Priory School – Slough, England

Priory School

Prioty School Daily Mile

Fact File

  • Where we’re based: Slough, England
  • A description of our school: A large school with SEN resource
  • School roll: 912
  • Children in school doing The Daily Mile: The whole school
  • Where we run: On our new path
  • Month/year we started The Daily Mile: April 2016

School PE lead, Lee Molland, talks us through Priory School’s experience of The Daily Mile.

Were there any problems you overcame to get started?

Convincing the whole school it was beneficial to take the time to do.

How do you make The Daily Mile work with such a large number of pupils?

It fell into place really well actually. I did an inset on The Daily Mile, and made it absolutely clear that the best way to make it successful is if the teacher takes ownership of their own Daily Mile. The lunchtime rota changed which meant that some year groups had longer afternoons than others, meaning The Daily Mile managed to break up the afternoon.

Older year groups felt that they needed to break up their mornings as English was a long lesson that children benefited from having a break from. KS1 decided they wanted to do it towards the end of the day and enjoy going out to do it when other years are there as the older ones help the younger ones.

Priory School Daily Mile

What benefits have you noticed since starting The Daily Mile?

Children who found it difficult at first have certainly improved and can run longer. Children like the break and settle back quickly to work.

You’ve shown a lot of support to other schools in helping them get started – what’s your top tip for schools looking to start?

Yes, I presented to all primaries in Slough and invited them to Priory for a look and talk. We have opened our doors to numerous schools now and are working with the council to roll it out across the borough. I meet with an SLT member and PE Lead and do a short presentation and then they watch the children in action (showcasing how simple it is).

My top tip would be to trial it with a year group, and prove how much children enjoy it by doing a simple show of hands at the end of a half term.

Priory has given presentations to 8 schools to help them get started, please contact if interested.

Our Feedback

Y5 Leader – “I just wanted to add how much the children in Year 5 enjoy The Daily Mile. If we don’t go out for any reason, they always ask why and we feel having this break in the fresh air helps them to maintain focus during the morning. It has been great to see some of the children, who are not keen on exercise, taking part and actually running for enjoyment. This time each day, has also provided the teachers with an opportunity for time to actually talk to the children which is often hard in the busy timetable. In Year 5, we have used this time to practise times tables with children as we walk round as well! Thanks again for starting this worthwhile daily routine.”

Resource teacher – “Great incentive, Lee! I also take my class on the track almost daily and they really enjoy walking/running on it. Thank you for bringing it to Priory.”

Y2 Teacher – „Our children love The Daily Mile. It’s lovely to give them time to be free! They’re definitely improving their fitness as well!“

Visit Priory School’s website and follow them on social media:

Twitter: @PriorySchoolSL1

Facebook: facebook.com/prioryschoolslough

Denise Lewis and Colin Jackson support runners at GO Run For Fun

Source: Athletics Weekly

Date: 30-June-2017

The world’s largest children’s running initiative, GO Run For Fun, together with The Daily Mile, brought together 5000 primary school children from London and across Britain on Thursday as they took part in a 2km fun run at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Cheering on the children at the event were VIP guests from the world of sport including Olympians Denise Lewis and Colin Jackson.

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Local pupils join in with Go Run For Fun at Olympic Park

Source: Barking and Dagenham Post

Date: 29-June-2017

Youngsters from Newham and Barking & Dagenham schools took part in Go Run For Fun, the world’s largest children’s running initiative. Together with the Daily Mile, the initiative brought together 5,000 primary schoolchildren from London and across Britain to take part in a 2k fun run at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford.

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Press Release: London Daily Mile schools attend GO Run For Fun event at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

London Daily Mile schools attend GO Run For Fun event at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

Today, 5,000 children from across London and the UK will be participating in the GO Run For Fun Foundation’s flagship 2017 event. Children aged five to ten will complete the 2-kilometre route through the iconic Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, cheered on by a number of inspirational athletes including Denise Lewis and Colin Jackson, and YouTube singing sensations Max and Harvey Mills.

