The Daily Mile with NHS Norwich CCG

Norwich teachers, pupils and parents explain why The Daily Mile has become such an integral part of their lives and explain the health and wellbeing benefits of this simple, fun and free initiative taking place in primary and nursery schools around the world.

Press Release: Holland’s miles ahead already: “The Daily Mile” founder calls on the UK Government to help schools make running part of childhood again

  • Former Pride of Britain Teacher of the Year winner Elaine Wyllie is today celebrating the national launch of her “The Daily Mile” school running initiative across Holland, and calling on Westminster to catch up with Scotland, Belgium and the Netherlands in formally committing to help English schools get their children running daily- as recommended in their own recent Childhood Obesity Strategy
  • The movement to encourage schools to take children outside to run for 15 minutes each day has been adopted there as a logical, proactive and positive approach to increasing childhood activity, and reducing childhood obesity levels.
  • The baton has been taken up by the Government-supported JOGG (translated as “Children at a Healthy Weight”) organisation to spread The Daily Mile initiative across the country, championed by Dutch speed skater and sporting legend Erben Wennemars.
  • Holland is the latest country to adopt The Daily Mile, following a commitment by the Scottish Government to roll out the scheme throughout Scotland, and a fast-growing national Daily Mile movement in Belgium supported by Olympian Tia Hellebaut. Schools around the world are now taking part, with many local and devolved Governments taking interest in the simple, profoundly effective wellbeing intervention.

Today, award winning former head teacher Elaine Wyllie, founder of The Daily Mile initiative, is celebrating the launch of her primary school running initiative across Holland.

The Dutch JOGG organisation (concerned with keeping the country’s “Children at a Healthy Weight”)- which is co-funded by the Dutch government, charities and commercial donations- has adopted The Daily Mile as a key means of helping children get outside and active every day. Today’s formal launch will raise awareness of the initiative, inviting schools across the country to join the scores of primaries already taking part.

Dutch wold champion speed skater and national legend Erben Wennemars is  spearheading the campaign, featured today on national TV as he runs with children at the De Toermalijn school in Rotterdam. He says, “The Daily Mile is a strong initiative that schools can pick up very easily- I’m very confident that a lot of schools in The Netherlands will join The Daily Mile movement. Each day provides a chance to go outside, get some fresh air and walk or run for fifteen minutes. No fuss, just go for it! I am very excited to be the Dutch ambassador for this great cause, and I cannot wait to help children get more active again.”

Elaine has fully supported the rollout, and sends her congratulations to all involved in the launch. “Today the Netherlands has taken an enormous step towards safeguarding not only the physical, but also the mental, social and emotional health and wellbeing of its children. I’m delighted to welcome the Dutch primaries into our fast-growing international community of Daily Mile schools, alongside the UK and Belgium, a feat that wouldn’t have been possible without the dedication and hard-work of the JOGG team”, she says. More information on the Dutch Daily Mile can be found at www.thedailymile.co.nl.

The Daily Mile, which encourages schools to take their pupils out to run, walk or jog outside for 15 minutes each day at a time of the teacher’s choosing, has transformed the health and wellbeing of thousands of children in the UK so far, and Elaine’s The Daily Mile Foundation hopes it will continue to do so across the globe. The concept is simple, free, and fully inclusive, with the emphasis on children having fun, self-improving, and developing a positive daily activity habit early on in their lives, regardless of sporting ability or background.

Since The Daily Mile was born at her former primary school in Scotland 4 years ago, Elaine has seen the initiative progress in leaps and bounds- with governments in Scotland, Belgium and now Holland bringing their Health and Education departments together to promote and facilitate the widespread adoption of the scheme. She says, “The Daily Mile is for children everywhere and, by acting now, Holland will ensure much better future health outcomes for their citizens. I congratulate them on their swift and decisive action and hope that other nations will decide to start The Daily Mile in their schools too.”

Since The Daily Mile was formally recommended for primary schools in the UK Government’s Childhood Obesity Strategy this summer, Elaine has called on the UK Government to similarly commit to helping schools across the country adopt the scheme, as a means of increasing activity levels, improving national wellbeing, and tackling our looming obesity crisis. On the ground, the initiative is winning universal favour with teachers, parents and children alike, and has been widely supported by health experts, with many counties, local governments and boroughs promoting The Daily Mile in their areas. Despite being free to implement, however, there has as yet been no national coordination- something which Elaine believes will make all the difference. “It’s fantastic that trailblazing countries like Holland are now taking up The Daily Mile baton”, says Elaine, “and I hope, for the health of our nation, that the UK will join the race to a healthier future sooner rather than later.”

The Daily Mile Foundation has a new website, www.thedailymile.co.uk, and is encouraging teachers and parents to register their interest, download helpful resources, and share their Daily Mile experiences. More information on The Daily Mile in action can also be found on The Daily Mile’s Facebook (www.facebook.com/thedailymile.uk) and Twitter (www.twitter.com_thedailymile) accounts.

ENDS.


 

For media enquiries, please contact The Daily Mile Foundation’s Media Agency, Media Zoo on (+44)207 384 6980, at Joseph@mediazoo.tv

The Sheriff of Nottingham’s Daily Mile Challenge

Thousands of primary pupils in Nottingham are being urged to run 100 miles over the next school year in a bid to get fit and healthy – and complete the Sheriff’s Challenge.

Credit to Nottingham City Council for the video.

The Daily Mile at Seaton Primary School

The staff at Seaton Primary School in Devon are excited to begin The Daily Mile!

