Activity Type
The Daily Mile
Audience
Children and Young People
Date
March 2019
Location
Medway
Behaviour Improvement
Doing The Daily Mile has greatly reduced disruption in class as it gives pupils the opportunity to talk to teachers outside of the classroom.
Pastoral Benefits
Relationships between teachers and pupils have improved as it gives pupils the opportunity to air any worries they may otherwise keep to themselves.
Improving social skills and leadership
As a small rural school, the whole school goes out together and the older children take great pride in looking after the younger children.
How does The Daily Mile work at your school?
We are a very small school and so the whole school often go out together. We do The Daily Mile every day in the afternoon, and each teacher takes their class out when they are ready. In the summer we go out onto the field, and in the winter, we use the playground. The pupils don’t keep track of how far they have gone—but some of the teachers do!!
How well does The Daily Mile fit in to the existing school day?
It fits in perfectly. We used to do it in the morning, but we have found it is more effective in the afternoon as it gives the pupils a mental break at the right time of the school day. Once a month on a Wednesday morning we also hold an additional Daily Mile first thing in the morning where parents and carers can stay and join in, which gets good engagement from the parents. On these days we still have our Daily Mile in the afternoon-that’s how beneficial we think The Daily Mile is.
What benefits have you seen since introducing The Daily Mile?
It’s great to see the children mixing with other year groups-some have siblings in other year groups, and they do The Daily Mile together. Some of our older pupils also take it upon themselves to go around with the younger children which is a heart-warming sight. Pupils also get the chance to chat to teachers from other classes who they sometimes find it easier to talk to about anything that may be troubling them. Without The Daily Mile, they wouldn’t really get that opportunity so it brings great mental health benefits for our pupils by giving them that opportunity to voice any concerns.
What has been the best thing about introducing The Daily Mile?
Assistant Headteacher Mrs Steer said: “We have found the pastoral side of The Daily Mile has made a massive impact to our pupils and staff. Pupils talking to younger pupils – sharing concerns or worries and talking to adults very freely as they are just walking round the playground together. This has led to happier pupils and staff as it is a time when they feel happy and able to talk about any concerns. This has also reduced the time in class when we as teachers ended up sorting out disagreements between friends or things at home, but The Daily Mile gives time for this to happen”.