This year, pupils from 13 London primary schools that have adopted the free health and wellbeing initiative, The Daily Mile, will also be lacing up their running shoes; proving how running, walking or jogging for just 15 minutes a day improves children’s fitness, and encourages them to access PE and Sport more widely.

From its humble beginnings in a large Scottish primary school, St Ninians, in 2012, The Daily Mile movement has grown enormously. Former headteacher and founder of The Daily Mile, Elaine Wyllie, created the initiative in response to observations that the children in her school lacked fitness. With the support of the GO Run For Fun Foundation and primary sponsor INEOS, The Daily Mile has now grown to encompass over 3,000 schools worldwide. That’s approximately 600,000 children taking part every day!

Parents and teachers have found that the children’s concentration and behaviour in the classroom is improved, their physical fitness increased, and their attainment raised. In London, The Daily Mile has been embraced to such an extent that every borough now includes at least one participating Daily Mile school, with several boroughs committing to a regional rollout.

Reflecting on the positive growth of the movement, founder Elaine Wyllie commented, “In just over a year, London has embraced The Daily Mile across all Boroughs and we hope to develop this further through the support of local councils and implementation partners, with the aim of making London the ‘world’s first Daily Mile city.’”

As well as a fun run, today’s event is set to be a celebration of children’s health and wellbeing. Elaine will be part of a panel discussion which will also include Jack Shakespeare, Head of UK Active Kids; Colin Jackson CBE, Olympic medallist, and Gary Palmer, Strategic Lead for Children and Young People at London Sport.

The panel will be hosted by Denise Lewis, Olympic medallist and broadcaster, who commented: “GO Run for Fun and The Daily Mile are two amazing projects that are inspiring a new generation of children and schools to become more active in their daily life. I am looking forward to cheering on the 5,000 children here today and hopefully these young ambassadors will continue to enjoy exercise and even join a local sports club.”

GO Run For Fun and The Daily Mile are both supported by INEOS, a multinational company headquartered in London, with health and fitness at the heart of its ethos.  INEOS Chairman Jim Ratcliffe, who is himself deeply passionate about running, said: “It has never been more important to support young people in leading healthier, more active lives. We are very proud to support and celebrate these two initiatives that have been making a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of hundreds of thousands of children in the UK and beyond, for the last four years.”

ENDS


 

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

 

 

Woodfield Primary School
 – Wigan, England

Woodfield Primary School

Woodfield Wigan Primary School

Fact File

  • Where we’re based: Wigan
  • School roll: 216
  • A description of our school: On the edge of the town centre
  • Children in school doing The Daily Mile: The whole school (216 pupils from Reception to Year 6)
  • Where we run: We complete our ‘Daily Mile’ on the school playground and on our new all-weather track (sponsored by DW Sports)
  • Month/year we started The Daily Mile: June 2016

Woodfield Primary School Daily Mile

Our Experience of The Daily Mile

We officially launched our Daily Mile in June 2016. Our local hospital, the Royal Albert and Edward Infirmary, invited us to be part of a project, which we named ‘Race to Rio’. The staff of the NHS Trust worked closely with school staff and were very supportive with the Race to Rio Project, which involved all the children in school having pedometers and attempting to walk the distance from Wigan to Rio before the games in August. Our discussions led to us adopting The Daily Mile. We were fortunate to be able to enlist the support of Hazel Whittle from Inspiring Healthy lifestyles, who was inspirational, and really helped us get our Daily Mile well underway. Hazel’s support has been phenomenal. A number of local athletes attended the launch of The Daily Mile and this provided a great opportunity to promote this initiative.

Additionally, Wigan Warriors, Wigan Athletic, Metrofresh and a number of other groups/businesses became interested in our work and supported the project over the spring and summer 2016. This outcome of the work in addition to a ‘Race to Rio Health Carnival Day’ was also The Daily Mile. The children collectively, with the staff and parents, walked from Wigan to Rio in a very short time. We have been fortunate to have local business support along with local sports clubs, such as, Wigan Athletic (Mr. Dave Whelan) and Wigan Warriors (Mr. Shaun Wane).

