19th February 2020 15:02
By Blue Tutors
A school in West Somerset has made physical activity an important part of their nursery students’ days, in an attempt to improve their academic potential. Reported on the BBC, Teddy Bears Nursery in Washford has reacted to the government’s warning about falling activity rates in young children, and has created a programme to boost their physical skills and encourage exercise.
Children who avoid exercise at a young age are more likely to be obese and have a poor body image and a lack of emotional wellbeing. When starting school, if a student cannot sit up in a chair because of a poor core, or grip and pencil properly, they are at a massive disadvantage.
The government are funding programmes such as these with a scheme called Healthy Movers. Encouraging schools to spend more time engaging children in exercise and giving them a pack to take home so they can continue out of school.
There is no firm data on the academic improvement associated, but those involved say that the early signs are encouraging. One teacher pointed out that it’s not just gross physical ability which is being improved, but the exercises require fine motor skills too which has a direct link to helping handwriting. Another teacher, upon watching on the activities, said that many year 7 students could not perform as well as the nursery school children.