My school run

Letters | Published in The TES on 8 August, 2008 | By: Helen Pritchard

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I was interested to read Anthony Seldon’s article advocating regular exercise for children (Comment, July 25). I teach at a small rural school and three years ago instigated a daily run before work for my Year 5/6 class, which has now been extended to the whole junior school (approximately 40 children).

We begin gradually, with weekly increases until everyone is running circuits of the school grounds for 10 minutes. Pupils keep a log, noting the duration, their emotions, performance and even the weather. They maintain a regular pace - they must be able to chat to friends as they run, and must continue to run for the target duration.

I have seen children gain in fitness and self-esteem and come to lessons energised and ready to learn.

At the end of last term, we added up our total running time for the school year and found we’d each run for a total of two days - that put a smile on everyone’s faces.

Helen Pritchard, Class teacher, Llanvihangel Crucorney County Primary School, Pandy, Monmouth.