InspireU Leadership Programme – West Berkshire Cohort – Supporting Physical Wellbeing During Lockdown

February 26, 2021

InspireU Partnership Newsletter - West Berkshire Schools Leadership Cohort

Supporting Physical Wellbeing During Lockdown

As we are all too keenly aware, the situation we have all found ourselves in over the past year has been incredibly challenging. We have had to adapt to ways of living we never before imagined. It has undoubtedly had an impact on our wellbeing and has affected all of us in different ways. Part of the challenge has been how to keep ourselves and our children physically fit with such limited facilities and mounting restrictions. With gyms, parks, leisure facilities and club sports being closed for months on end, it hasn’t been easy.

For teachers, delivering largely practical subjects, such as PE, online has without doubt been a challenge, but one which teachers across the country have worked incredibly hard to overcome. This newsletter outlines just a handful of the fun and engaging ways this barrier has been overcome by some of the fantastic West Berkshire schools taking part in our InspireU Leadership Programme in order to keep children, families and staff in their school physically healthy.

Article 29 - UNCRC

Article 29 of the UNCRC is a gateway to all other rights. It is every child’s right to have an Education that supports their mind, body and talents to be the best that they can be. We know that physical activity helps the body and mind to develop healthy, happy children and that all children should have opportunities for daily physical activities. All children should also be taught about the benefits of physical activity for their minds and bodies as part of their curriculum. Teaching our children healthy habits for life is essential to their life-long wellbeing and Physical Education is integral to this.

Brookfields School

Adapting to a new way of working is never easy, never mind throwing in a global pandemic, the limitations that brings and that is before we get to our very unique set of learners. At Brookfields SEN School we have been working this term on adjusting our teaching and learning to fit with our learners, who range from age 4 to 19, and have a vast range of needs. One of our main focuses has been the wellbeing of our staff and pupils and from this we knew that movement and a community feel was going to play a vital role in our approach.

Tor, our amazing head of PE, has worked incredibly hard to set up three sessions for individual groups of learners across the whole school. These range from a sensory session ending in a thoughtful massage to energetic and sweat inducing (well in my case!) sessions for our pupils with moderate learning difficulties. To create an inclusive feel both pupils in school and at home are encouraged to participate and our learners love seeing the familiar faces of both staff and friends on their screen. One of the challenges has been to create and test out your own 5 move workout which has been received very well and certainly got my heart pumping.

Our Music Therapist, Anouska has been ahead of the game and has been completing her therapy sessions online for quite a while. One particular student that participates in these sessions thinks it is utterly fabulous to see her on his big television at home and it has reasserted that she is a true music celebrity for our students. These sessions were then opened up, again to both home and school learners, in the form of school music sessions. Anouska has also created before school mindfulness sessions for staff, a no pressure, no camera moment to breathe before the rush of the school day commences. A much-appreciated stillness in the storm.

In addition to these sessions a true highlight of our week has to be the live assemblies that you can find on our YouTube channel. Members of our SLT take it in their stride to create live content for the whole school community, they add in shout outs, guest appearances and share work from home and school learners. The last few have been themed around Task Master and I think many of our community will remember seeing our deputy head crack raw eggs on her head for years to come.

Though challenging, this Lockdown has made us think creatively and instinctively and that one of the most important things to recreate was the community spirit Brookfields has in abundance. Both the Live PE and the assemblies have gone a long way to posting this through those little screens into everyone’s week and I know we all feel a little brighter and sunnier for it.

by Jamie Bonewell and Tor Carter

Denefield School

Bringing Communities Together Through Physical Education

When the third lockdown was announced, I had several questions whizzing around my head; how do we get students active; how do we deliver something that still shows both students and parents that PE is important; what are the logistic of delivering a live PE lesson; how can we still educate young people on the benefits of physical exercise?

‘The answer was for my staff and I to deliver 30-minute, live PE lessons every day / Monday to Friday. Let me set the scene; think Joe Wicks, but in a gym with a laptop, an old mat, two tins of beans and the school WIFI! The response from both the students and parents has been fantastic. Often with students’ siblings, and even on the odd occasion, parents joining in! Being able to not only reach students, but families as well, has allowed us to bring physical exercise to the whole community, creating a sense of unity and fun.

‘Movement, sport and physical activity have an incredible ability to reach into the places we live, reduce social isolation, and build a sense of pride and belonging,’ Sport England 2021.

We extended the sessions to include teachers, student managers and staff still in school, who have been able to come down and join in the socially distanced sessions. Simply adding in 30-minute workouts during the day has created a sense of community between those at home and those in school, creating a united front and putting our wellbeing at the forefront of our lives. And it’s fun! It allows for some social interaction, albeit via a screen and even a short burst of exercise has a positive impact on our mental well-being.

In a time of struggle, physical education has the driving force to increase each child’s and adult’s physical and mental health.

by Jemma Colbourne

The Willink School

The Willink School staff have been completing the February Fitness Fun challenges shown in the picture to support staff well-being. The aim is to upload a montage of staff completing the challenges to students to encourage them to be active!