Since starting The Daily Mile, we have noticed a huge increase in children’s health and well-being, for example, sports tournaments. Last week we participated in a local authority cross-country tournament, where all children who participated were placed well. This resulted in Woodfield School coming in 3rd place for the West of Wigan and the girls’ team in second place. The noticeable difference was the children’s enjoyment in this event and the how they recovered quickly after the race.

Woodfield Primary School Daily Mile

Benefits We’ve Noticed

The Daily Mile contributes well to the health and well-being of all our children. For any other schools wishing to adopt The Daily Mile as part of their routine, it helps if all children, staff and parents/carers are enthusiastic and are willing the project on.

The Daily Mile gives children an opportunity to relax and refresh, it is an enjoyable part of the day. It also gives children and staff opportunities to be together in the fresh air and enjoy the opportunity to talk outside the classroom.

We feel it is important to make The Daily Mile simple and flexible to be adopted in the day-to-day routine.

How We Do The Daily Mile

Currently, the staff are collectively putting together a list of topics for the children to discuss/think about on their mile, for example, ‘What do you know about Roald Dahl? Tell your friend.’

Additionally, we have introduced a ‘Wednesday Morning Mile’ where all parents, carers and grandparents are invited into school from 8.30am to take part in a Daily Mile.

Woodfield Primary School Daily Mile

Improving Our School

Our Governing Body have been kept fully informed throughout the process and Mr. Lyons (PE lead and class teacher) presented this work to the Governing Body on 21st November 2016. The Headteacher and governor support has helped enormously towards making The Daily Mile high profile and successful. We emphasize with all stakeholders that it is a daily mile and not a daily run. Children are free to go at their own pace, as long as they keep moving.

The Daily Mile has become a priority on part of our School Improvement Plan, for example, investing in sign postage around the school playground promoting The Daily Mile, investing in sign postage for ‘talking points’ for the children who wish to discuss topics and many more.

Woodfield Primary School Daily Mile

Our Children’s Feedback

“I enjoy running the Daily Mile. It gives you the opportunity to have fun and chat with your friends and improve your stamina. I think the whole school is getting fitter because we do the Mile every day.”

“The Daily Mile is great because it gives you a break from work in the afternoons. It’s better than just having a playtime because it’s like having a fun lesson where you are learning why it’s important to be fit and healthy.”

“I like running and it keeps me healthy. I am becoming a better runner and doing the Mile makes you faster.”

“I like The Daily Mile because I like running and fresh air.”

“The mile gives me energy and is fun.”

“I think it is great and fun.”

“It builds stamina so that you can run for longer.”

“Gives people a chance to exercise which they may not do at home.”

“It is good to have the choice between running and walking. I choose depending on how I feel.”

“I like doing The Daily Mile because I can talk to my friends whilst staying fit and healthy.”

Visit Woodfield Primary School’s website and follow them on social media:
Twitter: @WoodfieldWigan

 

 

Scoil Bhríde – Co. Cavan, Ireland

Scoil Bhríde

Scoil Bhríde Daily Mile

Fact File

  • Where we’re based: Portaliffe, Killeshandra, Co. Cavan, Ireland
  • A description of our school: Scoil Bhríde is a co-educational primary school where all classes from Junior Infants to 6th Class are taught
  • Children in school doing The Daily Mile: The whole school participated in the Daily Mile
  • Where we run: We used both playgrounds. 3rd to 6th classes walked, jogged and ran. Infants to 2nd classes took part in games and stations
  • Month/year we started The Daily Mile: May 2017

Our Experience of The Daily Mile

It was very inclusive, suited all ages and abilities. It particularly suited those who are not interested generally in physical activities.

It was fun, social and non-competitive. Both children and staff looked forward to it every day. It was a great way to promote physical health and fitness.

 

Benefits We’ve Noticed

There were clear improvements in the children’s fitness levels and it helped to improve concentration in the classroom.

