Blåbjerg Children’s Universe

Denmark

Physically active learning

Focus Area

Active Student Involvement

Target Group

6-7 years and 10-12 years

By Line Bregnhøj Mathiesen (Kindergarten Class Leader), Susanne Meldgaard (Teacher) og Heidi Nordstrøm Danielsen (Teacher).

Purpose of Physically active learning (PAL)

The purpose of incorporating physically active learning is to promote students’ readiness to learn by enhancing their mental and physical well-being.

Student Involvement

With the aim of enhancing active student involvement in teaching, we began our project by interviewing the students, conducting focus interviews with both a boys’ and a girls’ group. Our goal was to gain insight into their perspectives and needs regarding physical activity during the school day, and the interviews were designed to reveal students’ experiences with physically active learning based on age and gender.

The interview results showed clear age-related differences in students’ perceptions of physical activity. The youngest students felt their school day already included a lot of physical activity, whereas the older students primarily associated physical activity with outdoor activities like football. This insight led us to expand the definition of physically active learning to include both physical and mental activity, with the aim of fostering a more nuanced understanding of what physical activity can be and developing activities that stimulate both body and mind.

Parental Involvement

Parents were also actively involved in both the initial and subsequent implementation phases, as we kept them informed of the project’s goals and content through parent meetings and the communication platform AULA. Although parents were not directly involved in the project development, they expressed significant interest and support. During parent meetings, we received positive questions and engagement, confirming the project’s value to them.

About Blåbjerg Children’s Universe

Blåbjerg Children’s Universe is one of three schools spread across three campuses. Located in a scenic area in a small village within Varde Municipality, Blåbjerg Children’s Universe is an integrated children’s center, bringing together daycare, kindergarten, and primary school (grades 0–6) under one roof. We have approximately 100 children in total, with 70 in the school section and 30 in daycare. Additionally, there are 13 staff members working in the school, after-school program (SFO), and club, along with 7 employees in the daycare.

The overall leadership across all three campuses consists of a head principal and an assistant principal. At our campus, the daily management is handled by a branch manager and a daycare manager.

The village where Blåbjerg Children’s Universe is located also features its own grocery store, public transportation, a thriving community with active associations, and both small and large businesses that contribute to the sustainability of the local community.

Despite being in a lower socioeconomic area, we have passionate individuals dedicated to supporting the village and, above all, the existence of the Children’s Universe. While we are a public institution, we also receive support from parent associations in both the school and daycare sections. This support enables shared outings, new playground equipment, and larger local events. The school is an important gathering place for the village and is often used both during the day and in the evenings, on weekdays as well as weekends.

Blåbjerg Children’s Universe adheres to the municipality’s health policy and actively works toward the following objectives:

- To enhance the health and well-being of all children and young people.
- To ensure that all children and young people have knowledge of health, including physical, social, and mental well-being.
- To teach all children and young people to make healthy choices – and to make the healthy choice the easy choice.
- To incorporate health into all areas where children and young people are present.

Implementation Phase

For the youngest students, we focused on balancing high and low activity levels by implementing mindfulness, children’s yoga, and “Learning through Physical activity.”

Mindfulness was used at the beginning and in transitions between lessons, aiming to lower students’ arousal levels to help them become more receptive to learning. During transitions, we often used mindfulness music to create a calm atmosphere that helped students shift between different activities.

Children’s yoga combined stretching and dynamic exercises that balance the nervous system, creating calmness in both body and mind. These exercises were scheduled daily as a fixed part of the school day for the youngest students, giving them a calm and focused start each day.

Learning through Physical activity is a teaching method that combines physical activity with academic content. For example, students might find letters scattered around the playground and then assemble them into words. This approach merges learning with physical activity in a playful way, making teaching more engaging.

To meet students’ desire for more activity and social interaction, we also introduced daily group walks across age levels. These walks allowed students to build bonds with each other and with the adults while enjoying fresh air and exercise.

Furthermore, we introduced weekly shared reading sessions, where older students read aloud to the younger ones. Additionally, we scheduled shared activities for the middle school level, including everything from games and teamwork exercises to concentration activities. In the middle grades, we also implemented Brain Breaks—short, structured breaks in the lessons designed to help improve students’ focus, reduce stress, and enhance readiness to learn.

A Unified Approach Among ALL Teachers

Creating safe and predictable learning environments for all students has been a priority for us. To support this, we introduced a consistent lesson approach, where all teachers used the same structure and routines at the beginning of each lesson. This standardized start aimed, firstly, to reinforce students’ sense of security by providing a clear expectation of what to anticipate when a new lesson begins. Secondly, through these secure and predictable frameworks, it became easier for students to shift focus from one activity to another, mentally preparing them for the upcoming lesson.

