It’s a mistake to discourage young people from doing sport, especially when it could help them flourish

Source: The Telegraph

Author: Dina Asher-Smith

Date: 19-July-2019

Like many, I was disappointed to read the headlines about schools cutting PE lessons because of exam pressures last year. At 16 years old, students are down to just 34 minutes of physical activity at school per week – a fraction of the chief medical officer guidelines at 60 minutes a day.

So, I am thrilled to hear that the Government is investing in PE, launching the School Sport and Activity Action Plan this week.

Having seen the young people in my training group go through the stress of exams this summer, it has brought home to me how important sport is as an antidote to school pressures. According to Youth Sport Trust research, 92 per cent of 15-16-year-olds suffer with exam stress. In my group, they were turning up to training feeling worried, but by the end of the session they felt better and bubblier, ready to go back and face their revision notes if they want to do more that day.

At the exact moment we need sport the most, our young people are dropping it – or in some cases having it taken away. It is so common that we do not even question it. I have lost count of the number of times young people have said to me that they put sport – recreational or competitive – on the back burner when education pressures rise. They expect me to understand, to nod, because it is so ingrained. Sometimes it is their own choice, sometimes it is the choice of their parents – sometimes it is even encouraged by their teachers. The rationale being that prioritising time for study is important. And while I would never encourage a young person to lose focus on their schoolwork, I do not think sport should be viewed as a barrier to academic attainment.

When we know that sport and exercise reduces stress and anxiety and improves self-esteem this makes no sense. I watched the “Ted Talk” of Professor John Ratey who explains how physical activity boosts your brain power, supports creativity and reduces stress and anxiety. Rather than distract from academic study, physical activity actually helps to generate new brain cells, which is why in some countries schools are embracing exercise and introducing it to the start of the school day. The Daily Mile is a good example of this, with early results from case studies showing an improvement in academic performance in some schools.

This article has been reproduced with the kind permission of the content creator, The Telegraph. To read the article in full, please click the link below.

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A summary of The Daily Mile by Elaine Wyllie MBE

What is The Daily Mile? How does it work? Can our setting get involved?

We asked some of your FAQ’s to Founder, Elaine Wyllie MBE, and recorded her answers for you!

 

Watch above for a quick summary of The Daily Mile initiative.

 

Children to have greater opportunity to access 60 minutes of physical activity every day

Source: UK Government

Date: 14-July-2019

Children will have a greater opportunity to access 60 minutes of daily sport and physical activity, whether that be in school, after school or during weekends and holidays, under new Government plans revealed today.

The School Sport and Activity Action Plan, outlined by Education Secretary Damian Hinds, Sport Minister Mims Davies and Minister for Public Health, Seema Kennedy, will set out a range of new measures to strengthen the role of sport within a young person’s daily routine, explain how teachers and parents can play their part, and promote a joined-up approach to physical activity and mental wellbeing.

As part of the plan, the Government has committed to launch a series of regional pilots to trial innovative approaches to getting more young people active, particularly less active groups such as girls and those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Schools and sports clubs will also work together to share their facilities and expertise, giving more pupils access to character-building competitive sport and volunteering opportunities. They will focus on ensuring boys and girls have an equal and coordinated offer of sport, competition and activity, including modern PE lessons and access to high-quality clubs and competitions after school and during weekends and holidays.

The pilots will be joint-funded by the Department for Education and Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport through Sport England, and are expected to run from September 2020.

The Chief Medical Officers’ guidance on daily physical activity levels sets out that children should do at least 60 minutes of physical activity a day. Schools should ensure all pupils have access to 30 minutes of physical activity every day, which are currently delivered through PE lessons and lunchtime sports clubs as well as innovative activities such as The Daily Mile, and building in activity to classroom lessons, with 30 minutes also delivered outside the school day.

This article has been reproduced with the kind permission of the content creator, GOV.UK. To read the article in full, please click the link below.

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Sir Mo Farah surprises St Edmund’s RC Primary

Sir Mo Farah surprises St Edmund’s RC Primary in Enfield, London

Today, we had the pleasure of surprising the children of St Edmund’s RC Primary in Enfield with a visit from Daily Mile Ambassador, Sir Mo Farah! The children were greeted by their idol during a whole school assembly, where they held a Q&A session before moving outside to do their Daily Mile with Mo.

