What is Active60?
Our children are facing a health crisis. Our modern sedentary lifestyle is having a significant impact on their physical activity levels, which in turn is affecting their physical, mental and social health.
To help address this, we have launched this Active60 programme which will help schools to understand:
- How much physical activity pupils should be doing
- What are the benefits of physical activity
- Key facts about the impact of physical activity levels
- How active are your pupils?
- Encourage pupils to be more physically active
By doing so more we hope pupils will enjoy the benefits of an active lifestyle.
How much physical activity should pupils be doing?
The Chief Medical Officers (CMO) recommends that children and young people (5-18 years old) undertake the following physical activity each week for general health:
- At least 60 mins of moderate intensity physical activity on average per day across the week (e.g. walking, cycling, scooting, playground activities, dancing)
- Take part in a variety of types and intensities of physical activity across the week to develop movement skills, muscles and bones (e.g. running, climbing, skipping with a rope, gymnastics, football, tennis, dance, press ups/sit ups or similar)
- Reduce the time spent sitting or lying down and break up long periods of not moving with some activity. Aim to spread activity throughout the day (e.g. don’t sit for long periods in lessons)
Download the infographic, the full CMO report and read about the amount and type of physical activity that people should do.
What are the benefits of physical activity?
The Youth Sport Trust have compiled a Knowledge Bank which contains key statistics and evidence about young people and physical activity, play and sport. It is updated on a regular basis to make sure it contains the latest information.
The Knowledge Bank contacts a number of key facts sheets on;
- Physical health benefits of sport and physical activity
- Mental health benefits of sport and physical activity
- School related benefits of physical activity
- Challenges young people face
- Cost of living
- Girls participation
Key facts about physical activity levels
- Widespread physical inactivity is a major economic burden to national health systems and to the economy worldwide.
- Obesity is estimated to cost the UK £58 billion a year and mental health problems cost the UK economy at least £117.9 billion per year.
- Childhood is the time to address this issue for future generations by nurturing
a lifelong enjoyment and engagement in sport and physical activity
How active are your pupils?
As part of the Norfolk School Games we have launched the Big Norfolk School Physical Activity Survey.
The survey uses the online survey tool Koboca to ask pupils a series of questions about their physical activity habits and likes.
By undertaking the survey, schools will gain valuable personalised data about your pupils which can help you to design your PE, school sport and physical activity offer as well as giving your pupils a voice to help shape provision within their school.
Action Planning
We will work with your schools PE Coordinator to develop a simple Active60 action plan to outline some simple actions that you will implement in order to ensure that more of your pupils benefit from being physically active.
The action plan will outline:
- Which pupils will be targeted?
- How you will engage them?
- When will the activities take place?
- What resources will you need?
- Will there be a cost?
- Who will be responsible for leading/delivering the activities
- How will you measure the impact?
Useful Resources
We have compiled a range of exciting resources to help schools increase the opportunities for pupils to be physically active during the school day.
| Resource | Description | For more info |
|---|---|---|
| Active Journeys | Ideas to make the journey to/from school more active | Click here |
| Active Start | How you can kick start the school day with some physical activity to wake pupils up and get them ready to learn | Click here |
| Active Lessons | Ideas to make all lessons more physically active | Click here |
| Active Breaks | A range of resources to help all pupils be active during break and lunch times | Click here |
| Active Holidays | Some fun activities that can be set to keep pupils active during school holidays | Click here |