Project Results

The project has yielded positive results for both students and teachers. For us as teachers, it has led to an increased awareness of the importance of integrating mental and physical activities into the school day. We have become more conscious of how these activities can support students’ well-being and learning.

For the students, we see a clear improvement in their readiness to learn and overall well-being across grade levels. Specifically, we observe that students now find it easier to concentrate and engage deeply in lessons, creating a noticeably calmer classroom atmosphere. This change allows students to immerse themselves more fully in learning activities, and we see fewer disruptions during class.

The impact of the project is evident in both academic and social contexts. During recess, we notice that students are more proactive in reaching out to one another, which has strengthened the social community. There is a greater sense of unity and camaraderie among students, who now interact more across different grade levels.

This increased sense of togetherness has also extended to the teachers. We have shifted from an approach focused primarily on “my students” to one of “our students.” This shared mindset has fostered stronger cohesion among colleagues, making it easier to collaborate and support each other in creating a healthy and engaging school environment.

Overall, the project has promoted a healthy and positive learning culture where both teachers and students have strengthened their sense of togetherness and are better equipped to meet the demands of daily school life.

Project Challenges

While the project has overall been a success, we faced a few challenges in the planning and implementation stages. The main challenge was that we joined the project a year later than the other participating schools. This meant we had a shorter timeframe from the outset to plan and adapt our initiatives for the students, which placed higher demands on our efforts and flexibility.

Another challenge was that the two other departments at Blåbjerg School withdrew from the project, which meant we lost the opportunity for professional sparring and experience-sharing with colleagues across departments.

To address these challenges, we strengthened our teamwork, which in turn enhanced our collegial collaboration and increased our awareness of the positive changes the project brought to both students and teachers.

Success Factors

The broad support we received from students, parents, colleagues, and leadership has been a crucial factor behind the project’s success

In the initial phase of the project, the school’s leadership actively participated in our meetings. We experienced a high level of understanding that the project would require time and adaptation for both students and colleagues. Leadership recognized that this would be a gradual process, and they did not expect full implementation across all campuses from one day to the next. This flexible approach from leadership has been invaluable in our work.

Since then, our department has welcomed a new branch leader who was not part of the project’s early phases. Despite this, he has fully supported our continued efforts with the new initiatives. This trust and backing from leadership have provided a solid foundation for continuing the project with the necessary freedom and flexibility.

Colleagues have shown consistent support and interest in the project. Many have embraced the initiatives, and some have even chosen to implement similar practices in their own classes. This collegial support has fostered a culture of shared learning and collective efforts toward a common health-promoting direction for the school.

Parents have also been very positive from the beginning and have supported our goal of creating a health-promoting school. They understand that we are progressing in small steps to ensure that all students feel included and met where they are. The parents’ understanding and engagement have created a sense of security around the project, with everyone working together to support the students’ health and well-being.

Finally, the educational principle of active student involvement has been essential to the project’s success, allowing students to continually see the purpose behind it and ensuring that their needs and ideas are at the core of the project’s design. Students’ understanding and participation have been foundational to the project’s success, and with the support of colleagues, leadership, and parents, we have established the first building blocks of a sustainable, health-promoting culture in the school.

Future Perspectives

Since starting this project, the entire Blåbjerg School, across all three campuses, has become part of a municipally funded project. This development has a significant impact on the school’s future practices and brings additional focus to our work on becoming a health-promoting school.

At the same time, the new project requires us to balance the two initiatives to ensure that both are accommodated in our daily practices. We view this challenge as an exciting opportunity to expand and strengthen our health-promoting initiatives while integrating new programs.

Navigating between the two projects requires a flexible and coordinated approach, but we look forward to building on the foundation we have already created, where health and well-being are central elements in the school’s future development.

Recommendations

To ensure the sustainable and successful implementation of health-promoting initiatives in the school, we recommend the following:

Support from the Principal

It is crucial that the principal actively supports the project. An engaged principal provides the foundation for the project’s impact and legitimacy. Support from leadership makes it easier to allocate necessary resources and ensures that the project is prioritized both practically and strategically.

Engaged and Involved Colleagues

The success of the project largely depends on colleagues’ willingness to participate and contribute to the development of health-promoting initiatives. When colleagues are on board and actively involved in shaping the initiatives, a sense of shared responsibility and strong collaboration is fostered to enhance student well-being.

These two factors provide the basis for a health-promoting school project to thrive and become an integral part of the school’s culture and daily practices.