Ensure all pupils understand the relationship between physical health and wellbeing
As with any other intervention, ensure that you devise effective ways to monitor the impact of work related to increasing physical activity and promoting healthy eating.
To evidence success against this benchmark you will need to demonstrate the impact of your programme on children and young people in terms of both developing knowledge and understanding and making sustainable improvements in their levels of physical activity and dietary and sleeping habits.
Some examples might include:
- records of pupils’ increased levels of physical activity – for all pupils and/or hard-to-reach groups
- evidence of high levels of – or increases in – pupils’ awareness and knowledge around the importance of physical activity and sleep and what constitutes a healthy diet (this might come from regular questionnaires, surveys, etc.)
- evidence of improvements in children’s diets or sleep habits – from food and sleep diaries, parental surveys, monitoring of school food choices, etc.
- increased levels of active travel to and from school
- student reports of how involvement in activities linked to promoting physical health has affected their food choices, sleeping habits and levels of activity
- evidence of increases in pupils’ knowledge of what they can do to help themselves to relax both before bed and at other times.
Remember in each case to describe the impact of your actions (that is, what difference they made) and not just what you did.
Our levels of physical activity, what we eat and how much we sleep all have a direct effect on our wellbeing. Not only do they affect our physical wellbeing but they also impact how we feel about ourselves.
For example, achievement in both competitive and non-competitive physical activity can increase our sense of self-worth, while poor sleep can lead to depression and vice versa.
Even things like making healthy choices about diet can promote a sense of agency through taking control and making positive decisions about our own wellbeing. Discussing how taking care of our bodies also contributes to our mental health is valuable in encouraging pupils to think holistically about wellbeing.
Intentions are actions you intend to take in order to improve your provision in this benchmark. Choose three intentions to focus on.
As well as having a positive effect on academic performance, evidence shows that taking part in physical activity improves self-esteem and confidence.
The UK Chief Medical Officer recommends that all children and young people should engage in moderate to vigorous physical activity for at least 60 minutes each day and across the week. However, the majority of children and young people do not meet this target.
Schools should take a whole-school approach towards promoting physical activity, explicitly linking activities to teaching about its benefits. You should ensure that staff are confident to support physical activity across the school day and provide training if necessary and engage with students to ensure that activities are tailored to their needs and preferences.
Top tips
- Create active environments – integrate as much access as possible to open spaces, parks and playgrounds into the school day.
- Incorporate physical ‘breaks’ across the day – short periods in which children and young people can engage in a range of physical activities. Incorporate regular movement such as stretching to aid relaxation and focus throughout the day.
- Sign the school up to the Daily Mile and encourage all staff and students to participate.
- Many local leisure centres offer junior memberships for 11–15-year-olds. Check out what is available locally and invite staff to visit the school to talk about the range of activities they offer.
- Bring in outside practitioners to run a range of classes including dance, tai chi, yoga, etc and to lead games and activities as well as traditional sports.
Further resources
- School Games has a toolkit to support schools to help pupils have positive experiences of physical activity.
- Review the Public Health England guidance on what works in schools to increase physical activity.
- Download the Being active resources for primary schools.
Certain groups such as girls, children with disabilities, those from minority ethnic groups and LGBT young people all have lower levels of physical activity than their counterparts and this contributes to health inequalities. Other young people may have had negative experiences or find it harder to access activities because of disabilities or SEND.
To reach the least active groups, ensure that the school presents sport and physical activity as part of everyday life, rather than just the preserve of elite athletes and the ‘naturally’ sporty.
Offer non-competitive options to take pressure off more reluctant students and focus on personal achievement and improvement rather than ‘winning’. Consult students about what would interest them and try to meet as many of their preferences as possible – perhaps by forging links with local sports and leisure centres.
Supervise activities appropriately so that all children and young people feel safe to participate and ensure that the school recognises and celebrates achievement at all levels in physical activity.
Top tips
- Use inclusive language and challenge stereotypes. For example, challenge ideas about which activities are ‘suitable’ for girls or boys and call out comments like ‘you throw like a girl’.
- Involve the school in campaigns to challenge discrimination in sport such as ‘Show Racism the Red Card’ or the ‘Rainbow Laces Campaign’.
