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