Bryn Pupils Rise To The Challenge Of ‘The Daily Mile’

Pupils at Bryn Primary school are taking part in ‘The Daily Mile’, where every child walks or runs a mile each day. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The mile can be done at any time during the school day and staff and pupils worked together to calculate several one mile routes around the school grounds, allowing the school to run even in poor weather conditions. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Children have had a positive reaction towards the new initiative, with a few commenting that “it has improved my fitness”, “being fitter has helped me playing other sports on the weekend” and “I enjoy being out in the fresh air”. Pupils and staff have become so keen on the daily run that some classes have even started doing time trials, aiming to improve on their personal best each time they run the mile. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The initiative is aimed at increasing physical activity and fitness levels of pupils throughout the whole school. Amanda Murphy, Healthy Schools Co-ordinator and Kim Boaler Schools PE Co-ordinator at Bryn Primary School decided on adopting the initiative after pupils and staff successfully managed to work together to run a full marathon distance to raise money for Sports Relief. Teachers have identified that completing the mile does allow pupils to burn extra energy, which then allows them to focus more when in class. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Cllr. Derek Havard, Cabinet Member for Education & Lifelong Learning said: “The Daily Mile is a brilliant initiative to get pupils active at school. Exercise is a great way to improve the learning day and I’m pleased to see that pupils at Bryn Primary School have had so much fun walking, skipping and running a mile each morning.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​