The CicStart Framework is designed to guide all football provision for children aged 7-11 in primary and Additional Learning Needs (ALN) schools across Wales.

Developed in partnership with the Youth Sport Trust, the framework supports deliverers in facilitating fun, safe, positive and inclusive football opportunities as part of a multi-sport offer.

CicStart aims to ensure a more inclusive, consistent, and collaborative delivery approach, with a clear focus on participation, learning, and development. You can view and download the framework below.

At the heart of the CicStart Framework are five key pillars that ensure football delivery remains inclusive, development-focused, and enjoyable:

1. Game Values – Encouraging fun, safety, inclusivity, learning, and child-centred experiences.
2. Game Principles – Ensuring football activities are developmentally appropriate using relevant models and tools.
3. Game Settings – Integrating football within curriculum-based learning, extra-curricular activities, and school sports.
4. Game Formats – Introducing diverse formats like recreational play, intra-class games, inter-school matches, and football festivals.
5. Game Approaches – Using innovative game approaches such as role diversity, skill scores, game guarantees, power plays, and digital interaction to make football more engaging and impactful.

The framework’s key goals include:

1. Increasing participation: Making football the top participated sport amongst boys and girls in Welsh primary and ALN schools, with clear signposting to local grassroots opportunities.
2. Empowering deliverers: Creating a skilled and confident workforce equipped to deliver high-quality school football provision.
3. Ensuring quality: Successfully implementing the framework to ensure a consistent collaborative that focuses on participation, enjoyment and development.  
4. Promoting advocacy: Highlighting football’s role in education to enhance health, wellbeing, and physical literacy.
5. Enhancing education: Contributing to the New Curriculum for Wales, using football to develop children’s integral skills through extra-curricular and school- sport provision.

To support the successful implementation of the framework, the FAW is offering a range of resources, including webinars, downloadable resources, training opportunities to upskill educators, ongoing consultation, in addition to free session plans and activities on the FAW’s Coach Cymru platform.

The FAW invites schools, coaches, and sports organisations across Wales to adopt the CicStart Framework and contribute to shaping the future of school football.

By embedding this framework into school activities, educators and deliverers can ensure football remains a fun, inclusive, and developmental experience for all children.