Fairfield Primary School in Cockermouth, Cumbria, won the Healthy School of the Year prize at the 2019 Tes Schools Awards.
The school uses its idyllic local environment to its advantage, but, as headteacher Chris Steele points out, there are a variety of ways to put health and wellbeing at the heart of the curriculum.
Make sure you raise the profile of active learning so that there are various opportunities throughout the day for pupils to take their lessons outdoors. Teachers should try to ensure that pupils can be active as part of their learning in every curriculum area - whether that be an outdoor spelling test where pupils jump on the spot to “jog” their memory, or a treasure hunt for maths clues in the playground.
2. Offer a wide range of activities
Give children a broad range of different activities to try. Avoid limiting choices to staples such as football, rugby and hockey - consider what new activities children might like to try, from cheerleading to orienteering. If every child has the opportunity to find an activity that they enjoy, this will improve their general fitness and engagement with activity over the long term.
3. Maximise your local environment
Mr Steele acknowledges that Fairfield Primary is unusually blessed in its location, surrounded by lakes and mountains. Nonetheless, outdoor learning can enrich the school day in any environment, both urban and rural. If your school is city-based, it may be worth visiting a local canal, which can have a wealth of flora and fauna to explore. And, if you are lucky enough to work in a coastal school, a visit to the beach could provide fascinating opportunities to observe marine plants and wildlife.
4. Engage Parents
Engaging with parents means that the ethos of a healthy lifestyle is also embedded for pupils at home. This could mean inviting parents into school to try a new activity with their child, or using activity passports with a list of suggested sports and games to try with parents and carers, as Fairfield Primary does. The school has even run workshops on preparing nutritious meals and snacks with pupils and parents, featuring peanut butter caterpillars and other treats.
5. Involve children in decision-making
As anyone who has ignored a nagging reminder email to renew January’s gym membership knows, a didactic approach to health and fitness is rarely effective, and the same goes for young pupils. Asking them what they would like to try and involving them in core decision-making can mean they are far more engaged in the activities on offer.
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