To ask the Minister of Education what action he is taking to ensure as many schools as possible are taking part in The Daily Mile initiative.

Physical Education is an Area of Learning in the curriculum. It focuses on children’s physical development, health and wellbeing. The Department of Education recommends that schools should provide pupils with at least two hours of curricular Physical Education each week.

In respect of the curriculum content that is taught in schools in Northern Ireland and the resources available to support teaching and learning, the Department of Education delegates as much funding and decision-making as possible to schools. Subsequently, it does not normally endorse or recommend any particular resource or programme for use by schools. It is entirely a matter for individual schools to determine which resources or programmes they wish to use to support their delivery of the curriculum.

The Education Authority is a member of the Daily Mile Network Northern Ireland and has supported the development of the Daily Mile using a number of mechanisms. This has included the facilitation of a webinar entitled the “Daily Mile Makes You Smile” which gave School Principals an opportunity to better understand the benefits of the Daily Mile based on the experience of participating schools. In addition, EA continues to support and share publicity in relation to local Daily Mile Network activities, for example the Santa Run.