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“Walk to School week, the Golden Mile had an exciting range of sports opportunities help to justify pupils' three times achievement of the Activemark Gold Award.”
Ofsted Inspection Report, Leighton Primary School, Crewe - December 2007
“They know how to live healthy lifestyles, as their interest in sport and their knowledge of how food affects their bodies testifies. Jogging the Golden Mile once a week has become an enjoyable 'must do' activity for almost every pupil.”
Ofsted Inspection Report, Sound and District Primary School, Crewe - January 2007
“Interviews with school staff who implemented the Golden Mile revealed that the initial setup was straight forward, with class teachers ultimately responsible for how they decided to use the initiative with their pupils. The Golden Mile proved to be an adaptable and flexible initiative. In addition to being a playtime initiative, The Golden Mile was also used during PE and during lesson time, particularly if children needed calming down during the lesson time.
The children revealed that there was nothing they would change about the Golden Mile and positive comments were made about the certificates and the wall charts. The younger children enjoyed the fun element of the initiative, whereas the older children tended to enjoy the competition element, particularly the boys. The Golden Mile was a useful vehicle to encourage older girls to be more physically active during playtime, as they preferred to sit and socialise in the chat zones, rather than participate in physical activity and become hot and uncomfortable. The Golden Mile encouraged this older female group to be active and social at the same time, by walking and chatting around the Golden Mile course.”
Focus Group Interviews, Staffordshire University Physical Activity Intervention, 2007 - 2008
“The Golden Mile was a popular initiative that not only encouraged children to be more physically active during playtime, but also provided school staff with an initiative that could be used during PE or lesson time. Children enjoyed the extrinsic rewards offered, which encouraged motivation. It is clear that playground initiatives are an effective way to increase physical activity during the school day. However, our research supports findings that playground equipment and resources do not need to be complex and expensive in order to increase physical activity. In order to be effective and successful, it is important that playground initiatives are easy and simple to administer, adaptable and sustainable. And it is clear that the Golden Mile fulfils these criteria.”
Conclusion, Staffordshire University Physical Activity Intervention, 2007 - 2008
"Golden Mile is a fantastic programme that is so simple for primary school teachers to set up and use as part of lessons, after school clubs or even during break times and lunchtime. This is helping primary schools in our partnership increase the number of pupils actively involved in 3 hours of PE and School Sport. As pupils can walk, jog or run during Golden Mile it is very easy to ensure that pupils of all abilities take part, monitor their own individual achievements and gradually increase their motivation to achieve more miles! Many primary schools have witnessed pupils self esteem and general health and fitness improve, especially amongst those pupils that are not usually engaged in normal PE and School Sport."
Niall McGregor - Partnership Development Manager, Crewe and Nantwich (Ruskin) School Sports Partnership
"This year we have planned a Golden Mile festival as part of our competition calendar. The benefits of the programme to pupils is evident on a school site and we are keen to develop this into fun informal competition. We hope that a simple Golden Mile festival will encourage pupils to take part in more school competitions through increasing their self confidence and health and fitness.”
Andy Walker – Competition Manager, Crewe and Nantwich (Ruskin) School Sports Partnership
“I hope the Golden Mile encourages many more young people to get active - something that really matters to me and my charity the Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust. Good luck.”
Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes
“I am pleased to endorse Premier Sport’s Golden Mile initiative which aims to get more children and young people physically active. As we prepare to host the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, we must show that we are world class in the way we encourage people of all ages to be more active. I hope the Golden Mile will encourage many thousands of young people to get active and - just as important - to stay active, enabling them to lead healthy and fulfilling lives.“
Secretary of State for Health, Andy Burnham
“The Golden Mile represents an excellent opportunity for children of all abilities to get fit and be active.
“The project is simple, effective and accessible to all schools, children and parents. It really is an innovative and interesting project that will be embraced by both children and schools.”
Olympic Gold Medallist Duncan Goodhew MBE
“The future health and happiness of our children couldn’t be more important, and the Golden Mile has already proved itself as the sort of vital fitness initiative which could make all the difference. The most simple initiatives are often the best, and I urge all children to get involved and get fit while they have fun with the Golden Mile.”
Rugby legend Lawrence Dallaglio
“Running or walking regularly is not only good for young people’s health, it gives them more energy throughout the day and can inspire more to take up sport for life. If children learn to love being active as they grow up then they’re also more likely to take those good habits through to adulthood. The Golden Mile is a fantastic idea. My congratulations to Premier Sport and the Eastern Daily Press for ensuring this scheme takes off in the East of England, and I urge other regions to follow suit.”