- Female sports leaders not only help to challenge stereotypes but may also make sport more accessible for some ethnic minority girls.
- Have a mixture of single-sex and mixed teams and avoid gendered kit – LGBT (and gender-diverse students in particular) may be more comfortable on mixed teams while some girls (including those from some faith backgrounds) may prefer single-sex groups. Some pupils may wish to wear tracksuit bottoms rather than skirts or shorts.
- Engage with National Disability Sports Organisations who can provide advice, guidance and resources on how to deliver sport for young people with specific impairments:
- British Blind Sport
- Cerebral Palsy Sport
- Dwarf Sports Association UK
- LimbPower
- Mencap Sport
- Special Olympics Great Britain
- UK Deaf Sport
- WheelPower.
- Use role models from minority communities to support physical activity and challenge stereotypes about sport.
Further resources
- Women in Sport publish a toolkit designed to help teachers get more girls involved in PE and school sport.
- The ‘Girls Active’ programme by Youth Sport Trust looks at ways to engage girls in sport.
- The Youth Sport Trust offers plenty of resources to promote inclusive sport – including specific materials around disability, sex, LGBT and ethnic minority participation.
- Read the disability inclusion case studies compiled by the Youth Sport Trust.
Templates
Download the Physical activity questionnaire ideas.
Children and young people should learn about the benefits of physical activity as well as good nutrition and sufficient sleep (see below) and the links between mental wellbeing and physical activity.
Help them to think about how they can build regular exercise into daily and weekly routines and educate them about the benefits of physical activity for reducing stress, maintaining a healthy weight, developing self-confidence and improving self-esteem.
Explain the benefits of competitive sport but also acknowledge that others will prefer non-competitive activities and that these are just as valuable in promoting wellbeing and good health. Encourage them to explore a range of activities to determine the kinds of physical activity they enjoy.
Ask students to talk about what physical activities they enjoy and how they feel when they participate in them. Does it make them feel better and in what ways? Do they feel less stressed or does it give them a sense of achievement? Is it fun or maybe they enjoy the hard work? What activities would they like to try?
Encourage students to identify how much time a day they spend in moderate or vigorous activity. Ask them when this takes place – are they more active at school than at home for example, at certain times of the day or week? Why is that? What would help them to increase levels of physical activity?
Top tips
- Remind pupils that you don’t have to be the best at something to enjoy and benefit from it.
- Involve young pupils in designing posters about the benefits of physical activity and display these around the school.
Further resources
- View this Year 6 lesson plan about physical and mental wellbeing.
- Download this TES Importance of Exercise KS3 and 4 lesson plan.
- Use this KS3 and 4 lesson plan outlining the physical, mental and social benefits of exercise.
Learning about healthy eating benefits both our minds and bodies. As well as helping to maintain a healthy weight and prevent tooth decay, a balanced diet can prevent the early onset of health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. Good eating habits also lead to increased energy and concentration. The so-called ‘Mediterranean diet’ has been linked to a reduction in symptoms of depression and other foods (like chocolate, caffeine and alcohol) can also affect our mood.
Twenty per cent of the energy needed by the body is used by the brain which is only one reason why we need regular doses of carbohydrates. Drinking enough water each day is crucial for many reasons including the regulation of body temperature, preventing infections and keeping organs functioning properly. Being well hydrated also improves sleep quality, cognition and mood.
A whole-school approach to teaching about diet is likely to be the most successful in helping pupils to identify the principles of healthy eating, assess their own food intake and understand the factors that influence their choices. It is important to avoid stigmatisation of unhealthy choices and behaviour and concentrate on the benefits associated with a healthy diet.
Top tips
- Connect lessons about healthy eating to what is being served for school lunches and at breakfast club and use both as opportunities to encourage pupils to try new foods.
- Encourage students to think about how they feel physically and mentally depending on the foods they eat.
- Plan lessons about the links between food and different faiths and cultural traditions and heritage as an opportunity to both introduce new foods and ways of cooking and increase appreciation of diversity.
- Collect healthy recipes from pupils, families, staff and the wider community and compile a school cookery book. Where possible, serve the recipes for lunches and at school events. Encourage pupils to find recipes on the internet that include particular healthy foods and explore vegetarian and vegan options.
