How school leaders can build an Active School

Why should schools build the mindset first?

An active isn't simply a school with a high-quality PE timetable and a few teachers throwing in the odd brain break. It's a school where movement is built into the rhythm of the day, the heartbeat of the school, running through lessons and breaktimes, PE, enrichment, and the wider culture of the place.

For senior leaders, the real challenge is often convincing your team that physical activity doesn't just benefit the children. It creates a calmer, more focused environment for everyone to teach and learn in. The harder part is making it consistent, manageable, and inclusive, without it becoming yet another initiative that piles pressure onto staff.

My advice is to start with five connected areas: mindset, active learning, structured play, high-quality PE, and activity before and after school. Together, they form a practical framework for reviewing what already happens in your school and deciding what you'd like to improve next.

When I work with teachers (and over 25 years of delivery, that's been many thousands of them), I find there are two types. Those who are happy to try new approaches to learning, and those who need a bit more convincing of the "why should I do this?"

In my presentations, I always start with how activity affects the brain in children. If that doesn't grab their attention, I'm not sure what will.

Regular physical activity supports the brain in several ways:

• Clears brain fog: Increased blood flow delivers more oxygen and nutrients to the brain, helping pupils think more clearly and focus for longer.
• Improves mood and motivation, fast: Physical activity triggers the release of serotonin, dopamine and noradrenaline, helping children feel more positive, alert and ready to learn.
• Improves behaviour and concentration: Pupils return to learning calmer, more settled and better able to manage their attention.
• Builds a brain that's ready to learn: Exercise increases BDNF, a protein that helps brain cells grow, connect and strengthen. Over time, it acts like fertiliser for the brain.
• Strengthens memory and recall: Regular activity supports the hippocampus, the part of the brain closely linked to learning, memory and retaining new information.

This is the bit that always finds its mark, when delegates start to realise that activity shouldn't be treated as a treat. It should be the heartbeat running through the day. It's brilliant for focus, mood and behaviour, and it saves so much time on behaviour management further down the line. It's a teaching tool, not just one more thing to squeeze in.

If movement is seen as an optional extra, it will always depend on a handful of enthusiastic staff. But if it's understood as part of teaching, learning, wellbeing and personal development, it's far more likely to stick.

Senior leaders can help by setting a clear expectation that activity is part of the whole school day, not something that only happens in PE.

It also helps to build a small team with clear roles. This might include:

• a senior leader who gives the work visible support
• a PE lead or active-school lead who coordinates it
• a small group of teacher ambassadors who test ideas and share what works
• pupils who contribute ideas and feedback
• teaching assistants and lunchtime staff, who often have a huge influence on daily activity

Avoid launching everything at once. Start with a few classes or year groups, gather feedback, and let early wins build confidence.

Staff are always more likely to change their practice once they've seen an approach work in a classroom like theirs.

Imogen Buxton-Pickles
Founder and CEO, imoves Active Education Ltd.