Press Release: Backed by today’s Childhood Obesity Strategy, The Daily Mile founder calls on all English schools to run a mile a day

  • The Daily Mile founder and Pride of Britain Teacher of the Year Elaine Wyllie claims today’s Childhood Obesity Strategy could truly change the health of the nation- if it leads to all primary schools taking up The Daily Mile.
  • Elaine began transforming the health and wellbeing of children in 2012 when she developed The Daily Mile initiative as headteacher of St Ninian’s primary in Stirling, Scotland. It gets all children fit within 4 weeks, only takes 15 minutes desk-to-desk, and can be done at a suitable time for each teacher.
  • The scheme has since been adopted by the Scottish Government, who have committed to roll it out across all Scottish schools to become the first Daily Mile nation. There are hundreds of Daily Mile schools across England, Northern Ireland and Wales already.
  • The Daily Mile is free, measurable, simple for schools to implement and transformational in effect- it could be the legacy of the current Government’s Childhood Obesity Strategy if delivered effectively.
  • Holland has already committed to roll out The Daily Mile via its government-funded childhood obesity taskforce “JOGG”- and a similar model could be possible in England too.

Elaine Wyllie says: “I was delighted to see The Daily Mile mentioned in today’s Childhood Obesity Strategy. It has proven its worth in schools across Scotland, and will transform the health and wellbeing of primary children throughout England too, if it is adopted as part of primary schools’ daily routine. I look forward to discussing with the Government how I can best support them to spread The Daily Mile to all English primaries over the coming months.”


Elaine Wyllie, founder of The Daily Mile, has today spoken of her delight that her ground-breaking primary school running initiative has been promoted in the Government’s Childhood Obesity Strategy.

The Daily Mile was first developed by Elaine when she was headmistress of St Ninians Primary School in Stirling. It is profoundly simple – but can be transformational to children’s health and wellbeing. It involves classes heading outside to walk, jog or run around the school grounds every day, rain or shine, at whatever pace suits the child best. It gets children active with their friends and teachers, and refreshed for further learning.

 

The Daily Mile only takes 15 minutes desk-to-desk, causing minimal disruption to the school day, but has lasting effects: not only do children become fit within 4 weeks, they are also reported to concentrate better in class, eat and sleep better at home, and develop stronger bonds with their classmates and teachers, too.
Though named “The Daily Mile” (children tend to average running a mile in this time), the distance isn’t compulsory, and the ethos of the scheme is of inclusivity, enjoyment, and self-improvement over time. The Daily Mile is intended to help all children, no matter their age or personal circumstances, enjoy getting active every day- getting fitter and healthier now, but also developing healthy habits for a lifetime.

“This is what makes The Daily Mile such a valuable inclusion to the Childhood Obesity Strategy”, says Elaine. “As well as focusing on attainment through school sport, we need to ensure that all children, no matter their abilities, are supported by their schools to develop a healthy and positive relationship with physical activity- so that they are empowered to continue it in the future.”

The newly announced Childhood Obesity Strategy, as well as focusing on dietary interventions such as reducing sugar in foods, recommends that schools help children to get active for 60 minutes each day – with at least half of this timetabled within school hours. It is here that The Daily Mile can really add value as a simple, fun initiative which is free for schools to deliver, requires no specific staff training, and is sustainable in the long term.

Beyond this, the broader emphasis on health and wellbeing delivered by The Daily Mile could be the starting point for transforming other lifestyle habits contributing to childhood obesity – with many Daily Mile schools reporting that participating pupils become more aware of their diet, health and family habits.

Mile a day 6

Since retiring as a headteacher last year, Elaine has been devoting her time to promoting the widespread adoption of The Daily Mile in primary schools (see www.thedailymile.co.uk) – with great success so far. Since the Scottish government Departments of Health and Education formally recommended The Daily Mile to its primary schools last November, well over 500 schools have taken it on- with the current Scottish Government now committed to rolling out The Daily Mile across all schools, universities and workplaces across the country.

Further South in England, hundreds of schools have also adopted The Daily Mile- either independently, or coordinated by numerous counties and regional partnerships. Recently, counties including Surrey, Hampshire, Cheshire, Cornwall, Essex, Norfolk, Herfordshire and Staffordshire, as well as numerous city councils and London Boroughs, have begun either a regional Daily Mile rollout or pilot scheme.

One of the campaign’s greatest successes so far, however, has been further afield in Holland – with The Daily Mile making international news and inviting attention from across the world. Coordinated by the national organisation JOGG – a government and private sector partnership founded to tackle childhood obesity – The Daily Mile is already being systematically rolled out to all Dutch primaries, with a formal launch in September.

Elaine says, “I am excited to be working with JOGG to improve childhood activity across Holland, and truly encouraged by their proactive, positive and efficient attitude to rolling out and monitoring The Daily Mile. We could learn from this in England- and with no time to lose, I look forward to speaking with the UK government to explore how we can help primaries across England adopt The Daily Mile to achieve this Childhood Obesity Strategy’s aims.”

Encouragingly, primary schools can begin to take up The Daily Mile even from the start of this school year- it is simple to implement, requires no staff training, and can be risk-assessed quickly and effectively by schools. Teachers and parents are encouraged to visit The Daily Mile’s website,www.thedailymile.co.uk and social media channels (facebook.com/thedailymile.uk and @_thedailymile) to find out more.

ENDS.

 


 

For media enquiries, please contact The Daily Mile Foundation’s Media Agency, Media Zoo on (+44)207 384 6980, at Joseph@mediazoo.tv

1,000+ UK primary schools adopt The Daily Mile

Over 1,000 UK primary schools (and counting!) have already made the commitment to safeguard the social, mental, emotional and physical Health and Wellbeing of our children.