Activity Type
Physical Activity
Audience
Children & Young people
District
Maidstone
Overview
Lenham Primary School is a one form entry village school situated between Maidstone and Ashford. Since 2011 the school has developed curriculum and non-curriculum links to the Olympic and Paralympic movements, basing their values on Olympic PRIDE to celebrate achievements. Since COVID-19 the school has been open to around 15 keyworker and vulnerable children and opened its doors to Year R and Year 1 on 1 June.
Keeping Active in School
During lockdown children participated in 10 minutes of daily Zumba to get them up and active and took part in PE activities in the afternoon, including challenges set by the local secondary school and the schools PE lead Mr Brown. Teachers note that many of the vulnerable children now take part in the challenges enabling them to experience competition, something they previously wouldn’t have engaged in. Now children have started to return, daily Zumba still takes place and PE is delivered every afternoon outside. To keep with the social distancing guidelines the school delivers athletics, social distancing games, golf and lacrosse. Both golf and lacrosse have been a great success and the children have loved playing a version of lacrosse similar to the rules of bench ball. Mr Brown ensures all equipment is cleaned thoroughly after use and social distancing is adhered to.
Staying Active at home
Similar to those that attend school children are keeping active at home with live Zumba sessions and challenges that can be completed using equipment at home. Challenges have included tennis, basketball, running and agility and students are encouraged to send in videos of themselves and record their score through Google Classroom.
Family Engagement
Lenham Primary School has a big family ethos so it is important for both children and parents to still feel connected with the school. Home learning through Google Classroom has ensured pupils, families and teachers are able to keep in touch whilst live assemblies allow families to celebrate their achievements during this period.
CPD Opportunities
Head Teacher, Andrea McCluskey, has completed training in Zumbini, an early childhood education programme that uses music and movement to promote cognitive, social, fine/gross motor skills and emotional development. Mrs McCluskey delivers Zumbini to reception in school and live on the school’s YouTube channel.
It’s difficult to deliver normal PE lessons at the moment but setting challenges is a great way to encourage those at school and at home to get involved.
