St Brendan’s National School, Republic of Ireland

181 out of 181 children take part in The Daily Mile. Like all schools, we have children with medical needs, from type 1 diabetes to asthma to hemophilia, but they all make an effort to complete The Daily Mile every day.

We have had such a positive experience with The Daily Mile initiative. Children ask eagerly, “When are we doing The Daily Mile?” and never allow the teacher to forget. It can be a welcome bit of fresh air after hard work, and can simply clear your head of the cobwebs.

We made up a motto “The Daily Mile will make you smile”, believing that it lifts the mood of the children and teachers. Children who are usually reserved in class have surprised teachers with chat on this informal jog and you wouldn’t believe the amount of children that have learnt how to tell time, by simply waiting for their daily 15 minutes of running to arrive. Senior infants have been known to remind their teacher at 12.15PM, “Teacher! It’s time for The Daily Mile!” There have been days where the weather has been unkind, but we just zip up our coats and get on with it! During stormy weather, we put down four cones in the school hall, and ran circuits there instead, as the children simply didn’t want to miss their daily running slots.

Since starting The Daily Mile, we have noticed a very positive effect on children’s learning, concentration and focus, especially when run first thing in the morning, surprisingly. When asked ‘What your favourite thing at school is?’, the children agreed it was The Daily Mile.