Source: Business Biscuit

Date: 11-October-2017

In a scheme being launched by the Scottish Government, businesses are now being asked to encourage staff to walk a mile a day, to improve health and productivity.

After many successful school-level trials, Scottish Power are now championing the scheme – that’s also being rolled out across the Education sector – in the Workplace.

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Source: Huffington Post, United Kingdom

Date: 11-October-2017

It turns out, the UK is a hotspot for innovative talent. A list of 100 inspiring education innovations has been collected over the past two years and published by a non-profit HundrED; 13 of which are from the UK.

Changing education doesn’t necessarily mean using new technologies or dismantling and rebuilding the entire school structure, though. Improving education can be a simple as getting kids moving – The Daily Mile is one such programme.

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Source: INDEX Digital

Date: 10-October-2017

Studies have shown that activity that raises the heart is good for children’s brains and therefore excellent for their education. In other words, physical activity including sport and playing helps children to learn – these findings were published by the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Many schools across Kent, Sussex and Surrey have embraced the idea that exercise is beneficial to pupils by participating in a health initiative known as The Daily Mile.

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Source: Daily Post

Date: 09-October-2017

A report before the council’s safeguarding communities committee, which meets on Wednesday 11th September, has revealed the extent of the problem – almost a third of children in the county were classified as overweight.

The report did, however, acknowledge that the council have being promoting a number of schemes to ensure that children in the town would lead healthier lives, in efforts to address this problem. E.G. The Daily Mile

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Source: Gloucestershire Live

Date: 06-October-2017

Health chiefs have pledged to take action as almost two in three adults in Gloucestershire are overweight or obese – these findings are part of a Gloucestershire County Council report on public health.

Some of Gloucestershire’s health stats may not look good, but there’s plenty of great initiatives in the county aiming to improve the county’s health. For example, primary schools across the county are being encouraged to improve the fitness, health and well-being of their pupils through The Daily Mile initiative.

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Source: The Scotsman

Date: 05-October-2017

The debate surrounding how many portions of fruit and vegetables we are supposed to eat on a daily basis has intensified with the release of the Scottish Health Survey’s 2016 results – consumption of fruit and vegetables is reportedly at it’s lowest level since 2003.

The Scottish Government are welcoming the fact that there is an increase in the number of children who are physically active, in part due to programs such as making Scotland the World’s first „Daily Mile nation“. However, we still have work to be done in ‚growing‘ higher levels of food and vegetable consumption.

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Rougemont Preparatory School

Fact File

• Where we’re based: Newport, (South East) Wales
• A description of our school: Private school for children aged 3-18
• School roll: 160
• Children in school doing The Daily Mile: Infants and Juniors (aged 4-11)
• Where we run: Laps of a path around the school grounds
• Month/Year we started The Daily Mile: September 2016

Tanya Mountford, Year 2 class and sports teacher, talked us through Rougemont Preparatory School’s experience of The Daily Mile.

Did you face any barriers when implementing The Daily Mile? If yes, how did you overcome them?

Back in 2015 as part of my role as PE lead for KS 1, I wanted to introduce a morning run for children and parents, which took place at 8.15am every Monday. This ran for a year and was successful, but only targeted a small minority of the school.

After a year, we reviewed it and reading about The Daily Mile, I felt this was something I wanted the school to be a part of. It would allow all the children to be involved and meant that they could see and feel the benefits of a daily physical activity, outside their PE lessons.

The staff were very receptive of this idea, and we came together to decide upon a time and place where and when the run would take place – we nicknamed ours ‚Run a Mile With a Smile‘ or ‚Smiley Miley‘ and every morning at 9.50am all of our pupils in Infant School head outside their classrooms, to take part.

After seeing the benefits of The Daily Mile, we asked the Junior School to join us and also take part!

Since starting The Daily Mile, what differences in the school, if any, have you observed?

The children are happier and fitter. So many children are enjoying the run that we now have started a ‚Running Club‘ in the Infant School, which is proving very popular.

Even those children who did not enjoy running are having a go and enjoy being outside in the fresh air with their friends. They are also quickly realising they are getting fitter each day and appreciating that a daily activity is very beneficial for them – it not only makes them stronger, but gives them a very positive spirit!

What has been the impact on the children’s learning, concentration and focus?

They now know certain elements of work have to be finished before they do The Daily Mile, so they are more eager to complete tasks. It has helped them to focus and concentrate in the classroom so they can get outside, do their run and then return refreshed and ready to start the next lesson.

