Dear Parent / Guardian

Sheffield Hallam University would like to inform you about research taking place at your child’s school 
to evaluate the impact of a new programme to improve students’ experiences of PE and physical 
activity. This programme is currently being offered to all secondary schools in England by Sport 
England and the Secondary Teacher Training Consortium. The research project asks students and staff to complete a short on-line survey before the start and at the end of the project that asks their opinion of the Physical education, physical activity and sport opportunities available to them at school. 
The University undertakes research as part of its function for the community under its legal status. 
Data protection allows us to use personal data for research with appropriate safeguards in place under the legal basis of public tasks that are in the public interest.  A full statement of your rights can be found at https://www.shu.ac.uk/about-this-website/privacy-policy/privacy-notices/privacy-noticefor-research.  However, all University research is reviewed to ensure that participants are treated appropriately, and their rights respected.  This study has been approved by the University Research Ethics Committee, with the Converis number ER15365244. All data from the study is anonymous and your child’s data will be combined with those of many others 
and summarised in a report to further protect anonymity.  A “prefer not to say” option is included for 
any demographic question should you prefer not to disclose this information.  Your child’s school will 
receive a report detailing the data that is inputted into the survey, however, any demographic 
information that is collected will not be included and the identification of individuals from the data 
will not be possible.  Sport England and the Secondary Teacher Training Consortium will also receive 
regular reports detailing the results of the survey from all schools across the country.  Again, these are fully anonymised, and no individual will be identifiable. 
The survey will be administered once at the beginning of the research and again at the end to 
document any change in response.  The research will take place between June 2019 and July 2021, 
data will be kept by Sheffield Hallam University for a period of five years after the completion of the 
project before being destroyed. In addition to being involved in completing survey’s, your child’s school may be chosen to take part in some small workshops that would take place in school time.  Further information will be provided if and when your school is chosen. 
If you would like your child to not to participate in the research study, please inform your school and 
discuss with your child.  You will also be required to give your consent for us to use your response in 
the research, this will be done by ticking a box on the survey. 
Please note that your child’s non-participation in the study will not result in any negative influence of 
participation in comparison to their peers. It will mean that they will not participate in the survey and 
workshops should your child’s school be chosen.    
If you would like any further information, please see the attached information sheet or please get in 
contact with Tim Vernon (details below).   
Best wishes, 
Tim Vernon  
Senior Research Fellow, Sheffield Hallam University   
STTEvaluation@shu.ac.uk  0114 2255761 
 
You should contact the Data Protection Officer if: 
 
• you have a query about how your data is used by the University

• you would like to report a data security breach (e.g. if you think your personal data has been lost or disclosed inappropriately)

• you would like to complain about how the University has used your personal data DPO@shu.ac.uk 
You should contact the Head of Research Ethics (Professor Ann Macaskill) if: you have concerns with how the research was undertaken or how you were treated, a.macaskill@shu.ac.uk 
 
Postal address:  Sheffield Hallam University, Howard Street, Sheffield S1 1WBT Telephone: 0114 225 5555 

Please use the link below to access the student survey:

https://www.sircsurveys.com/f/1418034/fbc2/?LQID=1&SHUID=165&Student_Pre=Yes