BUCS Sport Development Strategy

Transcription

1 BUCS Sport Development Strategy Supported by:

2 Introduction BUCS Sport Development Strategy for England This strategy is designed to provide detail to all BUCS members and stakeholders involved in higher education sport of how the work of the BUCS sport development team aims to continue to support the growth and development of student participation in sport at university. Since sport development was incorporated as a part of BUCS role within the HE sector in January 2010, thanks to the relationship with Sport England, there have been many positive outcomes achieved. BUCS has: Facilitated and supported the development of a genuine partnership between BUCS, Sport England and the higher education sector through the successful delivery of the outcomes identified within the HE and community sport partnership plan. Established the sport development function as a key part of the BUCS offer to English member institutions, demonstrated by the profile it has received in the new BUCS Organisational Strategy. Enhanced the representation of HE sport with many national partners and stakeholders. Facilitated enhanced, broader relationships between BUCS, the HE sector and National Governing Bodies of Sport (NGBs) Delivered specific support to institutions looking to develop their sporting offer through strategic planning for sport, enhanced participation opportunities, volunteering and leadership programmes and relationships with community sport partners. Enhanced the sharing of best practice across the sector through increasing the professional networking opportunities and developing specific tools and events to support engagement. During this period of delivery, the national landscape surrounding HE sport has changed significantly. The full extent of the impact on HE sport from these landscape changes is still largely unknown, though we have seen some institutions suffering large reductions in the resources available to sport through cuts to both delivery budgets and staffing resource. The HE white paper on finance and regulation Students at the heart of the system has placed significant pressure on all institutions to deliver a high quality student experience. What will vary from institution to institution is the significance of the role sport plays in delivering that experience. Within this new landscape and as a result of the new fee structure the organisational objectives of institutions are changing, now focussing consistently on: High quality student experience Enhanced graduate employability Increased profile within the local community Enhanced recruitment and retention of students

3 It would unrealistic in this climate to expect universities to place sport as a key organisational objective in their strategies alongside these. It is the responsibility of BUCS to continue making the case for sport as a key tool for achieving these objectives within any organisational strategy. There have been significant changes also in the sporting landscape, more of which are expected after the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The new Sport England strategy for A sporting habit for life focuses 60% of the NGB investment on year olds and includes a sum of 25m ring fenced for higher education for the first time. The reference to a potential second round of funding directly into universities similar to Active Universities funding is another significant inclusion for the HE sector, but is dependent on the successful delivery of the Active Universities projects, demonstrating an increase in HE student participation. These developments within the national sporting landscape are largely to the potential benefit of HE sport and represent an opportunity for institutions to extend relationships and delivery. Broad Objectives of Strategy The role of the BUCS sport development team during this strategy period will be to facilitate a growth in HE student participation in sport through: Advocating for, and influencing, the role of sport within HE and of HE within sport. Continued/enhanced engagement with HEIs at all appropriate levels, particularly with Directors of Sport and senior managers. Increased opportunity to advocate nationally for sport and its impact on organisational objectives at Vice Chancellor Level Support institutions to make the business case for sport internally Utilise engagement with members to accurately inform and support relationships with external partners. Continue to reinforce and enhance the existing positive relationship between BUCS, Sport England and the HE sector in England. To successfully develop from being an England only development team to working to deliver development services across the BUCS membership (UK wide) through developing relationships with Sport Scotland, Sport Wales and Sport Northern Ireland (as appropriate funding becomes available). Developing mutually beneficial relationships between NGBs and the HE sector Support NGB planning processes for development within HE Consult with NGBs looking to develop new sector specific tools and interventions Broker meaningful, mutually beneficial relationships between NGBs and institutions Communicate opportunities to engage within these three processes widely across the sector to maximise awareness and buy in within the sector.

