Case Study

Recognising the huge benefits that physical activity can have on mental health and wellbeing

Objective:

Recognising the huge benefits that physical activity can have on mental health and wellbeing

Challenges

It has been well documented that children’s mental health and wellbeing will have been affected by the pandemic. In our school, we have had an increase in children who have struggled with stress and anxiety surrounding the pandemic. This has led to difficulties concentrating in class, behavioural issues, and social interaction difficulties. We recognise the huge benefits that physical activity can have on mental health and wellbeing. Physical activity can support self-esteem and happiness whilst also helping to reduce anxiety and increases confidence. We want to be able to support all our children in looking after their health and mental wellbeing and believe that one of the ways we can do this is through increased opportunities for physical activity. Teach Active has provided us with opportunities to keep the children active and moving throughout the day whilst also engaging in learning. It allows us to ensure that children are meeting their 30 active minutes a day each day. The activities can be done at any point in the day and can either be a session that has been specifically planned in or a spontaneous 5-minute activity if the children seem to be struggling and need to get moving.

The children all enjoy taking part in the active maths and English lessons. Each lesson provides children with the opportunity to be active whilst also working towards a specific year group objective.

Mrs Feltham, Headteacher

Recovery Curriculum

For the first half of this year, we have been focussing on a recovery curriculum to address any gaps the children had from the lockdowns. It has been very difficult trying to fit everything in this year however Teach Active has helped to ease this problem. Teach Active has enabled us to provide activities for the children that not only keep them active but also aid our recovery curriculum. There are Maths and English activities that are ready and planned and support the children's working memory by either recapping objectives that have been previously covered in class or objectives that have been missed from the year before.

Our school has really benefitted from having the Teach Active subscription this year. The website is really easy to use and it very clear. The lessons proivde a fun and easy way to get the children active throughout the day. Staff really like that the lessons can just be used as and when the children needs them- they don't require hardly any planning or preparation time.

Sankey Valley St James Primary School, Teacher

Year 4

Year 4 have particularly enjoyed using Teach Active this year. All the children are engaged in the activities, even the children who are sometimes more reluctant in maths/English. The activities cover all levels of abilities and have proved a really popular way of learning in Year 4. When using a Teach Active activity, the children show a good understanding of the objective being covered. We have also found that repeating activities supports the children’s working memory. The lessons can also be adapted to suit the children/learning environment.

Benefits to staff

Staff have found Teach Active very beneficial. The activities are all engaging, active and can be adapted for all abilities. The activities are suitably placed in each year group and hit a lot of the year group objectives. The website is very easy to navigate, and the planning is very easy to follow. The ‘COVID friendly’ option has proved to be extremely useful and takes the stress out of planning activities in-line with government guidelines.

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