Table 1 The implementation strategies of PACE and their dose delivered and adhered to by schools

Centralize technical assistance and Provide ongoing consultation

Project officers (qualified as both a PE teacher and health promotion practitioner) provided technical assistance and ongoing consultation, including: telephone, email or in-person, to schools for the duration of the intervention period. This included supporting in-school champions to overcome barriers (by means of providing expert opinion as well as school-specific brain stormed solutions); and reviewing progress of the schools implementation plan and – if necessary – modification and re-setting of goals.

100 (100%)

88 (88%)

Mandate change

The following components were undertaken by project officers to help schools mandate change and support their implementation of the physical activity policy:

• A meeting with school principals and executives to highlight the importance of the policy

100 (100%)

99 (99%)

• A request to school principals and executives to illustrate their support of the policy and communicate their expectations to the wider school community

N/A

58 (58%)

• Support to schools to develop or amend their physical activity policy

100 (100%)

100 (100%)^a

Identify and prepare champions

Each school nominated up to three in-school champions (existing teachers at the school) who drove the implementation of classroom physical activity in their school. In-school champions were the primary source of contact with project officers, who supported them to overcome school indifference and/or resistance that PACE may have provoked. In-school champions were encouraged to serve as role models to other school staff by engaging in the desired behaviours themselves.

100 (100%)

100 (100%)

A one-day in-person training session, consisting of instructional and practical components, was delivered by project officers to in-school champions. Instructional learning included (a) education about the policy and the importance of physical activity for children, and (b) time to develop action plans requiring the identification of barriers/ facilitators to implementation and possible solutions to overcome these via an “if-then-what” plan. Practical learning included instruction and active participation in energisers, integrated lessons and examples of sport/PE lessons. Training was accredited by the state educational authority and provided contributed to teacher’s continuing professional development hours.

100 (100%)

100 (100%)

Develop a formal implementation blueprint

In-school champions were supported to develop a plan for the implementation of the policy in their school. The plan identified what the school aimed to specifically achieve, the strategies to do so, the resources available or required to implement the plan, and a timeline. Plans were broken into four school terms (over the course of one school year) to break up some of the more complex policy requirements into achievable tasks for in-school champions.

100 (100%)

100 (100%)^a

Conduct educational outreach visits

Project officers or trained in-school champions conducted an in-person session with all teachers during a regular school staff meeting. During this session they:

• Introduced the in-school champion(s) and communicated their role as the main point of contact and support for their school implementing the policy;

• Provided information and education about the policy with a deliberate aim to reframe teachers’ perception of the policy from one that “adds to teacher load” to one that is “easily integrated into existing routines”.

• Provided verbal persuasion about teachers capability to implement the policy;

• Instructed and demonstrated examples of physical activity that teachers could incorporate into their classroom plan, such as energisers and PE lessons;

• Prompted habit formation for some of the physical activity practices.

100 (100%)

78 (78%)

Develop and distribute educational materials

An “intervention manual” was provided to In-school champions. The manual included recourses they could use including, policy and timetable templates, exemplar physical activity timetables and PE curriculum schedules.

100 (100%)

100 (100%)

Educational materials were provided to classroom teachers in the form of print and via the online portal, Such materials included practical games and strategies for increasing physical activity in lessons.

100 (100%)

94 (94%)

The online portal also included professional learning videos that could be accessed by all teachers (including in-school champions). These videos reinforced the information received via the in-person educational outreach training.

100 (100%)

47 (47%)

Capture and share local knowledge

In-school champions were provided access to case studies from other schools. These case studies described examples of success stories from schools, explaining how in-school champions and teachers had overcome frequently reported barriers to implement the policy in their school. These case studies were part of the professional learning materials made available via the online portal.

100 (100%)

47 (47%)

Change physical structure and equipment

A general physical activity equipment pack was provided to each school by project officers – distributed to in-school champions at the one-day in-school champion training workshop. Equipment packs contained items to facilitate classroom physical activity, with examples including: balls, bean bags, “activity” cards. Examples of how these items could be used by classroom teachers were demonstrated at the in-school champion training day and via videos on the online portal.

100 (100%)

100 (100%)

In-school champions were asked to support the development of classroom physical activity packs for all classrooms.

100 (100%)

38 (38%)