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Vicky Macqueen is supporting plans for schools to be measured on how much physical activity they provide for kids who have been starved of activity during successive pandemic lockdowns.

If you can show me a parent who has not had to try and cajole their kids into some form of physical activity during this latest lockdown, I’ll be surprised.

Those of us with a back garden or a nearby park have had it easier than those without.

What is fairly obvious is that, as a nation, our children will need to get back to some regular and structured activity as soon as they are allowed back to school and back to classes with organised activity providers.

I have long felt that sports and PE has played second fiddle in terms of priority to more academic lessons in schools. That has been frustrating.

Wellbeing

So, I was delighted to hear that schools could soon be measured over how they prioritise sport, physical activity and wellbeing under new plans to get kids moving again at the end of the lockdown.

Reading about the Daily Telegraph’s ‘Keep Kids Active’ campaign, Government sport minister Nigel Huddleston confirmed that that talks had taken place with the department for education over some form of measurement of a school’s approach to physical activity.

What’s more, those ‘positive’ talks had also been formally backed by Ofsted.

“We are coordinating and trying to push things together,” said Mr Huddleston. “We have heard very positive vibes. They are as keen to get sport and physical activity going again as soon as possible.”

Activity

It’s incredible to think that most of our children have only been in school for three or four months between March 2020 and March 2021.

Hardly surprising then that the physical and mental health of our youngsters has taken a huge hit over the last 12 months.

As the founder and CEO of a children’s sports activity provider like didi rugby, it will come as no surprise that I advocate physical activity, not only to keep our children fit and healthy but to provide them with a positive experience for their mental health too.

I want children to have healthy bodies and healthy minds. Let’s face it, that has been a challenge for us all over the past 12 months.

Lockdown

What is important when lockdown ends and children go back to school is that a genuine commitment to getting them active and having fun is not merely given lip service by schools, Ofsted and the authorities.

Make activities just as important as core curriculum subjects.

And let’s not just give extra time to play sports and do activities during school time, let’s open up school facilities to the local community out of school time too (another of the Telegraph’s aims that I fully support).

If children and parents want to get involved in being active, let there be no barrier to them doing so.

Vaccines

“We are now in the path of re-opening,” said Mr Huddleston. “We want to make sure sport and physical activity is absolutely front in that list.

“With the vaccines rolling out, I think we do have a glidepath to a future that is more optimistic and more sustainable.”

didi rugby is ready and waiting for the green light so let’s hope the schools, supported by the Government and Ofsted are as ready as we are.

After the 12 months we have just had, there is little time to waste. Our children are relying on us.

Watch: Meet our new didi rugby ambassador Jodie Ounsley…

We all have a role to play in making sure our children recover from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, says didi rugby CEO, Vicky Macqueen.

Thankfully, the vast majority of children seem to only get mild symptoms, if any at all, if they get infected by the virus.

But they have most certainly endured long-lasting effects to both their mental and physical health by missing almost half a year of their schooling, as well as being cooped up inside for large parts of that time with few places to burn off their energy.

As a former teacher myself, I have seen at first hand for many years how physically inactive children can sometimes struggle inside a classroom, both with their attainment, confidence and behaviour.

Physical activity

Of course, I am generalising here. As the CEO of a company like didi rugby, I am also clearly biased. Hands up.

But there are few people who could argue that physical activity gets kids moving, gets their heart rate up, improves their fitness and can make them more alert when inside a classroom.

So it was no surprise to see some new research from Sheffield Hallam University showing just how much of a benefit activity can have on school age children.

At didi rugby and for me as an RFU Level 4 coach, qualified PE teacher and Early Learning provider, I really believe we do generally underestimate how much a young child can gain from being physically active from a much earlier age.

It becomes imbedded in them and, part of their DNA, to feel good, happy and confident after exercise. They don’t necessarily know why and they don’t know how, but they know they feel good.

It’s not only kids that benefit. Parents have reported the same feelings after didi classes themselves. One of our major aims across the UK is to educate and support families to all feel better, healthier and more confident in life by taking part in our sessions. The positive effects of physical activity are absolutely massive!

The huge Sheffield Hallam study was on more than 60,000 students and 4,000 teachers and surveyed attitudes to work, physical and mental health.

The researched showed, in many different ways, that helping young people get active can play a vital role in helping them catch up on work missed during the Covid-19 pandemic and in supporting their mental health too.

Fun and activity

The report shows that 92% of staff believed that being physically active helps with school work, while 91% of students felt that physical activity can improve their mental and physical health.

That is fairly unequivocal isn’t it?

Now the national lockdown has ended (and let’s hope it doesn’t need to return) and organised children’s educational sports classes are being backed by the Government, let’s make the most of it.

All of our didi classes are dedicated to getting children that fun and activity they need to keep them fit and active, to get endorphins flowing around their body, get them laughing, interacting with other children their own age and giving them quality fun time with parents, who have had a tough time as well over the last seven months.

My passion is to make everyone’s life a little bit better and even more so now!

Read all about the Sheffield Hallam report here: https://www.shu.ac.uk/news/all-articles/latest-news/research-confirms-being-active-helps-pupils-in-school

VIDEO: Engaged parents getting active with didi rugby to help us fight viruses…

Tag: mental health

Vicky’s Blog – Schools should be measured on physical activity provision