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Ben Bradshaw
“I think it is a very, very good initiative. Anything that can keep children fit and healthy is a great idea.”
Celebrity chef and healthy school cooking campaigner, Galton Blackiston
“Anything that improves a child’s fitness and health is a worthwhile initiative, and if the whole family can join in that’s even better. I would encourage everyone to join in and get fit.”
Former Norwich City Manager, Bryan Gunn
“I think this is a wonderful idea. In the modern educational world I am sure the full benefit of sport are not fully appreciated by children and even sometimes by teachers themselves.
“The value of exercise is obviously important but also the fun of the team effort is unbeatable. The mere fact that these children are taking this exercise may spur them on to take part in other sporting activities.”
Sports commentating legend Henry Blofeld
“We have created a great Golden Mile system at our school. We are a small town school with only a small playground for the children to use, either when they do PE or at break time. We have set up a 100m Golden Mile circuit all around the playground and have split the children into 3 groups:
Group 1 - Walkers: These could be from Key Stage 1. These children walk in pairs around the 100m track 3 times a week and they love it. We do 4 laps with them equating to a quarter of a mile. Other walkers are from Key Stage 2, from year 3 up to year 6, children who just wish to walk with their friends. This becomes quite a social event, creating a happy atmosphere in the school.
Group 2 - Joggers: These children are either happy to simply jog slowly around the playground or they may have previously been walking but are now ready to increase their pace.
Group 3 - Runners: This group of children may already be fit and play lots of sport. They could be good runners or simply like to run. The slow jogger can progress to this group if they feel they could cope with the faster pace.
All in all when I first heard about the Golden Mile, I never thought it could work in such a small school, but 6 months on many of our children are past the 25-mile mark and are still loving it!”
Teacher Kate Russell - Edleston Primary School, Crewe
“Golden Mile has made a huge impact and I believe also in terms of attention in class and team development. Some children have made fantastic developments in stamina. They really understood the advice about finding a steady pace rather than racing.”
Teachers at St Mary’s Catholic Primary School
“We have a Golden Mile breakfast club, not only for the children but for their family too. Since we began this last year, we have noticed a dramatic increase in attendance. Our school is in a poor area, where not only was our pupil attendance low but academic achievement low too. Since the introduction of the Golden Mile, not only has the attendance shot up, we have noticed an impressive improvement in the children’s concentration level and through this, their academic level is rising too. When we started the Golden Mile, we gave the children the option whether they wished to take part. Around 30 children and parents took up the challenge… last week we had a total of 186 taking part!”
Head Teacher Glyn Turner - Leighton Primary School, Crewe
“We have recently introduced the Golden Mile to improve the fitness of our girls. The pupils walk a distance of 800m 3 times a week. There are extra sessions for girls who want to get fitter by running or training. The best thing about it is that the girls are rewarded for their efforts whether they choose to run, jog or even just walk. We launched the Golden Mile to all 600 pupils at a special whole school event. We held a ‘walk launch’ and offered free flapjacks to all the girls taking part. We had a brilliant day and all the pupils and teachers had a fantastic time. We’ve been doing the Golden Mile now for 4 months and each and every pupil and even all the teachers are still involved!”
Teacher Caroline Adams - Dr. Challoner's High School, Buckinghamshire
“We introduced the Golden Mile Club at Westcroft Special School. The kids did a mile after school each Wednesday and their fitness levels really improved. We would love to know about any new schemes.”
PDM Helen Bourton - Westcroft Special School (Westcroft Sports College), Wolverhampton
“The Golden Mile really helped me with the 1000m race!”
William
“It helps to practice and I like running, so for me it is fun.”
Tegen
“Great for fitness and you become very competitive against yourself.”
Eliot
“I like the Golden Mile because it helps me run for longer.”
Max
“You get more fit and you find it gets easier each time. I find it fun because you sometimes get tired and you have to beat your record.”
Nicola
“It gets you fit and healthy, even if you have asthma!”
David
“I think the Golden Mile is a really good fun way to keep fit and encourage other people to keep fit.”
Alexandra
“The Golden Mile is really good because we do it every week and it has built up my stamina.”
David
“It keeps you fit and healthy and it's lots of exercise. It's great!”
Lucy
“I enjoy the Golden Mile because you get to beat your old time!”
William