Our Children’s Feedback

“I thought The Daily Mile was fun, energizing and sporty.” – Bobby 5th class

“It made us all fitter. I would love to do it again.” – Aaron 4th class

“The Daily Mile was fun. It was good. I liked it. Follow the leader for me was the best.” – Noah 2nd class

“I think The Daily Mile was brilliant because I got fitter and it was fun to try and beat my highest amount of laps each time.” – Oran 5th class

Our Staff’s Feedback

“I, as a teacher, really enjoyed participating in The Daily Mile. I looked forward to it each day. It refreshed both the class and myself which improved concentration levels later in the day. The general fitness levels increased noticeably amongst the children also.” – 3rd/4th class teacher

“The Daily Mile was a great way to get the whole school moving at the same time. It was a great learning curve.” – 1st/2nd class teacher

“The Daily Mile is a good initiative to promote more exercise in school. It was easy to organise and the children really enjoyed it and looked forward to it each day.” – Junior class teacher

Scoil Bhride Daily Mile

Westgate Community Primary School – Suffolk, England

Westgate Community Primary School

Westgate Community Primary Daily Mile

Fact File

  • Where we’re based: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England
  • School roll: 380
  • A description of our school: Westgate is a primary school (age 3-11) serving an area in the west of Bury St Edmunds. We currently have 375 pupils on roll (including a nursery). The school has recently transformed from first school to full primary under the aegis of Suffolk’s School Organisational Review and this year we have had our first cohort of Year 6 pupils. The school catchment is very mixed, we have pupils coming from a range of backgrounds including significant pockets of deprivation. 25.2% of our pupils are are classified as disadvantaged. The proportion of pupils with SEN is high, including an above average number of pupils with Statements of SEN largely due to the school including a specialist unit for Hearing Impaired Pupils.
  • Children in school doing The Daily Mile: The whole school, including nursery
  • Where we run: The school grounds, playground and field
  • Month/year we started The Daily Mile: September 2016

Why we started The Daily Mile

School sport has always been a priority and I believe the quality of provision at our school is good and supplemented by a wide range of extra-curricular opportunities, competitions, etc. However, there is an increasing gap between those pupils really engaged in school sport, and often sport within the community, and those that really are only active during PE lessons in terms of their general health and fitness and, in some cases, weight. This was particularly noticeable in mass participation events such as Great School Run, GO Run For Fun, etc.

We have engaged in other projects such as bike ability and walk to school projects and these have often had a short-term impact. But I was looking to instil something that would have a more lasting impact on the health and fitness of all pupils.

Westgate Community Primary Daily Mile

How We Began

Our target audience was all pupils in school but with an extra emphasis on those not engaged in PE. I felt it was right to start at the start of a new school year and so we waited for September to launch it. However I did plant the seed of the idea in the minds of staff earlier. A strategically left article in the staff room, and then a “coming soon” poster. A link to the dailymile.co.uk on the board.

I registered our school with The Daily Mile; their website had a lot of advice about implementing this and a useful FAQ’s section. Next step was to recruit some advocates/ambassadors – staff I knew would be receptive and enthused. Preparation was minimal. A simple risk assessment for the course was completed. We set an official launch date of the 29th September but my ambassador classes started running from day one of the term.

Prior to launch, we eased people in gently with the expectation that they would head out twice a week. After the 29th it was to be daily. Letters went out to parents explaining what we were doing and why. A press release went out for the 29th launch date.  As with anything, some staff were reticent. I haven’t obliged staff to participate personally but most are joining in even if they walk the course.

How We Do The Daily Mile

The premise is simple: 15 minutes‘ daily activity. They can run, walk, hop as long as they are out and moving. The mile is aspirational; some pupils run further, some are not yet completing a mile but 15 minutes activity daily is guaranteed.

Flexibility is key. Staff can head out at any point in the day and at different times on different days. For KS2 it is often a natural break in the middle of a long afternoon. Some classes start or end the day with a mile. If the weather is inclement it can be a case of dodging the showers.

The pupils don’t change – this was one of the few issues raised by parents – however they don’t change for break times! Start to finish it takes 15 minutes out of the day and for staff it is as easy as opening a door.

