How we motivated pupils to get active and get fundraising
Inspired by the Paris Olympics, our multi-sports PE enhancement day and fundraiser raised over £9,000. The event captured the spirit of the Olympics while raising money for outdoor play equipment to encourage our children to be more active. It was also loads of fun.
We split the day into two parts: firstly, we organised a continual torch relay. Every child ran a lap of the field while holding our Olympic flame torch, which we created ourselves. The relay lasted all day until each of our 421 pupils had handed the torch to another child.
We asked the children to get sponsored for the relay, and they exceeded our expectations, bringing in over £5,000! We gave everyone a medal for taking part and awarded a prize to the person who raised the most in each class and the entire school.
The other key element was for all the children to participate in some sporting activity. I asked local sports groups to provide a 15-minute workshop for each class and they were more than happy to join in. Many of the groups are run by volunteers, and some organisers had to take leave from their day jobs to be with us, which was just beautiful.
These organisations share our aims: we want to get the children off their devices and to be more physically active. The sessions also acted as a showcase for the clubs–we hoped some children would develop a new interest. All the children received a taster session in tennis, boxing, football, cheerleading, kickboxing and two separate karate sessions.
We received match-funding for the sponsorship money via the pupil premium scheme. From that, we gave £200 to each sports group that participated. Most are non-profit making, so it was great to share the success of the day with them.
The Mini-Olympics were fully inclusive. Our school has two Shining Stars hubs for children with complex educational needs. Normally these pupils struggle with a change of routine, but every single one of them participated. We also have 54 children who are recognised as coming from a disadvantaged background. They joined in too and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
It was an off-timetable PE enrichment day–besides the sports, there were classroom-based activities, all linked to the Olympics. For instance, in design technology, teachers asked the children to design an alternative uniform for Team GB or make a medal out of salt dough and decorate it; in modern foreign languages, they learned about the host city of Paris; in history, they studied the origins of the Olympics; and in geography, they learned about the meaning of the Olympic rings.
- Kate Moore, school business manager, Milking Bank Primary School, Dudley, West Midlands (421 pupils)
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