When a school and two kindergartens in Lindome, Mölndal joined forces to participate in Make a Move, there were many unexpected benefits. While vomiting and loneliness at school have decreased, children starting in the lowest grades are enjoying a new sense of security at the start of school. Absenteeism is also expected to go down in the long run: all thanks to two headteachers who jumped at the chance to make movement fun.
Eva Rolander, Principal of Valås and Kyrkängen preschools agreed without hesitation to participate in Mölndal's Make a Move initiative a year and a half ago.
"I just felt 'Wow, this is great, let's adopt this'. We started on our own but soon discovered that the school next door was on the same track. There are not many hundred meters between us so we decided to join forces. After all, the children at my kindergarten end up at Sofi's school," she says.
Tackling problematic absences
Sofi Ljungholm, deputy head teacher at Valåsskolan, had her own challenges that required new thinking. One is problematic school absenteeism, which often starts in middle school sports classes.
"For the younger children, it is natural to bring the gym bag and participate. But then something happens. It becomes more difficult and there is more pressure to deliver on the sport. In addition, many feel stressed about moving and changing in front of each other. We need to empower students to become confident together and lower the threshold for being physically active. To do this, we need to start working when they are young," she says.
Together, the school and kindergartens have established a number of new annual traditions.
From sprint to obstacle course
Seven sports clubs came to the Association Day and let all children between the ages of five and nine try out different activities and open a door to the world of associations. A positive side effect was that the oldest pre-school children got to socialize with the schoolchildren, something that can otherwise feel scary before the first day of school.
The school's annual run was transformed into the Valås OCR. Some children like the idea of running lap after lap at top speed, but far from all. Now they wanted to take a new approach and make the day a fun experience for more people. The PE teacher came up with the idea of building an obstacle course together with the children from school and preschool.
Together, they hauled materials to the school forest and set up for a fun run. The children had to climb, jump, balance and sprint past teachers positioned with water guns along the course.
"It was a very appreciated day and it was fun that the little ones could come and join in. The older children took responsibility for the younger ones along the track, and fantastic bonds were formed that day," says Eva Rolander.
Every year and every week
It was time for the classic school jog. The preschool wanted to take part, but how do you organize a running race with children as young as one year old? They decided to tie in with the preschool's literature profile and organized the Teddy Bear Jog. The children moved along different parts of the route by walking backwards, jumping and sneaking to the finish line, all according to their own ability.
"We have great educators who are passionate about this. We want the bigger events to return every year, but we have also established a weekly active movement day where the teachers plan the week's movement. One for the younger children and one for the older children. The commitment has grown here at the preschool", says Eva Rolander
Fewer violations and higher performance
A great success was the school's new planning of activities for each break, inviting pupils to play together and helping them to get active together. Loneliness, vulnerability and idleness have been reduced by the constant presence of committed adults with varied activities and music in the schoolyard. Not least because the school has introduced a mobile-free school day.
Here they share play inspiration on their Instagram account.
The changes have proved to bring far greater benefits than valuable exercise, as reports of bullying have "plummeted" in Ms. Ljungholm's own words and conflicts have decreased in the schoolyard. Instead, camaraderie, pupil focus during lessons and confidence in their own abilities are increasing, which also seems to be leading to better performance in school overall. The next steps are already clear to the head teacher.
"I'm passionate about movement and equity in schools: how we can spread this widely so that it's not just children whose teachers like to be active themselves, but all children. It has ripple effects for the future. I think we will create sustainable people and give them confidence in the future."
Watch the movie about how Valås school and preschool together made the joy of movement a natural part of children's everyday lives.
