Press Release: Jesse Lingard goes back to school for Sport Relief

Manchester United star surprised students by swapping the pitch for the playground.


Wednesday, 14 March 2018 – Pupils from a primary school in Manchester were left open-mouthed today as they were treated to a surprise visit from Manchester United star, Jesse Lingard.

The midfielder swapped the pitch for the playground as he joined a group of excited schoolchildren as they ran and jogged a for 15 minutes together outside in the fresh air. Putting Jesse through his paces, the visit marked the return of Sport Relief to schools across the UK, which this year is taking place across a whole week from 17th to 23rd March.

Lingard said, “It’s brilliant that Sport Relief is trying to get kids more active. Today was fun and everyone had loads of energy at the end.”

It just shows that you don’t have to be on the pitch for 90 minutes to stay healthy and happy, 15 minutes of exercise a day can make a big difference, whatever your age.”

This year, Sport Relief is teaming up with The Daily Mile Foundation to encourage children to be more physically active every day and get fit for life. The Daily Mile encourages primary-aged children to run or walk for 15 minutes every day which has been credited with improving the physical, social, emotional and mental wellbeing of children across the UK and beyond.

For more information on how your school can get active and fundraise for this year’s Sport Relief, go to sportrelief.com.

ENDS.

 

For more information, interview requests or imagery, please contact:

Miranda Drew                   (+44)7713 346 812

Media Zoo                              [email protected]

Holly Eager                         (+44)7825 315 284

The Daily Mile                       [email protected]

St Clare’s Primary School – Co. Dublin

Fact File

Name of school: St Clare’s Primary School

Address: Harold’s Cross Rd, Dublin 6W D6W WC86

The Daily Mile start date in your school: 26th February 2014

 

How many children in your school participate in The Daily Mile?

Wednesdays at 8am – 2nd to 6th class participate (130 children approximately)

Fridays – Whole school (296 children)

 

Where do you do The Daily Mile?

The field, playground and hall. We use the playground if the field is too wet. We also use the school hall on Wednesday mornings for circuit training if it is raining.

 

How many times a week does your school participate in The Daily Mile? 

Once a week during winter months and twice a week during summer months.

 

Your school’s experience of The Daily Mile

The school organised a school recreational activity called The Daily Mile where children from second class to sixth class were invited to take part in. This activity was differentiated for children of different needs and fitness by having groups of varied paces with teachers and SNA’s encouraging and leading the group so that a pace could be set and maintained. This ensured inclusivity for all children.

The children receive a certificate for participation. The children and staff thoroughly enjoy this initiative and the benefits are huge. Children are more enthusiastic, more focused in class and everybody is in good form.

 

Did you encounter any barriers to getting started with The Daily Mile?

We renewed our Active School Flag in June 2017. All our initiatives had to be reviewed and we noticed that while children were enjoying the The Daily Mile initiative not all children in our school were getting the opportunity to take part.

Some children were not able to reach school twice a week at 7:50am. Therefore, we changed the format of our initiative – The Daily Mile now takes place on a Wednesday morning at 8am for children from 2nd – 6th class and on Fridays it happens during the school day.

Each class (Junior Infants – 6th class) has a time slot during the day where they can use the field/playground to carry out The Daily Mile. This ensures that every child in the school is now accessing the initiative at least once a week.

 

Since starting The Daily Mile, what differences, if any, have you noticed in the children and across your school?

 

In general, the children are more energetic and focused. They thoroughly enjoy The Daily Mile and parents have commented on their children’s new love of exercise. Children’s fitness has improved greatly and this is very evident during Physical Education lessons and during our extra-curricular activities/competitions.

We saw an increase in the number of children signing up to our school teams such as Athletics, Hurling, Camogie and Football. In general, the attendance and punctuality in our school has improved since we started our Active Programme.

                      

 

What has been the reported impact of The Daily Mile on such things as the children’s learning, concentration, focus, behaviour, mood and relationships?

