The launch aimed to showcase how schools can incorporate the Daily Boost in to their normal day. Making activities available before school, at lunchtime, after school, or during the school day in an 'active lesson'. With the aim to encourage children and young people to walk, run, skip, hop or jump around a set lap or loop at school.Or simply do their favourite sport or activity that gets them active – dancing, cycling, scooting, anything!
Years 1-6 at Brocks Hill got involved, with the pupils taking part in a range of activities such as multi-skills, invasion games, skipping, trim trail, active maths, gardening, dance, tennis, pilates and even Star Wars yoga!
‘Zoom’ the Daily Boost mascot was also introduced to the pupils, and to Faatimah Ismail from Brocks Hill, who won the mascot naming competition. GO GOLD Ambassadorsand supporters of the Daily Boost, Amy Griffiths (1,500m runner)and Ben Dijkstra (triathlete) joined in on the day to celebrate the first school to implement the programme, the two athletes having a genuine interest on why it’s so important to get young people involved in physical activity at an early age.
Asked about how a school can fit such activity in a typical busy day. Brocks Hill Primary School Head Teacher, Michelle Walton said: “Part of the ethos here is not only developing children specifically for fitness but also developing their mental wellbeing. It’s a way of developing lots of strategies to support mental health and we see the impact on children in the school because its not just about the outcome, it’s about building their confidence and resilience”.
Brocks Hill pupil Aiden,was thrilled about the launch and adds how the programme will benefit his school: “The Daily Boost is essential to our wellbeing as it encourages more children to go out in the fresh air and have fun. This strategy also includes children doing exercise which promotes good health”.
Geoff Maltby, Children & Young People Lead at Leicester-Shire & Rutland Sport said:“The Daily Boost is just one of our initiatives, as part of our ‘Active Schools’ programme, to ensure that every young person in Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland receives high quality physical education, school sport and physical activity opportunities for the benefit of their health and well-being.
“Our ultimate long-term aim is for every pupil in every school to engage in the Daily Boost. It’s so easy to do just 15 minutes of activity every day and the long-term benefits to our children and young people’s physical and mental health are huge.”
Leicester-Shire & Rutland Sport, alongside initial funders Leicestershire County Council are pleased to launch the Daily Boost, aprogramme designed to support children and young people in schools and early years settings to become more active.
The Daily Boost is free* and all schools and early years settings can sign up now to receive resources including posters, flyers and classroom wallcharts. After every 'boost' of activity the school records the participation levels on their wallchart and termly on the website for pupils to earn boost bands and certificates! The website also features a Boost Tracker so schools can monitor the number of boost activities and participation numbers undertaken over the term and school year.
For more information and to sign-up to the Daily Boost visit www.lrsport.org/dailyboost
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Notes to Editors
*The Daily Boost is free for Leicestershire schools and early years settings, with a small charge for Leicester City and Rutland Schools.
The Chief Medical Officer recommends that children and young people (5-18 years) should engage in moderate intensity physical activity for at least 60 minutes every day. Being active provides many benefits including improvements to physical and mental wellbeing. 21% of all children aged 5-15 years who had attended school in the last week met the physical activity guidelines of at least 60 minutes of activity each day of the week in 2015**. The Daily Boost is here to tackle and reverse these issues.
**Source: NHS Digital (2018) Health Survey for England 2015: Physical activity in Children. Available at: https://files.digital.nhs.uk/publicationimport/pub22xxx/pub22610/hse2015-child-phy-act.pdf
Leicester-Shire & Rutland Sport are working in partnership with Leicestershire County Council to deliver the Daily Boost. The Daily Boost has been funded by Leicestershire County Council’s Public Health Department.
For more information contact:
Leicester-Shire and Rutland Sport (LRS)
Name: Geoff Maltby, Sports Development Manager
Tel: 01509 564862 / 07780614784
Email: g.maltby@lrsport.org
Or visit: www.lrsport.org/dailyboost
Leicester-Shire & Rutland Sport (LRS)
Leicester-Shire & Rutland Sport is your local network and support team for physical activity and sport across Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland. We want to be the most active place in England, building a healthy and vibrant future for our communities.
Working in partnership, we have a shared commitment to enrich the lives of the residents of LLR by:
- Getting more people to take part in physical activity and sport.
- Improving our citizen's physical and mental well-being.
- Developing our paid and unpaid workforce.
- Creating a strong voice for physical activity and sport.
- Building a physical activity and sport environment that is safe, fair and customer focused.
For more information visit www.lrsport.org