Benefits We’ve Noticed

The Daily Mile is amazingly easy to implement and four weeks in for some of our pupils, we are already noticing a change in their fitness levels and their stamina. Anecdotal evidence seems to suggest that an active break will have an impact on behaviour and progress within the classroom too. As yet we haven’t come up with a good way to measure that.

School Feedback

“Its beauty is its simplicity and the fact that it targets every single pupil in the school. It is worth stating this is not a PE or school sport initiative but a health and well-being one! Start to finish it takes 15 minutes out of the day and for staff it is as easy as opening a door.” – Jim Cleaver, Headteacher

“When your brain gets a bit stuffy, The Daily Mile wakes you up.” – Year 2 pupil

“We have a good chat but at the same time we are getting exercise.” – Year 6 pupil

“I think it helps me with my fitness for other things, like when I play football.” – Year 4 pupil

Westgate Community Primary pupils Daily MileWestgate Community Primary pupil Daily MileWestgate Community Primary pupils Daily Mile
Visit Westgate Community Primary School’s website.

Hallfield Primary School – London, England

Hallfield Primary School

Hallfield Primary School Daily Mile

Fact File

  • Where we’re based: London, England
  • School roll: 520
  • A description of our school: Hallfield Primary School is a 2/3 form urban community school near Paddington, London. Within our school we have a very diverse, multicultural community ranging from Nursery up to Year 6. Despite our central London location, we are lucky to have landscaped grounds and large playgrounds where we can take part in our Daily Miles. All classes from Nursery to Year 6 take part in a Daily Mile session each day
  • Children in school doing The Daily Mile: The whole school
  • Where we run: Around the perimeter of our largest playground
  • When we started The Daily Mile: February 2016

Our Experience of The Daily Mile

As a class teacher and PE coordinator, I have seen huge changes in some of the children I have taught thanks to The Daily Mile. Most noticeably, it has enabled children to understand the value, benefits and enjoyment of regular physical activity and fitness. They have become a lot more aware of how their bodies are reacting to the exercise and how to improve their fitness. The Daily Mile has helped many children, who perhaps find PE lessons difficult, to gain confidence around physical activity as they can see that everybody can take part and that it is having a positive impact on their body and fitness. The children really enjoy challenging themselves to complete more and more laps within the time frame and having scheduled time do to it with their friends.

Multiple teachers across the school have commented on the positive effect that The Daily Mile has had on learning in the classroom as well as behaviour. This has been particularly apparent if the class’ session is within the middle of the morning or the afternoon where the 15 minutes of movement helps the children to be more focused when they return to their work in the classroom.

How We Link The Daily Mile To The Curriculum

The Daily Mile has been linked to the curriculum in numerous classes and we hope to keep extending these cross-curricular opportunities. Several classes have used the statistics from their Daily Miles as data for Maths and Science lessons. The children find it much more engaging to use their own data in learning such as drawing charts and graphs. I have also noticed how this cross-curricular practice further motivates the children to improve their effort and results in The Daily Mile.

 

What Do Our Children Say?

“It keeps your body healthy and makes you fit.” – Hanadi, Year 4

“It helps us refocus to our learning!” – Kaani, Year 4

“I look forward to improving my speed in running and my fitness.” – Lamia, Year 4

“I like it because it shows we can do running in any weather and any day at any moment!” – Mobasar, Year 4

“I love working hard during The Daily Mile to improve my fitness.” – Roven, Year 3


Visit Hallfield Primary School’s website.

St Paul’s get special visit from Derry marathon winner to celebrate their Daily Mile success

Source: Derry Now

Date: 23-June-2017

At St Paul’s Primary School prize giving, Catherine Whoriskey, this year’s Walled City Marathon winner presented the school with a certificate to acknowledge the schools contribution to the development of the Daily Mile initiative.

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The Daily Mile in Caerphilly, Wales

The Daily Mile – Oldham

Hear why Oldham Council are launching The Daily Mile!
Well done to all the Oldham schools already taking part, don’t forget to add yourselves to our participation map.

Kyson Primary School celebrates The Daily Mile

Headteacher Libby Brown tells us why the children and staff of Kyson Primary School, Suffolk, love their Daily Mile!