Wychbold First and Nursery School in Droitwich recognised the importance of regular exercise for their pupils, to keep them active and having fun! Children and young people should do a range of different activities across the week.
To encourage children to ride their bikes, the school signed up to the Bikeability programme as an annual feature, but noted that some pupils did not have helmets and heard reluctance from parents regarding storing bikes at school.
Worcestershire’s Public Health has enabled the school to fund a small collection of safety equipment for loan to pupils and refurbish the bike shelter. A number of bike helmets have been purchased to promote cycling in the early years where children have access to balance bikes and trikes.
Rebecca Wilks, Headteacher of Wychbold First and Nursery School said:
“Many of our children live within cycling distance of school and so it is fantastic for parents to see we can support that and also to show our community (especially our children) that we are investing their health and wellbeing.
We promote the ‘Five Ways to Wellbeing’ and pride ourselves on ensuring that our children are happy, healthy and cared for. We teach about the positive impact that physical activity has on their mental health and wellbeing and this is an important part of our ethos”.
Learn more about the 5 ways to wellbeing and importance of staying active here: Health in Mind | 5 ways to wellbeing (health-in-mind.org.uk)
If you would like similar support from Public Health to start a new creative initiative to improve children’s mental wellbeing within a school or college, visit our website: Public Health Innovation Grant for Educational Settings | Worcestershire County Council
[Image with pupils from Wychbold First and Nursery School, Droitwich Spa]