4 Support HEIs to develop their sporting offer, and the sharing of best practice. Consultation on development of strategies and delivery plans for sport. Acting as a conduit for development opportunities beneficial to the sector Sharing best practice through a multitude of forums Developing and supporting the workforce delivering student sport Promoting positive engagement with Community Sport for the benefit of students Developing new participation opportunities for students on campus (sharing the outcomes of Active Universities across the sector) Providing guidance and support mechanisms that are needs driven and accessible across the breadth of the BUCS membership

5 Advocacy & Influence Voicing the impact of sport within higher education and the contribution of higher education to the sporting landscape. One of the key objectives for the sport development team moving forward in the new landscape of HE sport will be to support institutions to make a case for university sport to stakeholders and partners both within the university and externally. Internally, Vice Chancellors, Management teams and the Board of Governors have been identified as key stakeholders as well as the student s union; whilst externally National Sport Councils, National Partners, local authorities, facility providers and other educational establishments have also been identified. Any advocacy and influencing role will have to build on the current success of our member engagement, as in any external relationships we will need to ensure that we are accurately representing the views of the sector. In advocating for the inclusion of sport within the Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR) the sport development team coordinated a group of sector representatives with expertise and interest in the HEAR and went about developing the appropriate criteria. We aim to replicate this level of engagement where appropriate as we move forward, consulting with members on an individual, regional and national basis to utilise the expertise that exists within the sector. Internally Advocating sport with Vice Chancellors has been an objective of BUCS since it was formed in 2008, and with the theme for UUK Universities Week 2012 being sport, a landscape that currently lends itself to such engagement and a very supportive BUCS Board, the opportunity to engage proactively at this level seems greater currently than it has ever been. The role of the sport development team in this advocacy will be to engage with Vice Chancellors and UUK on a project level to raise the profile of sport within them. For example the work we have recently been doing with the Burgess Implementation Steering Group (BISG) to develop guidelines for the inclusion of sport within the Higher Education Achievement Report. Raising the profile of sport within important projects such as this and the National Students Survey will provide some national advocacy for the impact of sport on wider organisational objectives and bring sport to the attention of more Vice Chancellors. There is also a role for the sport development team to play in supporting university staff to make the case for sport to their Vice Chancellors and other stakeholders. Through the sharing of research and evidence that demonstrates the positive impact of sport on different organisational objectives such as graduate employability and student experience BUCS aims to support that local engagement.

6 Externally Advocating the role of the HE sector in community sport and influencing its profile within partners plans and activities is again something that the sport development team aim to continue developing during the course of this strategy. It will again be important to the value of these relationships that BUCS engages effectively with the HE sector to inform our representation of the sector and ensure that we are utilising the available expertise in institutions for the benefit of the wider sector. One successful example of these relationships benefiting the sector is the BUCS relationship with sports coach UK (scuk), where higher education sport (through the BUCS workforce and coaching advisory group) is now represented on the scuk National Coaching Advisory Group, voicing the needs of the sector within strategic discussions. These influential relationships with national partners will also be beneficial to the internal relationships, since they could support in the provision of research and expertise in making the case for sport with internal stakeholders. Engagement with Directors of Sport Influence with External Partners Advocacy with Vice Chancellors Key Objectives 1. Continued engagement with members through professional development events, regional executives and other member groups and communication tools. 2. Make the case for sport with UUK and vice chancellors through direct engagement opportunities to include sport within projects investigating achievement of organisational outcomes. 3. Support institutions to make the case for sport internally through sharing research and evidence from across the sector 4. Work with the sector to identify and influence external national sporting partners to work with and raise the profile of HE sport within their strategies and delivery plans 5. Work with British institutions to make the case for national investment from Home Nation Sport Councils to extend the sport development offer across the UK

7 National Governing Body Relationships Embedding higher education as a permanent fixture within the delivery plans of NGBs This work area has been a key success of the sport development team in the first three years of delivery, with relationships successfully supporting 21 NGBs to deliver interventions within the HE sector as part of their Whole Sport Plans (WSP) These relationships were brokered and supported by the Sport England HE/FE team and have seen additional support and resources delivered across the sector through enhanced relationships between the NGB and institutions. With confirmation that 60% of NGB investment through WSP will be focused on the age group, and for the first time 25 million has been ring fenced for NGB delivery within HE, the profile of the sector within NGB WSPs will undoubtedly increase during this plan. It is estimated that the number of NGBs identifying the HE sector as a key partner in achieving its growth is likely to increase from 21 currently to around 35 from April 2013 onwards; which will have significant resource implications for BUCS Sport Development Team moving forwards. BUCS support to NGBs during the initial 3 years has focused on the following three areas: Strategic planning o Eg England Golf o Supporting the planning process for the NGB with sector specific expertise and the ability to sense check their ambitions for the sector o Provide strategic links to the Sports Advisory Groups (SAGs) within BUCS that strategise and deliver their sport on behalf of BUCS within the sector Product/Intervention consultation o Eg England Hockey Board o Consultation with BUCS and the sector when developing a new product or intervention to deliver their strategic outcomes in HE Brokering relationships with the sector o Eg Volleyball England o Supporting the NGB to market their product or intervention within the sector, and brokering new relationships with institutions to mutual benefit. This offer from the BUCS sport development team has proved to be successful and of value to NGBs to date. This offer is also supported by other departments within BUCS, with the Sport Programme team working with many of these NGBs to deliver BUCS competitions and events. Linking this offer to the BUCS strategy for each sport and Sport Advisory Groups (SAGs) has also enabled a greater continuity between development activity and university competitions where appropriate. In order to communicate this offer effectively to NGBs we have developed a document Sport England and BUCS offer to NGBs working in HE from the work BUCS has supported during the WSPs.

