Double Paralympian Sam Ruddock Launches the Daily Mile at the Pathfinder Primary School
Thursday 19th September saw double Paralympian, Sam Ruddock launch The Daily Mile at The Pathfinder Primary School in the new town of Northstowe. All of the 160 pupils enjoyed an inspirational assembly from Sam, learning the ‘Sam Shake’ and the ‘Sam Chant’!
Sam is current training as a sprint cyclist for selection to the C1 classification, in the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo. However, he is multi talented, starting his Paralympian career as a sprinter in the 2012 Paralympics before moving to representing GB in the shot put in the 2016 Paralympics.
Headteacher Mrs Redgate is keen to ‘focus on not just children’s physical health but also their mental health’ and felt that The Daily Mile does just this! The school will eventually cater for over 600 pupils and very much wants to set the trend of regular daily physical activity for all of its pupils.
The Daily Mile, founded in 2012 by Scottish Headteacher Elaine Wyllie, sees children jog or run at their own pace for 15 minutes daily. Its strength is the simplicity of the initiative, with children going straight from the classroom to the playground or field. Since January the number of schools taking up The Daily Mile has nearly doubled to 69, as the benefits are being seen; children noticeably fitter, able to concentrate for longer and showing increased resilience.
Pathfinder Headteacher, Stephanie Redgate said of why they are starting The Daily Mile, ‘it is really important to us to get the children physically active in different ways, to link into the curriculum and The Daily Mile does this, through short bursts of activity’.
Sam Ruddock, double Paralympian, feels that The Daily Mile , ‘is great because it gets children outside for 15 mins, they don’t have to get changed, the main thing for them (the pupils) is that they are active, they are happy, having fun and making some more friends along the way’.
For more details regarding the Daily Mile please get in touch with Ali Cope, The Daily Mile Local Coordinator for Living Sport: alicope@livingsport.co.uk
