A critical part of leading a healthy lifestyle is to undertake the correct amount of physical exercise per week. It is recommended that to maintain a basic level of health, children and young people aged between 5 to 18 need to complete at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day.  Alarmingly, this is a target which many of our students are failing to meet which could be having a detrimental effect on their physical health and wellbeing.

Health related issues could include:

  • Fatigue and lack of energy
  • Poor mental health
  • Poor social interaction
  • Stress
  • Anger issues
  • Poor sleep
  • Serious health issues – e.g. heart disease and type 2 diabetes
  • Obesity and it’s associated problems
  • Surgery e.g. gastric bands
  • Unemployment
To combat levels of inactivity, and the problems this can bring, we are working with our students within a variety of contexts, including PE lessons, extra-curricular sports clubs and PD lessons, in order to educate, encourage and motivate them to become more active. We would also hope to encourage parents/carers to take an active role in supporting students with the recommended weekly amounts of exercise. To do this we suggest the following;

  • Please encourage your child to attend PE extracurricular clubs on a regular basis. Please see respective academies extra curricular timetable. There is a vast range of clubs to choose from across all the GORSE trust schools, including lots of exciting opportunities around the BIG 3.
  • In all secondary Academies, as part of year 7 and 8 students PE homework, students will be expected to attend one extracurricular club per week. If students fail to complete their PE homework, they will be sanctioned with a negative comment. If three PE homework are missed they will receive a detention.
  • Get active with your children. This is a great way to encourage your child to take part in regular exercise and will keep you fit at the same time. Please see links below to a range of physical activities taking place across Leeds.
  • We have also devised a number of GORSE gets Healthy workouts. Why not give these a go at home. You need no equipment and all the workouts can be easily done in your living room.

Ensuring we lead an active lifestyle can have so many benefits

  • An increase in life expectancy.
  • Reduce the risk of common diseases such as Heart Disease and Diabetes.
  • Improved overall mental health.
  • An increase in energy levels.
  • An improvement in productivity.
  • An improvement in mental toughness and resilience.
  • An improvement in students’ academic performance, including:
    • Academic achievement and grades
    • Increased levels of engagement
    • Factors that influence academic achievement, such as concentration and attentiveness in the classroom

Links for different activities

By tackling issues around health together, it is our hope that we begin to see a noticeable change across The GORSE Trust community.

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Activities in your Local Area

Morley RFC
Community Karate
Hunslet Club
Trailblazers
Yoga Hero
The Farnley Academy
The Ruth Gorse Academy
The Morley & Bruntcliffe Academies
Boston Spa Academy

The Flow

The flow will improve your flexibility and mobility. To see the impact complete the flow 3-4 times per week. 

WotW

To keep healthy you need to take part in 5-7 hours of physical activity per week. Why not complete a GORSE gets Healthy Workout of the Week to contribute to this?

Challenges

It is important to keep learning new skills. Why not try one of the GORSE gets Healthy Challenges and see what new skills you can master?