Students have also been directed to the Kooth website that encourages well being. Tasks included submitting a ‘Feel Good’ song to contribute to a ‘Now That’s What Willink Call Music’ playlist which has been shared with students.

PE staff have also been creating workout videos for core lessons for students to join in with at home. Tasks have ranged from circuits to HIIT training to yoga.

We have introduced a February Fortnight House Challenge to students of all year groups. There are a range of challenges across different subjects for pupils to complete. Examples of these include running or walking 3k, creating the numbers 1-10 in Mandarin using household items and calculating the volume of your home. There have been some great entries in these so far!

By Sophie Hoskins

Theale Green School

TikTok Challenges for Fun Fitness!

As a department, we have used remote learning and social media to really engage, motivate and encourage the community with highly inclusive and achievable activities. Using social media, such as Instagram and TikTok has meant that as a department we massively stepped outside our comfort zone but felt it was really important to reach out to students and families in their homes to have that daily contact and promote physical and mental well-being through regular exercise. Social media has played a really important part in showcasing student’s efforts and providing a sense of connection with the wider school community.

We have been setting daily activities for students, families and staff to take part in and tried to remove barriers, such as using washing baskets as hoops, rolled up socks as target objects to throw, and many more innovative ideas to ensure everyone can take part and no-one is put off by not having the right equipment at home. In addition to this, we have been taking part in weekly Get Berkshire Active virtual school competitions and virtual fixtures against other local schools which has maintained the competitive spirit in our students.

As a staff, we undertook a step challenge for a bit of friendly competition, as well as an opportunity to have a break from screens, and lots of staff used enrichment afternoon time to get out and enjoy a break. This was hugely beneficial as it allowed staff to enjoy a bit of daylight, as well as a chance to get a little bit fitter in the name of House competition!

by Patrick Wall and Tony Blinco

Little Heath School

Inspired Inter School 3Km Running Championships

At Little Heath School we decided to join the Inspired Inter School 3Km challenge which ran from 20th to 29th January. Little Heath would normally have a full fixture list with regular competitions during the calendar year so this appealed to the competitive members of our school community as well as a fun challenge for others. The competition was an international 3Km running race with 32 schools entered from all over the world, from Scotland to Kenya and broken down into year groups 7-13, then males and females. This allowed all pupils, staff and parents to enter.

The challenge was to run 3Km as fast as possible, tracking your run using an app on your phone, such as Strava, then completing a google form and uploading a screenshot of the distance and time. The forms were monitored by the organising school’s staff and each person who entered gained points for their school from 1st place of 150pts descending. An overall leader board allowed everyone to see where their school ranked against all others from across the world.

It was a fantastic way to connect our school community, get people out of their house exercising and helped create a point of distraction from the ongoing situation of lockdown. The challenge was introduced to all PE lessons at the start of the week and emailed to all staff. This gave lessons a discussion point with the year 7 and 8’s really getting behind the competition from the start. With some encouraging parents to come out and run with them. The live leader board meant pupils could check how their time compared to other members of the competition and gave people an opportunity to aim for certain positions.

Overall Little Heath came 5th out of 32, which is a great achievement and we were all really pleased with how well the students took on the challenge. There were entries in each category for pupils and staff, and two of our girls made the podium which was a fantastic achievement as the competition was strong. Well done Little Heath!

by Gareth May

Park House School

Health and Wellbeing at Park House School

As a fairly new teacher to Park House School, I was pleasantly surprised that we have Health and Wellbeing lessons for years 7 and 8, as this is one of the few schools that I know who offers this as a discrete part of the curriculum. Having taken a year 7 class throughout my first year of teaching here, I feel an important aspect is that we start by easing the new students into secondary school by helping them to build connections and break down the confidence barriers.

Throughout the year we build on developing the understanding and highlight the importance of non-curriculum topics, to name a few developing knowledge on mental health issues, the importance on being active and maintaining a healthy balanced diet. It’s not to say that other subjects don’t include or touch on these various topics but these Health and Wellbeing lessons combined with our Character and Value lessons emphasise how important it is to talk about social aspects and create ways that we can effectively respond to everyday demands.

By being involved in the InspireU programme and especially during a time where Covid-19 has made it prevalent that everyone’s health and wellbeing is vital, the course has highlighted this relevance and made me question how, as teachers and schools as a whole, not only can we help students, but everyone involved in the school setting.

by Rosie Tregear

Physical Activity - The Benefits

Daily physical activity helps children develop in a number of ways. It doesn’t just support their physical health, it also helps to improve their brain function and emotional wellbeing. Children who engage in daily physical activity enjoy improved relationships and a more positive body image.

Regular physical activity helps a child’s fundamental movement skills i.e. Physical literacy.
It helps strengthen the heart muscle and lowers blood pressure levels and maintains a healthy body.
It plays an important role in developing the brain and supporting essential mental functions, hand-eye co-ordination, better thinking and problem solving, stronger attention skills and improved and sustained learning.
It can help greatly with maintaining mental well being. Feel good chemicals (endorphins) are released by the brain during physical activity which helps to improve mood, energy levels and sleep. Together, all these effects help to improve self confidence and resilience