Reduce screen time and keep children moving

Activated OSHC is a free professional learning and accreditation program that empowers educators to meet evidence-based guidelines for screen time and active play. OSHC consultant Lucy Harberts sat down with Carol Maher, Professor of Population Health at University of South Australia and the lead researcher on the project, to talk about impacts and how services can get involved. 

 

As a children’s health researcher with a background in physiotherapy and a PHD in exercise for children with disabilities, Carol brought her problem-solving mind to parenthood. 

 

So, when she and a friend were discussing the huge difference between how much screen time and movement their children got at different OSHC services, she realised there was a big gap. 

 

‘Why is all the research focusing on children in schools, when OSHC is there and caring for a really large number of children?’ 

 

An initial research project in Adelaide confirmed what Carol suspected use of physical play and screen time varied wildly between OSHC programs. Next, Carol and her team conducted extensive consultation with sector stakeholders to determine what kind of guidelines made sense. 

 

But Carol and the team understood that guidelines alone aren’t always helpful.  

 

‘We’ve heard loud and clear that a lot of the OSHC sector workforce is transient, casual and can’t be attending paid in-service training or professional learning. For those reasons, we’ve created free online training modules for the staff, which are quite short and can be undertaken in little chunks.’ 

 

Once a service manager or leader signs up on behalf of their service, educators can start completing modules at their own pace. To earn the official accreditation, services need to submit a policy on physical activity and screen time that meets the guidelines and ensure at least half of their OSHC team have completed the training modules. 

 

Before School Care, After School Care and Vacation Care services are all eligible to access Activated OSHC. 

 

‘The service receives the accreditation, but the individual will be certified as completing the training. If an individual moves to another service, they can take this certification along to the next service,’ Carol explains. 

 

Why movement and screen time matters 

 

Playing and being active is so good for kids in terms of physical, social, emotional and cognitive health. Moving our bodies is incredibly beneficial to all facets of our life.

 

While the physical activity guidelines are generally well received, Carol says agreeing on screen time guidelines was more complicated. 

 

‘There’s quite a decent percentage of OSHC services that don’t offer screens at all, and they are quite proud of that. Then there are OSHC services that do use screen time and really like it. They say that if the kids were at home they’d be using screens,’ Carol says. 

 

‘The guidelines have tried to find a balance. We have upper limits of how much screen time we recommend offering, but offering less is great.’ 

 

Studies show that too much recreational screen time can have a range of negative effects on physical, social and psychological outcomes for children and takes away from time that they could be physically active. 

 

The guidelines 

 

• Before School Care: At least 45 minutes for energetic play and no more than 30 minutes of screen time. 
• After School Care: At least 90 minutes for energetic play and no more than 60 minutes of screen time. 
• Vacation Care: At least 2 hours for energetic play and no more than 2 hours of screen time.

 

How services benefit from Activated OSHC 

 

Carol says that early results of the Activated OSHC trial have been overwhelmingly positive. 

 

‘Just over half of the services that got access to our program became successfully accredited,’ Carol says. 

 

‘We know that when services signup for the program, and progress through, they are far more likely to meet the guidelines for physical activity and screen time in their OSHC service.’ 

 

‘Of the services that became Activated OSHC accredited, we saw a 40% reduction in their Before School Care screen time and a 30% reduction in their After School Care screen time. We saw a 20% increase in their Before School Care activity and 6% increase in the After School Care physical activity. And overall, they were far more likely to meet the guidelines if engaged and accredited in Activated OSHC.’ 

 

Jessica, an OSHC coordinator whose service participated, said the program had a transformative impact. ‘The change in our children has been incredible. There’s been a real shift in their energy levels, and we feel more connected to them as staff members.’ 

 

Lucy Harbert is a Professional Support Consultant specialising in sector development within the outside school hours care (OSHC) sector.

 

Lucy is a committed advocate for a strong and thriving community-based OSHC sector, bringing over 30 years of experience in the field. Her career encompasses leadership roles in managing services for both the school and local government sectors, tertiary teaching, and supporting advocacy efforts within the OSHC sector.

 

Lucy understands the vital role OSHC services play in the lives of children and families, recognising that OSHC educators are key to fostering connections and supporting local communities. Whilst working for CCC, her role focusses on support and development of the community sector.

 

Lucy specialises in facilitating sustainable relationships, networking, communities of practice, co-design, sustainable governance structures, flourishing service viability, program planning, and advocacy. Recently, Lucy completed a Permaculture Design Certificate and is an active member of local community groups, further advancing her volunteer work in the sustainable community sector.    

 

Professor Carol Maher is the Dean of Research, University of South Australia 

 

Carol is a Research Professor and the Director of the Alliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), a thriving research centre with over 120 members at UniSA. At the heart of her work is a strong desire to impact everyday activities like physical activity, sleep, and sedentary behaviours, to positively influence children’s and adults’ health. 

 

For more information on Activated OSCH visit here.