Dear parents and carers
The Daily Mile
You will probably be aware of recent concerns around physical inactivity and childhood obesity. As they go through primary school, many children put on weight and, across the UK, around 35% of pupils in their final year of primary are categorised as overweight or obese. Experts have described this as an epidemic and a crisis that must be tackled before it is too late.
However, there is an initiative called The Daily Mile which started in February 2012 by Elaine Wyllie, who was then a headteacher in Scotland. She was concerned by children’s lack of fitness and went on to prove The Daily Mile to be both sustainable and effective in improving activity levels and obesity in school.
The Daily Mile is very simple to start in schools. Without wasting time to change into kit, children go out into the fresh air to run, jog or walk for 15 minutes. It is not competitive: most children will average a mile in that time, with some doing more and some doing less. It is not PE, sport or cross-country but a physical activity which is aimed at improving children’s physical, social, emotional and mental health and well being. It can also help children to focus and concentrate in the classroom and raise their attainment.
Since 2015, The Daily Mile has been adopted by over 1,600 schools in the UK and interest from Belgium and the Netherlands has been expressed.Therefore, we would like to introduce The Daily Mile, and it’s health and well being benefits, for the children at St Martin’s.
In Year 1 we have begun our Daily Mile four mornings a week at 9.15am. The children do not need to change into trainers as the activity is no different to the running around that they do during playtime. Already the children are really enjoying taking part with lots of chatting and excitement.
As a school we are really excited about this new initiative and we are looking forward to the benefits it will bring to your child/children. To find out more we strongly recommend you visit the website: www.thedailymile.co.uk.
Telling the Time
Your child may have already come home and told you about how we are going to work on telling the time in Year 1. Each class has some watches and every week a group of children will be allocated to be ‘time monitors.’ They will get to wear a watch and help their teacher keep track of time throughout the day. The rest of the children are encouraged to use the classroom clocks.
We are also using timers in the Discovery Zone for certain activities linked to the money that we are using eg. 5 minute turns in the playdough for 10p and 10 minutes in the construction area which will help the children develop a sense of the duration of time.
Library Trips
We still require additional help for our trips to the library. If you are able to join us please let your class teacher know as soon as possible.
Tuesday 23rd Janurary – Miss Horsepool and Mrs Bramley’s classes
Friday 26th January – Mrs Boscher’s class
We shall be leaving on the buses at 9.15am and will be back at school for 11am.
Discovery Zone Open Afternoons
We would like to invite you to come into school to join your child for a session in the Discovery Zone so that they can show you their learning and give you the opportunity to see them in action!
The dates are as follows:
Tuesday 30th January @ 2.00-2.45pm- Miss Horsepool’s class
Wednesday 31st January @ 2.00-2.45pm – Mrs Bramley’s class
Friday 2nd February @ 2.00-2.45pm – Mrs Boscher’s class
Rainbow Maths Targets
Your child has brought home a letter explaining their new Rainbow Maths Target. This term we are working on doubling numbers. We will then move on to halving even numbers. Click here for some online activities which you can do to help your child at home.
Keyrings
We are finding that lots of children have bookbags with a lot of keyrings on them. This means that their trays do not shut properly and it makes it difficult for other children to open and shut their trays. Please could we ask that children choose just one keyring to have on their bag.
Many thanks
Year 1 team