Mead Vale Community Primary School
“His classroom behaviour has completely changed”

Mead Vale Primary School

Fact File

Where we’re based: Worle, Weston-super-Mare, England

How long we’ve been doing The Daily Mile: 1 year

Our Daily Mile Story

Mead Vale has been completing The Daily Mile for a year, once a day during lesson time, five days a week. Since starting we have found that the children are calmer, happier and concentrate more after completing The Daily Mile. It gives the children a chance to release built up energy and gives them a reason to get outside. Furthermore, staff are now joining in with The Daily Mile as well and this has seen an improvement in the children’s interest in running.

We complete The Daily Mile on the field when it is dry and the playground if it is wet and the children know that 9 laps of the field and 17 laps of the playground is a mile and use this as an incentive to try and do slightly more each time.

We are lucky we have such a large flat field which is great in the summer. However in the winter, it is wet and unusable, and the playground can get quite congested if more than one class are out at the same time.  This can also lead to some children putting little effort in and not reaping the benefits The Daily Mile brings. We have found that when the children have some sort of challenge, perhaps linked in with their school topic, the effort put in is much greater.

The Daily Mile also provides an excellent opportunity to provide children with an extra chance for some physical activity, helping to keep our children as fit and active as possible. Where children are engaged, we are really seeing the benefits The Daily Mile brings, both with improvements to their physical stamina and their stamina in the classroom.

Initially the staff were reluctant with the worry of having time away from lessons. However the children now pester the teacher to make sure they do it. All staff have the freedom to complete The Daily Mile when they feel it can be most useful.

One boy in particular had a difficult start to the year, often refusing to work and leaving the classroom to hide. He attended a couple of after school clubs but his behaviour was also an issue there so he wasn’t getting much physical activity. He really took to The Daily Mile, running by their teacher’s side every day, and by the end of the year, his classroom behaviour had completely changed. He now works hard and tries his best. His running ability has also come on hugely. He commented towards the end of last year that “I can run longer distances easier now without getting tired”. His efforts were rewarded at the end of the year when he won the long distance race on sports day!

Quotes

“Educating children holistically, this has got to be one of the best initiatives I have seen in 30 years.”

Mrs Langley – Deputy Head

“The Daily Mile is an incredible initiative, providing children with the perfect opportunity to get outdoors and experience some physical activity, improving their stamina both inside and outside of the classroom.”

Mr Watkins – Year 5 Class Teacher

“I love running The Daily Mile.”

Pupil