Sir Mo Farah said, 

The Daily Mile is a brilliant and easy way to get kids moving and keeping healthy… It would be fantastic to see every primary school in London signing up to do The Daily Mile.

St Edmund’s won this visit after signing up to The Daily Mile initiative and entering a competition hosted by London Marathon Events, who roll-out The Daily Mile initiative across the 32 London boroughs as part of their partnership with the Foundation.

 

Imagery is available on The Daily Mile UK’s social media channels.

Sir Mo Farah joins pupils for their Daily Mile

 

Today, we had the pleasure of surprising the children of St Edmund’s RC Primary in Enfield with a visit from Daily Mile Ambassador, Sir Mo Farah! The children were greeted by their idol during a whole school assembly, where they held a Q&A session before moving outside to do their Daily Mile with Mo.

Sir Mo Farah said, 

The Daily Mile is a brilliant and easy way to get kids moving and keeping healthy… It would be fantastic to see every primary school in London signing up to do The Daily Mile.

St Edmund’s won this visit after signing up to The Daily Mile initiative and entering a competition hosted by London Marathon Events, who roll-out The Daily Mile initiative across the 32 London boroughs as part of their partnership with the Foundation.

 

Video footage courtesy of Enfield Council.

Wells Hall Primary School
“Relationships between children and teachers has been enhanced”

Wells Hall Primary School

Fact File

Where we’re based: Sudbury, Suffolk, England

School Roll: 420

Month/Year we started The Daily Mile: March, 2018

Our Daily Mile Story

Wells Hall Primary School have been doing The Daily Mile for over 18 months now! All 420 students, including nursery, run The Daily Mile either around the school field or on the playground if the weather is particularly bad.

Our experience with The Daily Mile has been really positive. The children look forward to it as well as the teachers and what works really well is the flexibility to do it when the children need it. This has shown as a great ‘brain break’ and children, in general, are refreshed ready to either carry on with their learning or move onto the next lesson.

The children’s concentration levels are also much better once they’ve taken part in The Daily Mile. We’ve seen a definite improvement in the children’s focus and some cases of positive behaviour change.

The teacher’s mental health is also improved and The Daily Mile has definitely created a greater rapport and interaction between some children and their teachers as we use the opportunity to show the children our human side. As such, relationships between children and teachers has been enhanced as a result of The Daily Mile. It also gives us a chance to catch up with ‘quieter’ children who seem keen to chat outside the classroom.

Children are starting to enjoy recording their progress and the repetitive theme of the benefits of fresh air and exercise seem to be understood easier by the children when we talk about it during The Daily Mile. We also have a leader board up now which is popular and the kids are always keen to put their results up.

The Daily Mile is contributing towards forming good habits and we’ve encouraged a healthy selfie board with pictures of physical activity that the children and/or their families are doing outside of school.

When we began The Daily Mile there were a few initial queries from parents about why the children weren’t doing it in their PE kits, but on the whole everyone has embraced it positively.

Quotes

“The Daily Mile happily sits outside the curriculum and as such we do not feel it is necessary to construct artificial links to other subjects or themes. Where it is relevant we have highlighted this, such as in science and PE lessons where pupils learn about health and fitness. During the run up to the 2016 Olympics we did set a “Road to Rio” challenge and we do periodically add in fresh challenges to keep pupils motivated. During the summer term this year they are aiming to complete a marathon or ultra marathon by recording their laps daily. However we want The Daily Mile to become part of their daily routine (a habit) and so is not directly linked to any one subject or topic.”

Jim Cleaver – Head Teacher

“The Daily Mile is great for catching up with the quiet ones who seem keen to chat outside the classroom. They enjoy the fresh air and it helps them to refocus. It gives a pause to enable a quick plenary to check understanding.”

Year 3 Teacher

“Merlin’s love The Daily Mile, they are a class that needs a break in the long 2 hour 15 minute afternoon session. I also love the break from being in the classroom and it gives me the chance to chat to the class as we go round or it gives those that want a break from me that chance of some breathing space. On the whole, behaviour has improved and much fewer incidents now occur in the class. Please don’t get rid of it!”

Year 6 Teacher

“I can talk to the teacher on these runs and ask for help if I’m stuck without the whole class listening.”

Finnan, Year 4

“It breaks up my afternoon so I’m not stuck in class bored! I can go and run out my anger of written work.”

Josh, Year 5