What has been the impact on the children’s behaviour, mood and relationships?

The Daily Mile has certainly helped to develop increased social interaction amongst the children. Even though running is an individual activity, we have actually seen that it has helped to promote teamwork as children are often seen helping others who need a little more encouragement.

We find that children are always happy before, during and after The Daily Mile. In fact, they will often be the ones to remind teachers that its time to run!

It has become such a major part of our daily routine that we have also now set up a Daily Mile committee who review it and take notice of pupil voice on a regular basis, to ensure that the children are continuing to enjoy and appreciate the value of the activity.

Do you have any individual success stories of pupils or staff members you would like to share with us?

Sport plays a major part in our school routine but as with every school, there are always children whose strengths lie in other areas. However, the inclusiveness and non-competitive nature of The Daily Mile has meant those children who previously thought sport was not for them have been really able to embrace the activity.

Some quotes overheard during The Daily Mile have included:

„I didn’t realise how good I have become at running, especially when I used to dislike all aspects of physical activity!“ – Year 6 pupil

„Wow! Your running has improved so much since doing The Daily Mile!“ – Year 5 pupil to another pupil

Do you have any tips for other schools looking to get started?

• Let the children know there is no pressure on them – it’s not a race.
• Remind them they can do it at their own speed. They can run, jog or simply walk it.
• Don’t forget it is about the time spent out of the classroom to enjoy the fresh air, refresh their minds and bodies, and enjoy the time with their friends.
• Let the children lead it. If they take ownership of The Daily Mile they will quickly realise exactly what it is about and become 100% involved.

What have the parents‘ reactions to The Daily Mile been?

Parents have been very responsive to The Daily Mile and we have received only positive feedback about the activity.

Any other comments?

Towards the end of the last academic year, we were close to achieving our 100th Daily Mile and felt it was worth a special celebration.

As we had been so thrilled with the benefits of The Daily Mile, we decided to join forces with a nearby school who had just started doing their own Daily Mile.

After taking them through our journey, we worked with local Daily Mile and ‚Parkrun‘ ambassadors to arrange for them to come to our school and complete a joint Daily Mile.

Over 400 pupils and staff joined together on our playing fields to run, walk and jog the course amidst great support from our Senior pupils. We were also delighted to welcome Jayne Bryant AM and Parkrun ambassadors to the celebration assembly and the run.

„We are really proud of our Infant pupils in reaching their 100th milestone run“, said Mrs Lisa Pritchard, Head of Preparatory School. „It has been delightful watching them embrace the activity over the past year, to the point that if, for any reason, they have to miss the run the children are genuinely sad not be able to take part.“

„The benefits to our pupils, in terms of health, fitness and well-being have become clearly visible“ added Mr Robert Carvnevale, Headmaster. „I am lucky enough to be able to see them run the course every morning from my office“ he explained, „and, the difference between when they started to now is tangible. I look forward to the activity continuing for many more years to come.“

When we asked our pupils about their thoughts on The Daily Mile, two quotes stood out in particular which we felt embraced the spirit and ethos of what we are trying to achieve.

„Running makes me feel happy and energetic for the rest of the morning. It is good as it keeps us fit, it strengthens our legs and exercises our hearts. It is also good training for cross country!“ – Year 3 pupil

„Mile with a Smile is not a race, but you can run your heart out. I don’t care about the weather – all I care about is having fun.“ – Year 2 pupil

As a result of the success of The Daily Mile in Infant School, our Junior School will now also be starting the activity on a daily basis and we look forward to sharing their 100th Daily Mile celebrations with you in the future.

The Juniors have nicknamed their Daily Mile ‚Active8‘ and run at different times of the day, as when suits their timetables. They may not have the opportunity to run each day, but aim to run at least three times a week.

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

Twitter:@rougemontschool

Facebook: facebook.com/RougemontSchool/

The Royal School of Dunkeld

Fact File

• Where we’re based: Dunkeld, Scotland
• A description of our school: The Royal School of Dunkeld is a rural primary school. The nursery class are an important part of this.
• School roll: 24
• Children in school doing The Daily Mile: Nursery class
• Where we run: Laps around the playing field – 6 laps is approximately 1 mile
• Year we started The Daily Mile: 2015

Lyn Williamson and Margaret Amatt talked us through The Royal School of Dunkeld’s experience of The Daily Mile.

Please describe your school’s experience of The Daily Mile to date.