 

Teachers and parents have found the children more focused on the days they participate in The Daily Mile. Attendance and punctuality in the school has improved since the The Daily Mile initiative was introduced back in 2014.

There is a great atmosphere throughout the school and children are happy and parents are commenting on how the children are dying to get into school in the mornings!

 

Can you tell us about any successful links you have made between The Daily Mile and your curriculum?

Class teachers use The Daily Mile on Fridays for revision of spellings and tables. Children really enjoy this activity and it helps them to improve their teamwork skills.

 

Quotes from Parents

“Delighted with the morning run which has Eamonn enthusiastically jumping out of bed to go to school”

“Exercising daily, making it a part of everyday life”

“Wants to get up earlier for The Daily Mile, is more enthusiastic and has more energy”

“The children are more involved and enjoying the activities”

“My daughter wants to get up earlier in order to get to school earlier because of her change in attitude and her new love for exercise”

“The Daily Mile in the morning time is a great way for my child to start the day he loves it and it makes him more alert at the start of the day”

“Great encouragement given to students by teachers to take part in and increase physical activity”

Castleknock Educate Together National School – Co. Dublin

Fact File

  • Where we’re based: Castleknock, Dublin
  • When we started The Daily Mile: February 2015
  • Who participates in The Daily Mile: All of our classes apart from the junior and seniors.

 

Our Experience of The Daily Mile

  • We started The Daily Mile back in 2015 and have continued to do it ever since.
  • Both our first and second classes are doing it almost every day. Third and fourth class are doing it a few times a week as are 5th and 6th classes. As the weather gets better they can see a lot of classes getting back into it.
  • For The Daily Mile we run on the tarmac in the yard where we have marked out a lap of about 150 meters. The students are told to aim for 10 laps of the track.
  • The time of day the classes run The Daily Mile vary but usually classes run between 1.30pm and 1.45pm.
  • All the students who are involved in The Daily Mile always have great fun and really enjoy getting outside for an extra 15 minutes a day.

 

                       

 

Benefits We’ve Noticed

  • Children could run more laps after two months of doing The Daily Mile.
  • Benefits crossed into Maths and Geography by adding our combined total distance we have run and mapping the radius.
  • It breaks up the afternoon which is great because it can be very long for the younger pupils.

 

Our Staff’s Feedback

“We ran three days a week and I thought it was really good especially for the kids who wouldn’t see themselves as ‘sporty’ because it wasn’t about winning just trying to improve every week!”

“The students were more alert in class after running The Daily Mile and it is something we always look forward to doing.”

“It wakes everybody involved up for the day. The children are more energetic afterwards is what I see myself and hear from other teachers, too”.

“There are great benefits. In one case we have found it to improve better coordination, posture, stamina for a child with special needs. The parents talked about her being able to sit upright unsupported on the sitting room floor, extra energy in the evenings and better sleep at night.” – Vice Principal

 

                 

Snugboro National School – Castlebar, Co. Mayo

Fact File

  • Where we are based: Castlebar, County Mayo
  • When we started: Our school started taking part in The Daily Mile in October 2016.
  • All classes in the school take part from Junior Infants to 6th class.

 

Our Experience of The Daily Mile

Each day we use the running track around our school football pitch to run The Daily Mile.

The students and teachers take part in The Daily Mile five days a week.

There are currently a total of 298 children in the school and they all take part in The Daily Mile.

 

                                 

Benefits We’ve Noticed

The key benefits we have found with The Daily Mile is the increased fitness and concentration levels of the students in the classroom.

An increase of energy of the students towards their work when they come in after their run is definitely noticable.

There is also a general good attitude towards The Daily Mile and towards their own well-being.

