Staff profile

Dr Clare Roscoe


Associate Professor in Physical Activity and Health

Clare Roscoe

Subject

Sport and Exercise Science

College

College of Science and Engineering

Department

School of Human Sciences

Research centre

Human Sciences Research Centre

ORCiD ID

0000-0002-8146-8531

Campus

Kedleston Road, Derby Campus

Email

c.roscoe@derby.ac.uk

About

I am an Associate Professor in Physical Activity, Nutrition and Health and Deputy Programme Lead for BSc Physical Activity, Nutrition and Health and BA Sport Education programmes.

As part of my role, I have previously been involved with the 'Derby A City on the Move' project. This project was funded by Sport England and aimed to encourage inactive people in Derby to take part in sport. The project involved a variety of partnerships working together to ensure this project was successful, including the University of Derby, Derby City Council, Sporting Futures, Derby County Community Trust, Derby College and Derby City Council - Livewell.

My primary research interests are within the area of motor competence in children and physical activity across the lifespan. I was involved with colleagues from England, Ireland Scotland and Wales in creating the first national expert statement on ‘Motor competence amongst children in the United Kingdom and Ireland’, on behalf of the International Motor Development Research Consortium. This research is imperative in supporting the importance of physical activity and motor competence for children and aligns to the UoD Biomedical theme through observing children’s movement and helping to prevent poor health. My research has provided evidence that motor competence proficiency is not at an adequate level in children within English schools. Therefore, providing key evidence for the National Curriculum to focus more on motor competence in children in the UK. I am currently working on a motor competence review with colleagues from England, Ireland, Scotland, Portugal, Australia, Belgium and I view these key collaborations as imperative to further progress the field of motor competence for the health and wellbeing of children worldwide. Additionally, I have a great passion for research, and this covers any aspect of physical activity, for example, working with children and adults across the lifespan and more recently I completed work for Public Health England (now UK Health Security Agency and Office for Health Improvement and Disparities) on ‘Addressing and understanding inequalities in physical activity’. Finally, my research seeks to explore intervention design and assess the impact and implementation of physical activity and motor competence interventions. 

Research interests

My main research interests lie within the field of physical activity levels and fundamental movement skills in preschool children. I completed my PhD in this area and looked at the Physical Activity and Fundamental Movement Skills of British Preschool Children. As part of my PhD, I carried out research into calibrating the GENEActiv accelerometers for use with preschool children. I have also performed research to determine the physical activity levels of preschool children during the week and weekend days, whilst also determining the fundamental movement skills of preschool children. I have worked on a project across primary schools in Warwickshire where we assessed the children's fundamental movement skills (FMS), anthropometric measures and other variables to monitor them in relation to the FMS requirements of the national curriculum. I am also actively involved in research around inequalities in physical activity and the impact of physical activity on individuals with cancer.

Recent publications

Membership of professional bodies

Professional interests

I have previously worked in further education for 11 years, teaching sport and exercise science and fitness courses. I worked up to the position of Curriculum Manager whilst also studying part-time for my PhD. I then changed further education institutions, teaching on a Foundation Degree programme in Sports Science for Coaching and Performance.

Qualifications

Recent conferences

In the media

International experience

I am currently working on a two papers in collaboration with colleagues from England, Ireland, Scotland, Belgium, Australia, Italy and Portugal on a motor competency paper on typically developing children and a second on children with neurodevelopmental disorders. This is in addition to the work published on: Motor Competence Among Children in the United Kingdom and Ireland: An Expert Statement on Behalf of the International Motor Development Research Consortium.

Teaching responsibilities

My teaching responsibilities include:

Additional interests and activities

I love road cycling, it is a great passion of mine.

A small child in a yellow tee-shirt and green wellies jumping in front of a grey stucco wall

Dr Clare Roscoe, Senior Lecturer in Physical Activity and Health at the University of Derby, talks about what we can do to encourage children to get active during lockdown.