Previous research has highlighted the importance of positive physical activity (PA) behaviors during childhood to promote sustained active lifestyles throughout the lifespan (Doolittle & Rukavina, 2014; Telama et al., 2005; 2014). It is in this context that the role of schools and teachers in facilitating PA education is promoted. Research suggests that teachers play an important role in the attitudes of children towards PA (Figley 1985) and schools may be an efficient vehicle for PA provision and promotion (McGinnis, Kanner and DeGraw, 1991; Wechsler, Deveraux, Davis and Collins, 2000). Yet despite consensus that schools represent an ideal setting from which to ‘reach’ young people (Department of Health and Human Services, UK, 2012) there remains conceptual  and methodological ambiguity regarding the mechanisms of change claimed by school based PA intervention programmes. This may, in part, contribute to research findings that suggest that PA interventions have had limited impact on children’s overall activity levels and thereby limited impact in improving children’s metabolic health (Metcalf, Henley & Wilkin, 2012).

Despite long standing public policy and pedagogical models that have aligned physical education curricula with positive PA behaviors, recent research has moved beyond schools as “walled in” institutions (Lawson, 2012), to address the multiple spaces in which young people learn about health and PA. This change, in part, maybe the result of a narrow focus of PA behavioural change outcomes wihch fails to acknowledge the impact of a wider context in influencing health outcomes (Golden & Earp, 2011). This is particularly relevant for school based interventions which has seen a shift  from theoretical models emphasising individual motivational readiness, to a social-ecological model which places a greater importance on the myriad social, physical, and policy environments that influence sustained positive behavior change (Buchan, Ollis, Thomas, & Baker, 2012; Owen, Leslie, Salmon and Fotheringham, 2000; Sallis and Owen, 2004). The interrelationship between these impacting variables acknowledges the connections between the school and the local community in facilitating PA behavioral change. 

In this study, a socio-ecological framework was used to evaluate a multi-agency approach to a PA intervention programme which aimed to increase physical activity, and awareness of the importance of PAto key stage 2 (age 7-12) pupils in three UK primary schools. The agencies involved in the programme administration and intervention design were the local health authority, a community based charitable organisation, a local health administrative agency, and the city school district. In examining the impact of the intervention, we adopted both a process evaluation model (Baranowski & Jago, 2005) and Logic Model (W.K. Kellogg Foundation, 2001) in order to better understand the mechanisms and context that facilitated change. Therefore, the aim of this evaluation was to describe the provision, process and impact of the intervention by addressing two fundamental questions: 1) what are the causal relationships between programme and outcomes, and 2) in what way do situational factors interact with the programme and how do these interactions impact outcomes. 

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