Starting with a Jump - Pathfield School Case Study

Neil @ Future Action
14 hours ago
5 min read

KEY IMPACT

17% improvement in student wellbeing
33-point increase in School Wellbeing Scorecard (52% → 85%)
Mental Fitness improved from 0% → 88%, helping students develop practical self-regulation strategies

This case study covers:

This week’s case study focuses on the brilliant Pathfield School in North Devon. Pathfield supports 192 brilliant young people aged 3–19 with profound and severe learning difficulties and autism.

We love working with them as part of the Devon RISE Up programme.

Their fantastic PE Lead, Ben Copp, shares how they’ve brought RISE Up to life in a way that works for their young people.

Intent

“We wanted to use RISE Up to help our students regulate through movement.”

At Pathfield, many students find it difficult to understand or communicate how they’re feeling. Ben and the team wanted to give them simple, practical ways to regulate, using movement as the vehicle.

“A lot of our students can’t always verbalise what’s going on for them… so we’re trying to give them ways to manage that through what they do, not just what they say.”

Transitions were a big focus.

Students arrive at different times on buses and taxis, and those moments at the start and end of the day can be really challenging.

“Some students arrive at nine, others not until half nine… and that waiting time can be really tricky. We wanted to give them something they could use to help regulate in those moments.”

The initial focus was on a small group of Access Curriculum classes, with the aim of building:

emotional regulation
confidence
positive habits
and a better relationship with movement

Implementation

“We just started simple and saw how they responded.”

Rather than overcomplicating things, Ben and the team began with accessible, engaging activities.

“At the moment the focus is purely just on jumping… trampettes and all sorts going on in the hall.”

It might sound simple, but that simplicity has been key. It gave students something they could access immediately and feel success with.

Getting staff on board

The team completed training just before Christmas and hit the ground running in January.

“The staff have been brilliant. They’ve really taken it on.”

A huge part of this success has been down to Jose, Ceri-Anne, Gwawr, and their class teams, who have fully embraced the training and driven the implementation forward in their classrooms.

Teachers quickly noticed the difference:

students were more engaged
sessions had a clear purpose
staff were adapting activities to meet individual needs

“Staff have been matching the intensity of the children during the activities, and that’s been really effective.”

As one of the teaching teams shared:

“Students have been engaging in all the activities we have planned following the RISE UP training.

Matching the intensity of the children and using it to our advantage during the activities in the PE curriculum has proven to be very effective.

We have also embedded these activities through our timetables, as these exercises help our students refocus and regulate.”

Beyond PE – into the classroom

One of the biggest shifts has been how quickly things have moved beyond PE.

“We’re now looking at how we can use it in the classroom as well… especially around those transition times.”

Classes are starting to develop their own versions of sports sanctuaries, simple spaces where students can go and access movement when they need it wrapped in care.

“We’re setting up little regulation areas where they can go and use different things… jumping, throwing, balancing… whatever works for them.”

The key is accessibility.

“If a student needs something to regulate, it has to be there straight away. There’s no point it being locked away somewhere.”

As the work develops, the team are now looking at how increased access to equipment will further strengthen what they are already doing, particularly to meet the wide range of needs across the school.

Supporting transitions

“That first half hour of the day is really important… and the same at the end.”

The team are now building in simple activities so students can:

settle when they arrive
regulate while waiting
re-engage after lunch

“It’s just about giving them something they can use in those moments when things feel difficult.”

Lunchtime clubs

Lunchtime provision is starting to take shape.

For Key Stage 2, the team are introducing simple themed days:

“One day might be throwing activities, another might be games… just giving it a bit of structure.”

For older students, they’ve used student voice:

“They’ve been telling us what they want to do, which has been really nice to see.”

Impact

“It’s the little things… but they’re massive for our students.”

Wellbeing

Before starting the programme, all wellbeing measures sat at “some of the time.”

Now, Ben is seeing clear shifts:

students feeling more optimistic
more relaxed
more connected to others

Overall, this represents around a 17% improvement in wellbeing.

“You can see it… even if they can’t always explain it, something is changing.”

Whole School Impact

The School Wellbeing Scorecard tells a powerful story:

52% → 85% overall
Mental Fitness: 0% → 88%
Habits: 38% → 88%
Whole School Impact: 77% → 95%

“We’re definitely going in the right direction.”

Pre Intervention:

Post Intervention:

A moment that says everything

Ben shared one moment that perfectly captures the impact.

A Year 4 girl was upset and dysregulated, walking through the hall with a member of staff.

There was no instruction. No prompt.

She stepped to the side… and started jumping.

Five or six jumps. Walked forward. Stopped again. Jumped again.

Then carried on.

“There was no prompt from staff… she just did it herself.”

She had regulated herself.

“You could just see it… she’d done what she needed to do.”

“Those are the moments… they might seem small, but for our students, they’re huge.”

Ben described it best:

“It’s starting to get drip fed into the culture.”

What’s next?

“We’re just getting started really.”

Next steps include:

embedding lunchtime provision further
developing classroom regulation spaces
increasing access to equipment
continuing to build staff confidence

There are also plans to celebrate progress alongside other schools in Devon.

Final reflection

Pathfield’s story isn’t about a programme being delivered.

It’s about a team who understand their young people deeply, taking an idea and shaping it into something that works for them.

“It’s about finding what helps each child… and giving them the chance to use it.”

And sometimes, that starts with something as simple as a jump.

We want to say a huge thank you to Ben Copp and the whole team at Pathfield School.

The care, thought and consistency they show every single day for their young people is truly inspiring.

We would also like to thank Active Devon for being a key partner in the Devon RISE Up programme and for their commitment to improving outcomes for young people across the region.