barriers – School (1)

21. PEERS “Girls feel less self-conscious when they are taking part with their friends. Peer groups and social status relate to perceptions of competence and for the girls, it is the peer evaluation that is most important to them”

22. PERCEPTION “Girls who are friends with “girly girls” felt that they could not be sporty AND girly and therefore opt out of taking part.”

23. PRIORITIES “When they move to secondary school, the change in priority is that they would rather hang around [a communal area], it’s a bit more cool. They would rather hang around with their friends than be in school at lunchtime doing a sport...they will come up with any excuse not to be there...”

24. PRIORITIES “Friends become a priority, they want to go out. Boyfriends become a priority and whereas the boys will continue, the girls just stop because they are more about what they look like, so we try to show them how physical activity can make you look and feel better.”

25. Barriers – School (2)

26. ETHOS “School ethos and value placed on girls sport is vital. For a number of schools in Scotland, unless girls opt to do certificated PE they do not take part in any activity from 4 th year. Girls see this as a negative message and opt out at a later stage.”

27. Unsupportive – personal dev. “Performing in public is an issue for many inactive girls and they report it as being one of the main reasons that they opt out of taking part in PE...”

28. Barriers – School (3)

29. FACILITIES and PARTNERS “The other thing is the suitability of the building because what might happen is in order to accommodate other secondary schools doing the activity, we have run it in a primary school. But there is a stigma attached to secondary girls in primary schools so it’s about finding somewhere that the girls will go.”

30. Barriers – School (4)

31. SELF-ESTEEM “Inactive girls tend to have low self- esteem and confidence when it comes to activities. They don’t like the feeling of being “watched” by others, particularly if they are shy or overweight. This is a big issue in PE class situations and leaves them with a negative experience of being active.”

32. “Femininity” ? “We get inactive girls doing football, but I would describe the girls doing football as not being “girly girl”. They’re not bothered about make-up or their hair. It’s definitely a different type of girl than wants to do dance. It gives them a variation because they would never be seen dead going to gymnastics or dance, that’s far too girly for them. So it’s good that we’re picking up other inactive girls.”

33. Barriers – School (5)

34. TIMING “The sessions in the curriculum time have tried to be before break or at the end of school to combat the sweaty issue and time to change. If we can do that, it’s much less of an issue so end of school day sessions are best. Otherwise it’s a big problem.”

35. (Delivery) ASPECTS “You have to be mindful that they were inactive and be careful not to throw them straight into a high intensity full circuit class. That’ll turn them off and they’ll never come back. You must make sure the activity is at an appropriate level for them.”

36. Barriers – Community (1)

37. Barriers – Community (2)

38. Barriers – Community (3)

39. Barriers – Community (4)

40. CONTROL “Girls don’t like to be told what they're doing...it’s not necessarily about having a range of activities, it’s about being involved in the decision process. They want some empowerment, some sort of control.”

41. Barriers – Community (5)

42. Teenage Girls - Barriers Approach Personal Resources Environme nt Influence

43. Addressing Barriers Training, support workshops, information exchange Peer “Champions” Rigorous recruitment procedures for coaches – a “good match” “Whole organisation” physical activity ethos Personal development opportunities – coaching, referee, leader, assist “Social” atmosphere Facilities appropriate to needs – cultural, activity, safety Partners – SLA, time, relevance, commitment Initial and continuous consultation with girls Single Sex events, Clothing, Given responsibility, Goal Setting Flexibility with rules, Work towards “something” Timing of classes, activities (“girly” AND “not girly”) Style – sociable, inclusive, fun, “youth worker approach”

45. Programme Design and Delivery Essentials  Consultation with girls – before, during and after  Social aspect is the priority, activity programme is the medium  Principles of: respect, empowerment, participation and enjoyment  Purpose: Girls want to learn, to develop, to improve  Research – Know your target group!!  Work with the right people – commitment and motivation are absolutely key  Time & Patience – Lots of!!

46. Putting it simply... “A “girls” activity means making it a bit more exciting, try to put a bit of personality into it, don’t make it technical, just bring it back to basics and help them learn, to improve. The girls really love that and if you can get them involved and to interact and share their experiences with each other...they just love sharing their stories with each other...”