- Grow your own produce and use it in cookery lessons and the school canteen.
- Engage pupils as food ambassadors. They could be involved in setting up cookery clubs, consultations with other pupils about menus and planning and delivering lessons and assemblies. Involve students in planning lunch and breakfast club menus.
- Organise tastings, invite local wholefood and health food shops and restaurants and other providers into the school to share products and ideas and discuss careers in catering and food tech.
Further resources
- Check out these ideas for planning and delivering healthy eating lessons.
- Look at these healthy eating lesson ideas for secondary schools.
- Explore these training materials for primary and secondary schools.
- Adapt or use these examples of adolescent food habits and healthy eating questionnaires.
Getting enough sleep is fundamental to good health. Sleep deprivation affects the immune system, cognitive functioning, mood and physical wellbeing. At the same time, depression and anxiety can lead to difficulties with sleeping.
Primary school children generally need around 9–12 hours of sleep a night, while teenagers need around 8–10.
Both primary and secondary schools should include sleep education in the curriculum. As well as teaching about the benefits of sleep, create safe opportunities for pupils to talk about things that can interfere with sleeping – including nightmares, sleepwalking and broken sleep patterns – and to share solutions.
Share sleep hygiene tips including:
- going to sleep at a regular time
- spending time each day in natural daylight and taking exercise
- not eating before bed
- turning off screens at least an hour before bed – if pupils are using them to go to sleep, suggest they listen to music or the radio instead.
Remind students about the link between stress levels and sleep, support them to develop positive coping strategies for regulating their emotions and managing their stress levels, and share simple relaxation exercises. Discuss with students the activities that help them to relax and share their ideas across the school.
Top tips
- Seek advice from school nurses and other professionals both for general support around sleep education and for children and young people who are experiencing sleep difficulties.
- Share information and support with families via the school website, parent meetings, etc.
- Encourage students to keep a sleep diary to help them understand their sleeping habits and what may be interfering with sleep.
Further resources
- You may find these sleep factor primary lesson plans useful.
- Look at these resources to support healthy teen sleeping habits.
- Share these simple relaxation techniques.
- Access the advice from MIND on sleep problems including keeping a sleep diary.
- Explore ‘sleep champion’ training for professionals who work with young people.
- Share this useful sleep hygiene advice for parents.
Active travel plays a key role in improving levels of physical activity in children and young people. Pupils are also more likely to arrive at school ready to learn and it helps to reduce congestion and pollution around the school. Active travel includes walking, running, scooting and cycling.
Identify areas of the curriculum where active travel can be discussed. Link it with discussions around health, wellbeing and the environment and promote it with displays around the school, in assemblies, etc.
Provide secure bike and scooter storage and offer cycle and scooter maintenance workshops for pupils and families – perhaps in association with local retailers or cycling groups.
Top tips
- Identify quieter roads and routes to school and share this information widely.
- For pupils who have longer distances to travel, identify possible parking opportunities 10 or 15 minutes’ walk from the school. Establish links with organisations like local supermarkets – could they allocate a number of free parking spaces at relevant times of day?
- Run ‘bling your bike’/‘soup-up your scooter’ competitions for younger pupils.
- Further encourage cycling and scooter skills by organising competitions such as obstacle courses.
- Offer rewards for active travel – provide stickers that can be redeemed against rewards or raffles with prizes.
- Work with families to set up walking buses or bicycle trains.
- Involve students and families in School Streets campaigns (see below).
- Involve children and young people in the development of a school travel plan.
Further resources
- Find out more about the Sustrans education resources.
- Share the Step-by-step guide for increasing active travel.
- Introduce the Living Streets challenge for secondary students.
- Set up a walking bus.
- Get involved with the School Streets initiative to help communities lobby for safer and healthier streets.
- Share the Family Walk to School kit with families.
- Are regular opportunities for physical activity integrated across the whole day?
- Do you offer a range of activities to suit all tastes and abilities?
- Are their particular groups of students who are less likely to access physical activity (or whose diets or sleep habits are of particular concern)?
- Are there regular lessons on the importance of physical health across the whole curriculum and for all ages?
- Are education around physical health and initiatives to support the development of healthy behaviours effectively monitored and evaluated?