Virgin Active is teaming up with the University of Bedfordshire and primary school teachers across the country to explore pioneering teaching methods and new approaches to getting children active.

Having conducted research that found one in three children (39 per cent) across the UK are leaving primary school with a negative disposition towards being physically active, the gym operator has co-founded Active Inspiration to help teachers engage their students.

The initiative to improve PE lessons comes a week after a Youth Sport Trust report suggested that ubiquitous smartphones should be harnessed as tools to modernise PE and increase physical activity. Youth inactivity has been constantly in the spotlight this month, as damning statistics have highlighted the extent of the UK’s problem. Research released from Essex University showed fitness levels among English schoolchildren are lower than ever and still getting worse, while ukactive also made major headlines recently with its Generation Inactive report, which showed only half of seven-year-olds are meeting recommended physical activity guidelines of 60 minutes per day.

Active Inspiration’s new year-long teacher development programme will work with teachers to develop new ways of approaching PE, designed to will inspire a lifelong love of physical activity in primary age students. The aim is to create a new approach which is easy to learn and practical to apply for all teachers, and something they can use with confidence when taking PE lessons with their students.

“PE lessons help shape a child’s first experiences of physical activities and their attitude towards leading an active lifestyle,” said professor Margaret Whitehead, a leading academic on physical literacy.

“It is crucial that these first experiences are positive, rewarding and enjoyable.”

The new programme will begin with a two-day intensive summer camp at a Virgin Active club. Primary school teachers from across the country will be challenged to think differently about activity and the programme will explore pioneering teaching methods and new approaches to getting active. Alastair Humphreys, a renowned explorer and pioneer of micro-adventure, will also be on hand, working with teachers to think differently about movement.

“Primary school teachers have the unique challenge of having to be experts across all the subjects they teach and PE is an area where many lack confidence,” said Virgin Active European COO Matt Merrick.

“By working with primary school teachers directly to bring something different to PE lessons, we hope to help them inspire their students to fall in love with being active.”