8 Building on the success of this offer to date, BUCS sport development team will continue to support NGBs in the same way for their plans, with them able to engage support at one or more of the three tiers of support. With the expected increase in the number of NGBs working in the sector, it will be critical to support this offer with regular communications across the sector, inviting institutions to engage as is appropriate and informing them as NGBs are in a position to broker new relationships. BUCS Business (fortnightly newsletter) and the BUCS Regional Executives will be the communication tools for achieving this engagement, as has proved successful to date. Key Objectives 1. Effective engagement with NGB partners identifying HE as a sector for growth and/or retention of participants 2. Deliver the BUCS offer to provide appropriate support to the development of new and existing opportunities within HE. 3. Engage effectively with English institutions to support the development of NGB HE offers and communicate opportunities 4. Provide engagement opportunities for both NGBs and HEIs to develop relationships that support the growth of sport within higher education 5. Facilitate mutually beneficial relationships between NGBs and HEIs based on shared objectives and agreed capacity.

9 Supporting HEIs BUCS as a catalyst for growth and conduit for opportunities within higher education sport. Since coming into post at the start of 2010, the support that BUCS sport development team have been able to deliver to institutions has significantly increased. An initial offer of support to a few targeted universities identified through the Sport England HE audit enabled us to support specific projects like the development of a new sport strategy, a new intramural sport programme or a new sport volunteering programme which generated models of good practice that we could share across the sector. We have also engaged with national partners such as Sports Coach UK, Sports Leaders UK and runningsports to develop sector tools and training opportunities to support institutions. Whilst we have developed some key successes from working with institutions in a focused manner, there is a need to develop more toolkits and support packages that can be implemented without significant BUCS officer support, enabling the work of the sport development team to impact upon the broader membership. We have successfully been able to highlight and promote best practice where it exists around the sector, but moving forward there is the opportunity to more proactively link institutions to successful models as a source of support. Alongside this very direct level of support that we have been able to offer we have developed a programme of high quality professional development events. These provide institution staff with the opportunity to come together with sector colleagues to hear from expert partners and each other on specific development areas. The different events promote the sharing of best practice across the sector, discussion about challenges and opportunities and engagement with experts from outside of the sector. Feedback from members indicates that these opportunities are particularly valued, and the further development of this programme should be a key priority moving forward. The Development Day Programme at BUCS now includes specific events run by the development team such as the Coaching and Workforce, Increasing Participation and the NGB Showcase events, as well as an increased profile and presence at the previously existing development days, BUCS National Conference and the Senior Managers Networking Events. For the first time BUCS aims to produce a calendar of these events and opportunities for members for the academic year 2012/13. To engage with members and consult specifically on the workforce needs of the sector, BUCS have established the Workforce and Coaching Advisory Group. This group aims to provide insight to the challenges and needs of the sector in this complex area whilst engaging with the appropriate workforce partners. There is further work required to provide adequate support for HEIs for the development of officials, coaches and volunteers to support activity.

10 Key Objectives: 1. Provide and advertise a programme of relevant, high quality and accessible CPD opportunities for university staff and students responsible for delivering an increase in participation in sport within the HE sector. 2. Consult with members on the specific support required by institutions to grow sports participation on campus; including: a. Strategy, planning and policy b. Club development c. Participation d. Workforce and coaching e. Officiating and volunteering f. Marketing and promotion 3. Engage with the appropriate national partners to provide expert guidance specifically for the HE sector through the provision of specific support and sector tools and interventions. 4. Promote and signpost opportunities, funding and tools from external partners as well as best practice from across the sector to promote growth in participation, acting as a conduit for support to institutions.