Pupils at a village school have launched their own dedicated daily exercise routine “The Daily Mile” in a bid to beat obesity and improve their health and well-being.
Children from St Peter’s C of E Junior School on Ashworth Avenue are now endeavouring to devote fifteen minutes of every school day to a short run or walk which will help increase their volume of exercise and, experts say, improve their physical, social, emotional and mental health.
For the launch they joined representatives of Rushcliffe Borough Council (RBC), Rushcliffe CCG, Ruddington Mums and Nottingham Wildcats and Team GB basketball star Siobhan Prior – to celebrate now being one of over five thousand schools worldwide which have joined the initiative.
Head Teacher John Mapperley said: “The Daily Mile is such a simple but effective way of improving our pupil’s wellbeing and fitness levels. The children love it! We’ve been wanting to address our pupil’s lack of fitness and stamina. As Elain Wylie, founder of The Daily Mile said: ‘If not us, then who? If not now, then when?'”
Mr Mapperley has also implemented a new shoe policy, allowing children to wear plain black trainers as part of their uniform to encourage increased levels of activity.
Laura Vere of Ruddington Mums commented: “Anything that gets the children moving more than normal is a great idea, setting a good example for the children which will hopefully form a habit that will stay with them for life. The school have really taken this on board and the staff support will make this work.”
Deputy Leader of RBC Cllr Debbie Mason attended the launch and highlighted the importance the campaign can play in children’s wellbeing. She said: “It was great to see the children out in the fresh air having fun with their friends whilst also exercising. This campaign will no doubt provide lots of benefits including making them fitter, healthier and exercise has also proven to aid concentration when they return to the classroom.”
GP Dr Jeremy Griffiths, who’s Clinical Lead for Health and Wellbeing, Prevention and Let’s Live Well in Rushcliffe, gave his backing to the initiative. He advised: “Overweight and obese children are more likely to stay obese into adulthood, and have an increased chance of obesity related diseases. 
Here in Rushcliffe, 1 in 10 children are noted to be obese and we know that for a variety of reasons, childhood obesity is continuing to rise. We believe that building physical activity that is enjoyable and fun into a child’s daily routine is an excellent way to embed a healthy habit throughout their life and alongside healthy diets try to reverse the trends. The Daily Mile is an easy way to do this, and we encourage more schools to look at this as a way that they can have further impact on the issue.”
Team GB’s Siobhan presented each child at the school with a certificate to congratulate them on completing their first Daily Mile last week. She said: “The Daily Mile is such a great way to get children outside to exercise daily and I was really pleased to hand out the certificates. They were incredibly enthusiastic about having the opportunity to increase the time they spend exercising to make them even healthier.”
{TOP PHOTO L-R Back: Siobhan Prior, Dr Jeremy Griffiths, Cllr Debbie Mason, NCC Cllr Reg Adair, Laura Vere, Alex Julian and John Mapperley with St Peter’s pupils front.}
