Few, if any people will have complete physical, mental and social wellbeing all the time. This week as we move back into lockdown, Trevor Smith, senior member of the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity, talks about the importance of keeping children active
AS we find ourselves in a new lockdown period where grassroots sport and community activity sessions have been cancelled, I would like to talk about the work of the County Durham Active 30 Campaign.
This programme targets childhood activity levels across the region and is facilitated by County Durham Sport, working in partnership with several different local organisations.
This is an extremely important programme as it aims to help schools, parents and carers in County Durham support young people to meet the Chief Medical Officer’s guidelines on the frequency, intensity, duration and types of physical activity at different life stages, from early to later years.
The current guidelines recommend that children participate in 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity activity every day at school and 30 minutes every day at home. Benefits are accrued over time, but it is never too late to gain health benefits from taking up any amount of physical activity.
Once again it is an important time to support all young people to be active. Benefits of physical activity include strong bones and muscles, healthy heart, lungs and arteries, improved coordination, balance, posture and flexibility, as well as a reduced risk of becoming overweight or obese.
Physical activity not only supports the physical health of a child, but it also promotes social, mental, and emotional wellbeing. Evidence also suggests it can boost cognitive function and engagement in academic learning. However, research conducted by the Youth Sport Trust found that for the last two academic years prior to the outbreak of Covid-19, only 40 per cent of children achieved 30 minutes of moderate intensity activity within the school day.
The Active 30 is supported by County Durham Sport, Education Durham (Durham County Council), Durham University, Durham and Chester-le-Street School Sport Partnership, School Games Organisers, Premier Education, Public Health (DCC) Culture, Sport and Tourism (DCC), Youth Sport Trust and Area Action Partnerships (DCC).
I am trying to increase awareness of the programme as currently only 30 schools across the entire region have taken advantage of the resources provided. Therefore, I am asking all parents reading this to highlight the Active 30 campaign with your child’s school. Ask if your school has pledged to be an Active 30 school during this academic year.
On the County Durham Sport website, the Active 30 Durham Hub has sections for Schools and Home to provide a centralised bank of resources created within this central hub to support with inspiration on how to embed physical activity into young people’s lives.
SCHOOLS
The ‘Schools’ section has content and activities related to Active Start and Finish, Active Curriculum, Active Programmes as well as case studies from four flagship schools Byerley Park Primary School in Newton Aycliffe, Nettlesworth Primary School in Chester-le-Street, Acre Rigg Academy in Peterlee and Moorside Primary School in Consett.
Schools can pledge to become an Active 30 school and will receive awards if they meet the below criteria:
• The activity level is to be sustained for a full term
• All activity should be organised by your school
• Activity must be between moderate and vigorous intensity levels
• 100% of children must reach the activity level everyday
Children and Young People’s lead for County Durham Sport, Joe Armstrong said: “Obviously, another fantastic element of the Active 30 is the resources that parents, and guardians can also take advantage of to engage their children outside of school. Parental support in children’s physical activity is well known to be pivotal in ensuring they are on the right path growing up.
"There are obviously cases across the country at the moment where students and in more extreme cases, whole year groups, are being asked to stay off school for long periods of time, so it is fundamental that we promote resources that can be used outside of the classroom and outside of school sports halls. We have a brilliant team of individuals working for a range of different organisations for the Active 30 and I cannot stress enough just how much of a lifeline these resources could be to some schools and parents not only in the month ahead during the lockdown period, but throughout this academic year and beyond.”
PARENTS
The ‘Home’ section activities are split into key stages of education with additional resources for mental health and emotional support and for special educational needs. Within each key stage, resources are then split into physical activity, school games and PE.
To view all the Active 30 Durham Hub resources, visit www.countydurhamsport.com or email hello@countydurhamsport.com
Trevor Smith works at Premier Education supporting primary schools to improve children’s health and wellbeing.
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