Scoil Bhríde – Co. Cavan, Ireland

Scoil Bhríde

Scoil Bhríde Daily Mile

Fact File

  • Where we’re based: Portaliffe, Killeshandra, Co. Cavan, Ireland
  • A description of our school: Scoil Bhríde is a co-educational primary school where all classes from Junior Infants to 6th Class are taught
  • Children in school doing The Daily Mile: The whole school participated in the Daily Mile
  • Where we run: We used both playgrounds. 3rd to 6th classes walked, jogged and ran. Infants to 2nd classes took part in games and stations
  • Month/year we started The Daily Mile: May 2017

Our Experience of The Daily Mile

It was very inclusive, suited all ages and abilities. It particularly suited those who are not interested generally in physical activities.

It was fun, social and non-competitive. Both children and staff looked forward to it every day. It was a great way to promote physical health and fitness.

 

Benefits We’ve Noticed

There were clear improvements in the children’s fitness levels and it helped to improve concentration in the classroom.

Our Children’s Feedback

“I thought The Daily Mile was fun, energizing and sporty.” – Bobby 5th class

“It made us all fitter. I would love to do it again.” – Aaron 4th class

“The Daily Mile was fun. It was good. I liked it. Follow the leader for me was the best.” – Noah 2nd class

“I think The Daily Mile was brilliant because I got fitter and it was fun to try and beat my highest amount of laps each time.” – Oran 5th class

Our Staff’s Feedback

“I, as a teacher, really enjoyed participating in The Daily Mile. I looked forward to it each day. It refreshed both the class and myself which improved concentration levels later in the day. The general fitness levels increased noticeably amongst the children also.” – 3rd/4th class teacher

“The Daily Mile was a great way to get the whole school moving at the same time. It was a great learning curve.” – 1st/2nd class teacher

“The Daily Mile is a good initiative to promote more exercise in school. It was easy to organise and the children really enjoyed it and looked forward to it each day.” – Junior class teacher

Scoil Bhride Daily Mile

Press Release: Founder of The Daily Mile wins Children and Young People Award

Elaine Wyllie won the award during last night’s London Sport Awards
at Wembley Stadium.

Elaine was celebrated for her outstanding contribution to encouraging London’s young people to become more physically active.

A former head teacher, Elaine founded The Daily Mile in 2012. It has now grown to more than 3,000 schools, including 310 schools in London.

Elaine said, “This is a fantastic honour for the whole Daily Mile team, which is committed to helping children get fit and healthy outside in the fresh air. I’m really proud of the teachers and children across London who are making The Daily Mile happen every day.”
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Elaine Wyllie, former head teacher and founder of The Daily Mile, was awarded the Children and Young People Award from London Sport last night at Wembley Stadium. Elaine was recognised for her work in encouraging children and young people in London to lead physically active lifestyles, through her charitable foundation The Daily Mile.
The London Sport Awards celebrate grassroots physical activity and sport across the capital, striving to be the #MostActiveCity. The Children and Young People Award recognises projects that apply a creative approach to incorporating regular physical activity into daily routines, encouraging participation from under-represented groups and resulting in a positive impact on the lives, health and wellbeing of young people in London.

Elaine says, “I’m absolutely thrilled to have won. It’s a fantastic honour for The Daily Mile team to be recognised for our commitment to helping children and young people across London get fit and healthy. I’m really proud of the teachers and children across London who are making The Daily Mile happen every day.”

The Daily Mile is a simple, free, but profoundly effective concept where school children run or jog for 15 minutes every day. There are 310 schools in London taking part in The Daily Mile.
Elaine founded The Daily Mile in 2012 when she was head teacher of St Ninians Primary School in Stirling. She had become increasingly concerned about the lack of fitness in her students. Within just four weeks, fitness levels had dramatically increased, attention levels and behaviour in class improved and parents commented that their children were more active and alert and were sleeping much better.

In just six short years, The Daily Mile has spread to more than 1,800 schools across the UK and over 3,000 schools around the world.
Elaine has since retired from teaching and has dedicated herself to introducing The Daily Mile to schools across the UK and abroad. She is passionate about improving the physical, social, mental and emotional health and wellbeing of our children.

The Irish Daily Mile team would like to congratulate Elaine and all her colleagues on this fantastic achievement.