Peakirk cum Glinton C of E Primary School, England

230 pupils from Peakirk cum Glinton C of E Primary School have been completing The Daily Mile since April 2019. All children do The Daily Mile at their own pace and questionnaires have revealed that nearly all the children who answered said they felt healthier since taking part. Children in the younger classes in particular are constantly asking “When are we doing our Daily Mile?”.

We complete The Daily Mile on our all-weather track which has been laid into the school field, and was officially opened by ex-pupil Luke Steele (Goalkeeper, Nottingham Forest, currently on loan to Millwall), who took time out of his busy schedule to come and cut the red tape.

The biggest barrier for us was finding curriculum time to dedicate to The Daily Mile. This was overcome with the support of our headteacher who presented research to staff regarding the benefits of exercise on brain power! Once it was made clear that all teachers were expected to make it happen it became much easier for us.

We did experience some less active children in the beginning looking for excuses not to participate (needing the toilet, bad ankle etc.), however these excuses didn’t last long and the handful of children making these excuses now run and run and run! We don’t have any children trying to avoid it now – even as the weather has got colder it hasn’t deterred.

Parents have access to our school track before and after school and often we see parents and their children running or walking their own Daily Mile before or after school (admittedly more in the summer months than in the winter!!).