From the Classroom to the Playground: Unlocking the Collective Power of Education and Sport: Integration of Sport, Play and Physical Activity for Inclusive, Quality Education

19 August 2026 16:00 - 17:30

Background
Despite longstanding and growing evidence that physical activity, play, and sport improve child development, wellbeing, and learning, the education and sport sectors continue to operate largely in parallel. As a result, education systems often miss critical opportunities to harness the combined strengths of both sectors to improve educational outcomes while advancing broader health, social, protection, and development goals.

Research consistently demonstrates that physical activity and sport enhance academic performance while simultaneously improving physical health, mental wellbeing, social-emotional development, and essential life skills. Movement is fundamental to cognitive functioning; when children move, they strengthen the neurological, emotional, and social foundations that make learning possible.

The Education Above All (EAA) Foundation’s Educate A Child (EAC) programme’s portfolio demonstrates that embedding sport, active play, and intentional movement into education programs transforms physical activity into a core driver of educational access, retention, and academic performance. In emergency, displacement, and marginalised settings, structured play serves as a stabilising mechanism—fostering peer inclusion, offering protective routines, and building a sense of safety. Across 23 partner projects, this integrated model has driven the enrollment of over 4.3 million out-of-school children (OOSC) and safeguarded nearly 27,000 at-risk students from dropping out."

Maintaining sport and physical activity as separate from the classroom and school, or removing them and treating them as a discretionary extra when concerns arise about academic performance and/or funding levels, diminishes the impact of the full educational experience. Building inclusive, resilient education systems requires bridging institutional silos and leveraging sport, play, and physical activity as mutually reinforcing investments for holistic foundational learning.

Objectives
In this webinar, the Education Above All Foundation, through its Educate A Child (EAC) programme, aims to:

• Build a Shared Understanding of the Integral Links Between Education and Sport: Examine evidence and frameworks demonstrating how integrating sport, active play, and physical activity strengthens educational access, retention, learning outcomes, and whole-child development.
• Showcase Evidence-Based, Practical Models: Highlight concrete operational approaches from partners utilising play-based learning, inclusive education, targeted interventions for children and adolescents, and sports for protection across diverse settings.
• Bridge Sectoral Silos: Encourage dialogue among policymakers, education stakeholders, and sport organisations to integrate physical activity into education systems and policy frameworks.
• Explore Enablers for Scaling & Sustainability: Identify policy, institutional, and partnership enablers needed to scale integrated education and sport programming for the most vulnerable and marginalised learners.

Date: Wednesday 19 August 2026

Time: 16:00 GMT +3

Venue: Zoom

Registration: Register Here