The children and staff thoroughly enjoy the daily mile. In 2016, we had a computer expert set up a tracking tool for us, which we used to plot the children’s progress with The Daily Mile. This was used (only by staff) to see what, if any, impact The Daily Mile had on the children’s physical achievements. We were able to see, very easily, how children who had started off averaging one or two laps at the beginning of the year were now managing three, four, five and even six laps, by the end of the year. We always encourage the children to go at their own pace and to enjoy themselves. We also frequently stop to look at things, and don’t make it a race or a competition. We reflected this in our tracking of the children’s improvement by calculating their improvement as an average for each week.

Did you face any barriers when implementing The Daily Mile? If yes, how did you overcome them?

At the start of the school year, some children were reluctant to walk or run long distances – the playing field is very big for little legs! We set various challenges and tasks whilst walking around, so the children were focused on these rather than the actual walk. This strategy lead to much enjoyment, more enthusiasm and improved stamina.

Since starting The Daily Mile, what differences in the school, if any, have you observed?

Using our track tool to show the progress in such a visual way was tremendous for staff to see at a glance how children had progressed in their physical stamina. We found that some like to take it easy, and walk or jog with friends, whilst others set themselves a challenge and are quite determined to do a certain number of laps (and will keep tally of this – letting us know as they whizz past!).

What has been the impact on the children’s learning, concentration and focus?

There was a marked improvement in our ante-pre-school group, much greater concentration and focus was noted as the year progressed. We looked through the „Shanarri Lens“ (below) to help focus our observations on the children’s progress.

What has been the impact on the children’s behaviour, mood and relationships?

Pupils are always ‚buzzed up‘ and excited about taking part in The Daily Mile. They frequently choose to walk or run in pairs or groups, often with different people than they would usually play with. They sometimes hold hands and offer support to the younger children, too. It is always interesting to hear the conversations that take part during the walk, these are regularly in-depth and, as there is a feeling of being relaxed, these chats are often very meaningful and give deep insight into their thoughts and feelings. The children are sometimes competitive, but always with consideration – it is lovely to see the way they respect, encourage and support each other.

Do you have any tips for other schools looking to get started?

Just go for it! It is a fun way to exercise for pupils and staff.

What have the parents‘ reactions been to The Daily Mile?

Parents have given lots of positive comments and we even had a Daily Mile „Stay and Play“ where parents could join us for the walk, we repeated this for the local playgroup and they came over and joined in too.

Any other comments?

„My daughter was not up for walking anywhere, but after she started doing The Daily Mile at Nursery she wanted to walk everywhere, which was great!“ – Royal School of Dunkeld, Nursery parent

„My son came with the playground to join in with the Royal School of Dunkeld Nursery class doing the mile, this was a great opportunity to meet up with the other children and feel part of the wider community.“ – Margaret, Dunkeld and Birnam Playgroup parent

„I think it is a great way for staff to get some exercise while, at the same time, spending quality time with the children and seeing them get so many benefits too.“ – Lyn, Royal School of Dunkeld Nursery staff member

„I like to run and seeing my breath out of my mouth.“ – Keira, Royal School of Dunkeld Nursery pupil

„I like being in a team with my friends and I like to see lorries and tractors on the road.“ – Eoin, Royal School of Dunkeld Nursery pupil

„It is fun and I want to get better. I think I can do six times, easy… seven is a challenge – I am even faster than the teachers!“ – DC, Royal School of Dunkeld Nursery pupil

„I like to run fast, it is easy for me to do four laps.“ – Andrew, Royal School of Dunkeld Nursery pupil

Visit The Royal School of Dunkeld’s website.

Source: STV News

Date: 03-October-2017

2016’s annual Scottish Health Survey results have shown that the average amount of fruit and vegetables eaten by Scots has declined in recent years.

Public Health Minister Aileen Campbell believes that the solution to the health crisis is through creating a healthier culture and championing new ambitions, like making Scotland the World’s first „Daily Mile nation“.

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Source: The Scotsman

Date: 03-October-2017

2016’s annual Scottish Health Survey results have shown that people who live in the most deprived areas of Scotland have poorer health and are less likely to exercise than those in the richest parts of the country.

Public Health Minister Aileen Campbell believes that the solution to the health inequalities crisis is through championing new, free ambitions, like making Scotland the World’s first „Daily Mile nation“.

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Source: The Scottish Government

Date: 03-October-2017

2016’s annual Scottish Health Survey results highlight more active children and improving adult diets. However, the Scottish Government are pushing to further improve the nation’s diet and active lives, as stated by Public Health Minister Aileen Campbell, through the implementation of the World’s first „Daily Mile nation“.

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