Primary school incorporates exercise into lessons

The children wear an 'active uniform' so they are ready for exercise at any time of day

A primary school is attempting to keep its pupils healthy by introducing an outdoor exercise scheme into its classrooms.

Summerhill Academy in Bristol is encouraging daily movement by incorporating fitness into its lesson plan.

In addition to two hours of PE lessons a week, children are now taking part in 10-minute daily yoga and movement sessions during maths and language lessons.

The school, run by Cabot Learning Federation, has also introduced an 'active uniform', where children can wear tracksuit bottoms, or shorts under skirts, and trainers.

Children blend foreign languages with physical activity by playing Simon Says in Spanish

An global exercise initiative called The Daily Mile started up in 2018, encouraging children to run, jog or walk for 15 minutes every day.

The concept aims to reduce health inequalities and improve fitness, mental wellbeing, resilience and self-care.

More than 21,000 schools and five million children are now involved, including 8,508 schools in the UK.

But Summerhill Academy has taken it one step further, by combining the scheme with lesson time.

The initiative is being run by the school's PE lead Sally Goodridge, who last year won a Times Education Supplement (TES) award for improvements she made to the school's programme.

Sally Goodridge, centre, was presented with a TES award in 2023

Ms Goodridge also helped launch the active uniform scheme, which earned Summerhill an outstanding judgement from Ofsted for personal development.

She says the policy means children "can burst into energetic movement at any time of the day", and don't waste time getting changed.