Energize the school with integrated physical activity and health programs.
Select and implement another activity every month.
| Ideas |
| Upper class students measure the school grounds and mark out a walk/run track for pupils and parents to use before school and for teacher use during the school day. |
| The PE storage areas are re-organized to make them a more user-friendly space. All boxes are clearly labelled. The Active School Committee (ASC) is responsible for keeping it tidy and ensuring that all equipment is returned to the designated place. |
| PE equipment and resources are stored in many different places around the school. The school purchases/obtains a donated shed to store the equipment properly with plenty of shelving and hooks. Everything is clearly labelled and has a place. |
| The ASC carries out a PE equipment audit of disposed or broken items as well as sourced, new equipment based on the suggestions of all. All staff members receive a copy of the inventory and know where each piece of equipment and resource is located. |
| Folk dance resource packs for primary teachers are sourced and photocopied. Music to accompany dances is uploaded to the shared server. |
| The school purchases/obtains a portable PA system and microphone unit to facilitate a range of outdoor activities such as outdoor dance lessons and whole school warm-ups. |
| The school provides equipment (bull rings, caterpillars, water pipes etc.) for teaching the cooperative games unit of outdoor and adventure. The equipment required for each activity is stored in an individual, clearly labelled box. |
| The school obtains donated toys for the yard. These are chosen by the students who participate in the Active School Committee with input from all the children. The toys are chosen with an aim to provide something which will appeal to all children – balls, hoops, ribbons etc. |
| Playground- specific equipment is being purchased and stored in an area convenient to the school yard. Senior pupils are tasked with the responsibility for its maintenance, distribution and collection. An equipment map is designed and attached to the storage box so that the students know where to place the equipment before the break begins. |
| Each class has its own equipment bag and is responsible for distributing, collecting and maintaining its equipment. A specific storage area for class equipment bags is arranged next to the playground. |
| The school borrows marking stencils for the public road caretakers. With the help of the Parents’ Association and the caretaker, new playground markings are painted in the yard. |
| We rescind the ‘no running’ policy, allowing children for a trial period to run more freely in the yard, knowing that the negative effects on the heart, spine and life-long health for lack of physical exercise are so much greater than a bleeding nose or knee. |
| The school creates a running circuit around the playground perimeter. Pupils are encouraged to walk/jog/run laps during their (lunch) breaks and to record their scores in their homework journals. Different targets are set for different year groups in terms of distance covered and time targets. |
| Skipping ropes are made available for children to play with during break times. |
| Our school caretaker creates a trolley with a loudspeaker that can be wheeled into the yard, so that music can be played at break times for the children to dance to. |
| Dance on Wednesday (DOW Days) – The PA systems are used in the school yards to play music, encouraging the children to dance during the big break every Tuesday. They are encouraged to use the suggestion box to request their preferred music for dancing. |
| Ten Minute Thursday – All classes engage in ten minutes of continuous exercise together in the yard every Thursday. Exercises include skipping, hula hooping, dancing. New ideas are tried out often as possible. |
| Football Free Fridays – The school introduces Football Free Fridays. Every Friday, the footballs are disallowed on the playgrounds, thus giving each pupil a chance to try out new activities. |
| ‘Talking while Walking’ – Staff members encourage students to engage the less active children to move around more during their break times. |
| Friendship Squad – A Friendship squad, comprised of a mix of boys and girls is introduced. Their responsibility is to organize the equipment and lead the younger pupils in activities. Moreover, they encourage all children to be actively involved and engaged in some activity with their peers. They wear high visibility vests with Friendship Squad printed clearly on the back. |
| Yard Buddies promote physical activity and accompany the younger children to the walking path, thus providing them with an opportunity to walk around the area. |
| On rainy days, all teachers create an activity in their classroom to get their children moving. |
| Senior pupils create simple dance routines which are taught to everyone in the gym during the break times on rainy days. Teachers supervise, but pupils themselves lead the dances. |
| A large selection of active dance music and routines are available on the school server and all persons, staff included, are reminded via Skype, to make use of it on rainy days. |
| All children maintain an age-appropriate activity log to record their daily activities. Children aim to complete 60 minutes of daily physical activity, with stickers being awarded to the children who reach that goal. |
| An activity log is completed by children for random two- week blocks, throughout the year. They record all activities in which they participated daily and attempt to do something active each day. Prizes are awarded to those children who make an effort to be active every day, as well as to those who show gains in physical activity. |
| Early Birds on the Move – This is a daily walk which takes 10 to 15 minutes around the school grounds before school starts. Members of the ASC committee lead this walk every morning. |
| Every morning, before the start of class, children complete a physical task, like hopping around the school on one foot/run two laps of the pitch/complete 50 skips etc. Individual teachers decide on the most appropriate task for their age group. |
| Pupils from second grade on participate in Run a Kilometer on Wednesday and Friday mornings at 8am. |
| Between subject transitions, children engage in 2-minute exercises to improve their concentration, balance, posture, flexibility etc. |
| The school organizes an art competition whereby the entire school designs an Active School poster and slogan. All entries are displayed in the individual classrooms. |
| As part of their daily homework assignments, pupils are to engage in ten minutes of physical activity. |
| Each class undertakes at least one educational walk per term. These walks are planned at the start of the year and written into the school calendar. Our school will have established different walking trails for many curricular areas, including a history route, nature trail, active math route, riverbank walk etc. |
| The school organizes an art competition whereby the entire school designs an Active School sticker. All entries will be displayed in the individual classrooms. The winning design will be used for car stickers which are distributed to the parents. |
| Active School Song – Students, with their teachers, compose our Active School song. |
| Class awards/prizes will become more activity-oriented, for example, a trip to the local playground, extra time on the playground, a penalty shoot-out against their teacher/caretaker/Principal. |
| Stop and Hop – During the month of April, the whole school participates in the “Stop and Hop” initiative. Anytime the school bell rings, all pupils stop what they are doing and hop on the spot until a second bell rings. |
| Every-day, following the first bell of each break, the children are encouraged to complete a set physical activity (Monday = scissor jumps, Tuesday = run on spot, Wednesday = activity of personal invention, Thursday = elbow to knee, Friday = teacher discretion) for one minute until the second bell rings. |
| Feel Good Fridays – As part of a positive mental health initiative, the children (and staff) listen and dance to a fun, lively song for Feel Good Fridays. |
| The Big Spring Cleanup – The whole school takes part in cleaning the streets around town. The rubbish collected is then measured and compared each year. |
| A garden club is set up to offer children who are less interested in team-oriented sports a chance to be active and participate in multi-sensory activities such as planting, weeding, watering, feeding and harvesting. |
| The local Police visits the school and gives a talk about road safety to all the classes. |
| The ASC promotes Walk on Wednesdays throughout the school year. Children are encouraged to participate in the walk by wearing high-visibility vests for safety. |
| A Walk to School Passport is made for every child from preschool age to secondary grade. The ASC members monitor the passports and stamp them every time a child walks to school. |
| Fancy Feet Day – children are encouraged to decorate their footwear in an effort to promote walking to school and to develop an enthusiasm for exercise. |
| A questionnaire will be sent home to the parents at the start of the year, requesting feedback on their children’s experiences concerning PE, physical activity and sports in school. The feedback helps in identifying areas for future improvement. |
| A member of the local tennis club (or any other club) organizes a workshop in our school where all classes get the opportunity to take part and get a taste of what the local tennis club has to offer. |
| The school gives children and parents the opportunity to view sports as a positive, safe and respectful experience. |
| The ASC carries out a survey ‘In which clubs do you participate’? |
