Daily mile | Mumsnet

Flyingdaisy · 2021-09-18T08:16:28+00:00

Is it worth it, or have you tried and ditched it? Have you seen an impact on pre covid attainment?

phlebasconsidered · 18/09/2021 10:25

I bloody hate it. It's just another thing to squeeze in that supposedly takes 15 minutes but doesn't (just like crappy Mrs Wordsmith and bloody pointless meditation).Year 6 hate it and moan and it's done nothing for their concentration or fitness.

What does work is getting my mad Bobs to run to the fence and back outside my classroom if they are fidgety. But not the Bob who makes a break for it. He has to walk by me for daily mile in case he runs away or hits someone.

ProfSprout · 18/09/2021 11:29

It’s a useful ‘brain break’ (remember those?!) but so are lots of other things.

I read an article about it - it came from 1 school in Scotland I think, there’s not any actual evidence about it in the way it’s been rolled out in lots of schools.

drspouse · 18/09/2021 22:41

I saw some children in the school next to my DS' school doing this the other day. It looked a lot like they were going to go round the playground till they did their allotted number of circuits each, but then some would always be slower (and the girls were mainly in open top Mary Jane type shoes so would get wet feet) and would be left outside being miserable when everyone else had finished (I didn't stay to see though).

notHarris · 18/09/2021 23:02

No it's the latest trendy thing that we're supposed to make time for, I'd sooner they were just given an extra play time and plenty of things to play with. Encourage fitness and creativity at the same time!
My class of children all with severe additional needs really don't have a clue what they're out there for...... it confuses and stresses them out because we're on the playground but we won't let them play.

Homez · 19/09/2021 07:39

Agree with others - it’s another routine to slot into the timetable. 5 minutes after registration, they are all queuing up again to go outside…boots on boots off..back to cloakroom..back to class. By the time lessons start, 45 minutes of the day is gone.

RuleWithAWoodenFoot · 19/09/2021 11:32

We used to do it in my old school. We had a lovely field with a running track. It didn't help settle children in to learning in the classroom, but if we did it just before lunch, it reduced the number of playground 'incidents'. This is entirely anecdotal though, and it was used as part of a big PSHE push on mental health, building relationships and so on. It also got a number of staff members into running - a few did a half marathon together after the first year.

My current school has a tiny playground, it just wouldn't work. Also no time.

notHarris · 19/09/2021 13:59

@RuleWithAWoodenFoot

We used to do it in my old school. We had a lovely field with a running track. It didn't help settle children in to learning in the classroom, but if we did it just before lunch, it reduced the number of playground 'incidents'. This is entirely anecdotal though, and it was used as part of a big PSHE push on mental health, building relationships and so on. It also got a number of staff members into running - a few did a half marathon together after the first year.

My current school has a tiny playground, it just wouldn't work. Also no time.

My ds school has a purpose made running track for it, which seems a bit better. At our school we just run round and round a small, rectangular playground. It's a constant battle to keep the kids running rather than going into "playtime" mode.

AFallingStar · 19/09/2021 17:47

We have a track for it. Much better than the playground... I like that it breaks up the afternoon, but it does take more than 15 mins- the track is big so getting them all back in the line without crossing the field takes ages sometimes. I prefer doing something like jump start Jonny in the classroom but the kids love the daily mile. And I think as I'm making them run (or at least go faster than my walking pace) it must be doing something for their fitness...

WarriorN · 20/09/2021 09:27

It's the latest trend.

Most primaries got rid of afternoon play and then realised they need to break up the long afternoon....

I'm in sen and the children do love it and desperately need it for a variety of reasons. Our children need a lot of outdoor time. But also we have no afternoon play.

It's had various other incarnations under other names.

We did have a very keen staff member in charge of it who began to turn it into quite an event; they children worked towards a whole school mini "marathon."