Fit Friday
Fit Friday is an event that takes place during the last week of each month. Fit Friday sees both staff and students come to school in fitness/active wear with the purpose of improving their own personal fitness before, during and after school.
The main reason behind this initiative is Science. When the body is active for a period of time, the area of the brain that is responsible for retaining information is stimulated. This means that after a short burst of activity our pupils find it easier to learn.
Ensuring our students are more active is another key reason we promote this whole school event each month. Our fantastic PE department work tirelessly on highlighting the long-term benefits (physically, mentally and socially) of leading a healthy active lifestyle, but we realise that some pupils look to staff as role models. Therefore, we as staff also feel the need to get involved as this can assist in raising the profile of Fit Fridays and the benefits of taking part. 5 minutes of active learning every day can equate to an extra PE lesson of physical activity every week. We also recognise the importance of working together so, during Fit Friday lunchtime we hold a staff versus student activity. In the past we have had netball games and volleyball games to name a few! This has encouraged both staff and students to work with other team members and demonstrate the importance of communication and teamwork skills.
All pupils are invited and encouraged to take part as much as they can. Pupils who attend the early morning wake and shake session can wear their PE kit for the full day in school. This has been effective at getting pupils involved and set the precedent for the rest of their day.
Fit Fridays are delivered not only by PE staff members but also other curriculum staff around the school. This is done by making a small section of their lessons active. This can be done in a range of different ways including brain breaks which are activity or exercise as you would traditionally think of it. The idea is to give the brain a little break when concentration levels begin to dwindle. Active learning activities is the second category and is a way of “tricking” pupils to be active whilst they learn – examples used in the past have been memory mapping, catch the ball and state a fact, walk to the correct answer to name just a few.
This event each month, not only allows students and staff to improve their physical and mental wellbeing but assists in keeping our students focused in lessons and on their studies within lessons across the curriculum.
Fit Friday
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