The Daily Mile
A recent World Health Organisation report, Ending Childhood Obesity, revealed that almost one in 10 children in Ireland is obese. The Irish government has already acted and introduced a sugar tax in our recent Budget but further action is required.
An initiative called The Daily Mile was started in Scotland in 2012 by Elaine Wyllie, a headteacher of a large Scottish Primary school. Both the Scottish and British Governments supported The Daily Mile’s contribution towards the recommended hour that children should spend taking daily exercise. This is a new initiative in Ireland but one we hope will also get government support in time.
To date there are nearly 50 schools in Ireland registered for the Daily Mile & this number is growing fast. We were invited by Kerry Recreation & Sports Partnership to pilot The Daily Mile in Listellick National School back in November 2017 for Kerry. This is following on from our Walk a Marathon initiative which was very successful in 2016.
How It Works: Without wasting time to change into kit, every child in a school goes out each day in the fresh air to run, jog or walk for 15 minutes. It is not competitive: most children will average a mile in that time, with some doing more and some doing less. It is a physical activity which is aimed at improving the children's physical, social, emotional and mental health and wellbeing. It can help children to focus and concentrate in the classroom and raise their attainment.
Start Date: The school commenced their daily mile on Monday 6th November 2017. It is still going strong today and the children enjoy getting out of class daily to complete their mile. As a school we are really excited about this initiative and we are seeing the huge benefits it brings to the children.
Please note that pupils only wear their PE clothes on their designated PE day and wear their uniform every other day.
To find out more about how it all works please visit: www.thedailymile.co.uk.
.jpg)
.jpg)
Walk-a-Marathon
On Monday 27th February 2017 at 10am we had the official launch of our Walk-a-Marathon initiative.
Mr. Jimmy Deenihan, Chairperson of the Kerry Recreation and Sports Partnership, launched the marathon. This fitness promoting initiative will see the school become one of the first primary schools in Ireland to have all of its 200+ pupils completing either a full or half marathon in a non-competitive and fun way.
To complete the ‘Walk-a-Marathon’ challenge the children in senior classes will each walk/jog/run 1km a day for a total of 6 weeks, while the children in junior classes will complete 500m a day over the same period. This will be completed in school from Monday – Friday and continued at home on Saturday & Sunday, with parents & family all playing a part to help the children complete their challenge. School staff are keen to pass on a positive health & fitness attitude in the pupils, building on health initiatives such as Food Dudes already running in the school.
The children are undertook this challenge not only to improve their fitness levels, but also to help raise funds to introduce further fitness initiatives and to purchase P.E. equipment. This unique challenge also provides the children with fantastic learning opportunities across the curriculum from history to maths.
