Movement, Belonging, and Celebration: Meadowside’s RISE Up Journey

Neil @ Future Action
Oct 20
6 min read

Updated: 5 days ago

Meadowside School, based on the Wirral, is a specialist setting supporting secondary-aged students with a wide range of additional needs, including moderate, severe, and complex learning difficulties.

Many pupils require tailored support to engage fully in school life. The staff are deeply committed to creating opportunities for belonging, confidence, and wellbeing.

Since joining the Wirral RISE Up programme, Meadowside School has embraced the initiative as a way of strengthening engagement, wellbeing, and relationships across the whole school.

Led by the brilliant Paul Stubbs, Meadowside has found creative ways to integrate movement and emotional wellbeing into daily life — from PE lessons and RSHE to whole-school celebration events.

Here, Paul reflects on the journey so far — in his own words.

Intent – Opening Up and Building Engagement

“Our focus was on supporting mental health, increasing participation, improving attendance, and strengthening relationships between pupils and teachers.

We wanted to give young people the confidence to move for wellbeing, and for staff to grow in empathy and compassion through better understanding of the children we teach.

“I have fully taken on board my Trauma-Informed PE training and started implementing it into my practice — trying to be an emotionally available adult in each pupil’s life, helping them feel better, being someone they can talk to, trust, and count on, and someone who believes in them.

“At the start of the year, I tweaked my approach again — even something as simple as smiling more and listening more.

I’ve also given pupils more choice around PE kit, and I’ve noticed more pupils bringing kit in more consistently, creating a positive shift in engagement.”

Paul has also reshaped the Key Stage 3 curriculum to include the core principles of the RISE framework — Repeaters, Inclusive Teams, Stress Busters, and Energisers. These activities are designed to regulate emotions, widen the window of tolerance, and create belonging through movement.

“We’re focusing on teamwork, fun, and enjoyment — creating a safe place and ‘play wrapped in care,’ even where there may have been hesitation before.”

Implementation – Movement in PE and Beyond

“We implemented RISE Up in PE lessons at Key Stage 4 and Post-16. Students picked a RISE activity and the whole class joined in.

Child agency has been central — and as a result, four pupils who had previously disengaged from PE began taking part again.

“One girl who had been completely disengaged is now attending the gym outside of school and has discovered a love of dance.

She is more aware of movement for wellbeing and, most importantly, we’ve made her feel safe enough to move.”

Beyond curriculum time, Meadowside pupils also take part in a rich range of community and outdoor learning experiences. These include sailing, canoeing, and kayaking at Crosby Lakeside, volunteering at Royden Park, and engaging in climbing, abseiling, and horse riding.

Many also take part in the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award, building teamwork, resilience, and self-worth.

Linking with RSHE

“Lessons 11–21 on habits and the happiness chemicals are being delivered in PSHEE, giving students valuable strategies for self-care.

As PSHEE coordinator, I’ve been able to embed this learning into the wider curriculum with my team.”

Enrichment and Celebration

“Enrichment days have been a real highlight. For our 50th celebration, we created a whole-school dance event and video to mark the occasion.

It was amazing to see everyone come together and be enthused through dance — both as an energiser and an inclusive team activity.”

Another highlight was the Meadowside Olympics, designed and led by a Year 14 student. He pitched the idea to governors and then coordinated the event with staff support.

Monday: Opening Ceremony — pupils created banners, flags, masks, and Olympic torches, parading in their teams before forming Olympic Rings and a giant “50” for drone footage.
Tuesday: “MeadOlympic Village” — teams represented different countries through food and cultural activities (e.g. sushi and origami for Japan, afternoon tea for the UK).
Wednesday: Athletics — sprints, javelin, long jump, obstacle course, and relay races.
Thursday & Friday morning: Non-traditional Olympic and Paralympic events such as boccia, sitting volleyball, goalball, golf, polybat, and archery — with everyone cheering each other on.
Friday afternoon: Closing Ceremony — dance performances, medals, and celebration of inclusive teams.

“It brought the whole school together and was such a success that our student now wants to plan a Winter Olympics!”

Impact – A More Connected School

Who Benefitted

Pupils from Years 7–13
Around 50 students directly involved
Wider impact on staff wellbeing and enrichment provision

“The programme has got children mixing across year groups, moving more, and growing in confidence. Teachers, too, are showing greater empathy and compassion as they better understand the challenges pupils face.

“We made sure as many children as possible were involved — including our pre-formal learners. Medals and certificates boosted self-esteem and gave every child a chance to feel valued.”

Student Focus: Finding Confidence in Movement

“One vulnerable child has particularly benefitted. She loved the Meadowside Olympics and is thriving in her RISE Up sessions in PE.

Dance and movement have become a way for her to express herself, and she is developing her emotional intelligence through the programme. Her sense of belonging and confidence have grown noticeably.”

Student Focus: A Year 14 Leader

“Our Year 14 student who spearheaded the Meadowside Olympics has been another standout. His leadership and creativity helped bring the event to life, and he has shown how student voice can drive meaningful change.”

Tracking the Difference

Meadowside measured the programme’s impact using both the shortened Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) and the School Wellbeing Scorecard before and after the intervention.

WEMWBS (Teacher Perceptions): Average score rose from 2.38 (“rarely/some of the time”) to 3.5 (“some of the time/often”) — a 47% improvement in teachers’ perceptions of student mental wellbeing. The biggest gains were in confidence, optimism, and pupils’ ability to manage their own wellbeing.
School Wellbeing Scorecard:

- Overall Score: 67% → 94%

- Activity: 71% → 86%

- Habits: 100% → 100% (maintained at full strength)

- Mental Fitness: 50% → 100%

- Whole-School Impact: 59% → 95%

Pre Intervention School Wellbeing Scorecard:

Post Intervention School Wellbeing Scorecard:

“These figures show just how transformational the programme has been. The biggest Scorecard shift was in mental fitness (+45 percentage points), reflecting how RISE Up has helped students develop stronger wellbeing strategies and greater resilience.”

Next Steps

Looking ahead, Meadowside is determined to build on this success.

The priorities are:

Training more staff in RISE Up and trauma-informed approaches, creating a frontline of emotionally available adults who can support pupils every day.
Launching a Meadowside Winter Olympics, continuing the legacy of celebration, teamwork, and inclusive movement that has energised the whole school community.

A Huge Thank You

A huge thank you to Paul and the whole team at Meadowside from everyone at Future Action.

The way they have understood the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and prioritised relationships, psychological safety, child agency, PACEs, and inclusive teams to develop a deep sense of belonging has been truly outstanding.

We’d also like to thank Oliver Terry and the team at Wirral Virtual School for funding and co-ordinating the Wirral RISE Up programme.

💛 Join Us at the MOVE WELL Conference

You can hear more from Paul, myself, and other brilliant colleagues about the Wirral RISE Up programme at a free Move Well conference hosted at Clare Mount Specialist Sports College on Friday 28th November.

We’d love for you to join us as we explore how movement, relationships, and early intervention are transforming children’s mental wellbeing and life chances across the region.

👉 Find out more about the day and book your free place here: