Back to school with The Daily Mile

By GreaterSport | 02 October 2020 | TAGS: #GMDailyMile, The Daily Mile, walking, Children and young people, education

With schools back and settling into their adapted ways of working, we wanted to remind you of some of the fantastic opportunities to keep your classrooms fit, focused and safe during the forthcoming school year with The Daily Mile. In Greater Manchester, almost 500 primary schools are already signed up to The Daily Mile, we’re just 38 schools away from hitting that momentous achievement. This speaks to the fantastic work of so many individuals across GM pulling together to firmly place The Daily Mile as the number one Active Mile initiative in the City.

We know that Covid-19 has greatly affected children’s activity levels, affecting not only their physical and mental health but also school related outcomes with home learning proving difficult for many families. We also know that schools will be incredibly busy as they adapt to coronavirus and help their pupils adjust and catch up on what has been missed.

Thankfully, The Daily Mile is a simple, and free initiative that both complements the school curriculum and keeps children moving, happy and healthy. The Daily Mile improves children’s physical and mental wellbeing, as well as helping in the classroom by improving concentration. The initiative is simple; get children outside walking, jogging or running each day for 15 minutes. There is also a wealth of evidence behind how such a simple activity can have great impacts on children’s wellbeing and education.

There are numerous resources and tips to help you keep running The Daily Mile in your school, including maintaining social distancing, which you can find here. The Daily Mile Lead for Greater Manchester, Matt Domville, is also here to help you with any questions, so please do get in touch; [email protected].

If you haven’t signed up to The Daily Mile yet and would benefit from some support, please sign up here and contact Matt for any support you may need; [email protected].

We have also created The Daily Mile Destinations, another way to embed the initiative within schools. The free resource encourages children to complete their daily miles with each one contributing to their trip around the world, learning about different countries and cultures as they go. Find out more about The Daily Mile Destinations and request your free resources here. Watch the video below to sear how teachers and pupils at Bolton’s Spindle Point Primary School have used the resources.

Other dates for your diary to get your pupils moving

Walk to School Week (5^th - 11^th October 2020)

GM Walking Festival (12^th -25^th October 2020)

Walking and cycling to school, even part of the way, are two simple ways you can encourage your pupils and their families to move more every day, helping to improve the whole family’s health and wellbeing.