CSP: Active Surrey
Video: Surrey to Rio
OVERVIEW
During the summer term of 2016 Active Surrey challenged Surrey’s primary schools to run the 5700 miles from Surrey to Rio to mark the start of the Olympic Games. Pupils and teachers were asked to walk, jog or run for up to 15 minutes per day around their school and track the distance covered.
Active Surrey had been researching best practice across the country to target the less active in schools and were inspired, in particular, by the impact of the daily mile scheme at St. Ninian’s School in Stirling. A few schools were starting to pilot it locally and, at Active Surrey, we wanted to use our strategic network to really kick start a daily mile scheme across Surrey’s primary schools.
36% of Surrey’s primary schools participated in the scheme (over 110 schools), amounting to over 30,000 children covering a total of 600,000 miles during a 12 week period.
CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTOR
1. Using Insight
Before starting the project, we thoroughly researched the daily mile scheme and other similar programmes. This included speaking to St. Ninian’s Head Teacher, Elaine Wylie as well as visiting the local schools already trialling a daily mile.
The daily mile programme is free, requires no specialist training or equipment and is 100% inclusive. We planned to stay true to this philosophy but we also considered key insights to make it more compelling for schools – making it locally relevant, enabling a tracking of pupil progress and fitness, adding a competitive element and giving it a theme which was appealing to schools, the Olympics.
2. Engaging the Customer – the Schools
We developed marketing assets which were colourful and engaging (including a distance tracker wall chart for the children to colour) and offered a prize for the school with the most miles per pupil. The duration of the programme, 12 weeks, was long enough for a daily mile to become habitual.
We met with various providers of tracking systems and negotiated free access to Premier Sport’s Golden Mile software for every Surrey school. This enabled schools to track not only their distance but also their pupils’ progress. They also provided selected schools with whole school fitness tests at the start and end of the Run to Rio window to enable them to evidence the scheme’s impact
3. Spreading the Word - Engaging with Opinion Leaders
As well as promoting Run to Rio through our usual communication channels, we engaged directly with our strategic network to act as advocates on our behalf. These included selected head teachers who promoted the scheme at Area Head Teacher Meetings, key Surrey County Council personnel who showcased the programme in their various school bulletins and school nurses who encouraged their schools to participate, in particular targeting less engaged schools. The School Games Organisers also played a critical role in promoting and supporting their schools with this initiative. The advocacy of these key groups increased the reach and profile of the scheme.
We also engaged with the press, holding a launch event at a participating school attended by Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt and Olympian Duncan Goodhew which was then followed up by regular pieces about individual school progress.
At Active Surrey we facilitated best practice sharing and training through our School Conference and Best Practice Forum as well as providing regular updates in our ‘Inside School Sport’ publication.
THE IMPACT OF THE SCHEME
Impact on the Less Active
The scheme delivered on our objective of increasing fitness, particularly within less engaged schools. Collectively 30,000 participants from over 110 schools ran the equivalent distance of 24 times around the world. We had pre-schools and infant schools who managed the full 5700 miles. One school reported that 91% of their year 6 children could run a mile or more in 15 minutes. The winning school ran 22,000 miles over 12 weeks and was awarded a day with British marathon runner Mara Yamauchi. Indeed this school was one of the less engaged schools on our initial target list. In total almost a quarter of Surrey’s less engaged schools participated in the programme.
Impact on Active Surrey
High participation levels in the scheme considerably increased the profile of Active Surrey amongst schools and stakeholders in the county. This has been reflected this year in a tripling of schools signing up for our PE and School Sport membership package and a substantial increase in bookings for teacher training. We have also developed wider relationships in the field of Public Health with a local CCG trialling a GP referral scheme of the daily mile to schools.
Impact on CSP Network
Active Surrey has also shared our insights from Run to Rio to support several CSPs in the development of their own daily mile schemes. We were also invited to present on Run to Rio at the National Centre for Exercise and Sport Medicine’s Making Strides Symposium.
Impact on Schools
The scheme proved hugely popular with pupils, head teachers and parents alike, with multiple reports of improved behaviour and concentration in the classroom, particularly amongst pupils who struggle to sit still. There were also reports of pupils themselves adopting their daily run as a tool to manage their emotions, taking themselves off to ”Run to Rio” when they felt their temper escalating!
From school surveys, parents picked out improvements to their children’s well-being during Run to Rio, including better fitness, higher energy levels, happier, better friendships and more focussed and attentive. Parents welcomed a daily mile becoming a permanent part of their children’s daily routine. Teachers were also encouraged to participate and, following Run to Rio, we developed a school staff specific Workplace Challenge programme with over 225 active members.
THE LEGACY OF THE SCHEME
Run to Rio had a transformative impact on Surrey’s primary schools. During the 12 weeks schools witnessed the broad spectrum impact of children becoming more active during their school day.
Run to Rio was always designed to be sustainable. Due to demand from schools we have developed a new programme Run the World and have 25,000 children currently participating in this or their own daily mile scheme. We also have schools investing in running tracks to enable them to continue to run all year round. The legacy of Run to Rio continues well beyond the Olympic Games!