Just sitting was yesterday - the classroom becomes active

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The standard tip for a healthy life is to sit less and move more. The "bewegte Schule" (dynamic school) concept is also intended to make this possible in an educational context, because while pupils used to be penalised for fidgeting, this is now encouraged to a certain extent in the classroom. One person who implements this with the necessary mix of flexibility and structure is Philippe Arendt, who organises his lessons at the primary school in Rollingergrund with the help of alternative seating options and movement breaks.

The teacher learnt about the concept of the school in movement at university. As a basketball player, he was immediately enthusiastic about it. "I wrote about the concept in my bachelor's thesis and incorporated a movement break or workshop once a week during my trial period, as I quickly realised how much added value there was for the children, " says Arendt. Increased concentration, more motivation, better long-term memory – these are just some of the positive effects that exercise has on learning. The focus is on interdisciplinarity, i.e. combining standard subjects with activities that are fun for the pupils.

Movement breaks and dynamic sitting

On today's "menu": Schubitrix, a learning game to promote language, a rotating wheel and chalk to practise angles, a juggling exercise coupled with verbs and mirror writing with cloze text, all in short workshops with alternating groups. So while one group tries to pair the infinitive card of a verb with the preterite card à la dominoes, another turns the wheel and draws the specified angle on the floor or does ten jumping jacks. Still others practise verbs while juggling with a balloon or read French sentences in mirror writing from the window and insert the corresponding verb in the "futur simple".

"Studies have shown, for example, that hand-eye coordination has a positive influence on memory and that children remember what they have learnt better when their brain combines a school exercise with a pleasant experience of movement, " says Arendt, explaining the concept. While this type of workshop specifically teaches learning content through movement, Moving School can also be easily integrated into normal courses, for example using dynamic seating. In C4.2 in Rollingergrund, there is a high table with a bicycle at the back of the room, some chairs have been replaced by exercise balls and pupils can learn sitting, standing or lying on the floor.

"Of course, this is unusual at first and some noises may seem annoying, but as soon as you get used to it, it only has positive effects, " reports the teacher. Balance boards, fitness pedals, so-called "Z-tools" in a Z-shape with a seat and writing surface for writing on the floor: The children are free to choose how and where they want to sit in class and are enthusiastic about it. "I can concentrate much better than at my old school, where I didn't have this and the tasks are also much more fun, " says twelve-year-old Oliver. The active movement breaks are particularly popular with the primary school children, as they interrupt lessons for around 15 minutes with a sporting activity and thus combat boredom, tiredness and concentration problems.

Arendt has prepared a few of these for the interview. First, all the benches and chairs are pushed aside, then the pupils form a large circle. "Lucky Luke" is all about reacting quickly, because if someone draws their gun with a hand signal, the people standing next to them have to duck down – if they don't do this quickly enough, they lose and "have" to do a "punishment exercise", such as push-ups. There is a lot of laughter and cheering, but everyone is focussed and even those who have been hit by Lucky Luke's "bang bang" watch intently as their fellow students draw their pistols when their name is called.

After the action, everyone sits back down contentedly and continues learning, almost as if nothing had happened. "If you just sit there for too long, you quickly get bored. The movement breaks help you to let off steam for a bit and motivate you for the rest of the day, " says twelve-year-old Imane. Vicky and Oliver also agree with her, saying that they look forward to the day more than ever and that the exercise breaks also help to overcome bad moods or tiredness. "Because the children don't just have to sit stiffly, they rock less on their chairs and are much more relaxed, you notice that straight away, " emphasises Arendt.

The teacher explains that the switch between breaks and lessons works really well because there are also exercises to calm the pupils down again. Sarah Schinker, sports coordinator at Caritas Jeunes et Familles, also swears by the concept of active learning and movement breaks, because: "School is no longer like it used to be when you sat at a bench for hours and copied from the blackboard." According to the movement expert, it has now been scientifically proven that a child's concentration span is around twice their age, meaning that a child of seven can really concentrate on something for around 15 minutes before their mind wanders off. "A six-year-old can't spend an hour learning verbs or listening to a story, at some point they will drift off, that's completely normal."

No monitoring at national level

Together with her team, the sports coordinator advises and supports employees in the social sector in order to implement more opportunities for physical activity in non-formal settings such as the Crèche or Maison Relais. One basic prerequisite: staff must be open to the somewhat unusual approach. "At the moment, for example, the IFEN (Institute for National Education) is offering further training that teachers can take part in on a voluntary basis and there is interest in this, but getting entire schools to integrate more physical activity into their daily routine remains difficult, " says Schinker.

There is a lack of concrete monitoring on the subject of the Moving School, because although the term is clearly mentioned in the last two coalition agreements and there is a desire on the part of the Ministry of Education to further expand the concept, there are no figures on its current application. "This is because the Moving School concept is a pedagogical method, i.e. a toolkit that teaching staff can use freely in their lessons. Such methods are not quantified, " the ministry explained. Departmental Minister Claude Meisch (DP) presented a package of measures last 24 February as part of the Screen Life Balance campaign, which also focuses on exercise.

As is so often the case in Luxembourg, it is not possible to measure how many classes actually use the concept, although the effort for teachers and educators is actually minimal, says Schinker. You can make tools for movement activities from numerous everyday materials without any additional costs: "You can use newspaper to make 'snowballs' for throwing, a stick, some string and a magnet to make a fishing rod for fishing verbs or practise arithmetic in the stairwell by jumping up the correct number of steps." Fly swatters, pool noodles or beer mats are also used, as there are no limits to creativity inside and outside the classroom.

A classic that many teachers already use without really realising it: the running dictation. It is important that the activities are not random, but guided, with a clear structure and rules, just as they are in conventional PE lessons. "In Scandinavian countries, the Moving School model is used extensively and produces very good results. For example, it was recently discovered that the synapses in the brain communicate better with each other when children are swinging, which also helps them learn better and makes them happy, so it's a win-win situation, " says Schinker.

It depends on the day how many and how long exercise breaks children need: "If they have only had main subjects from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., their need for exercise is naturally higher than if they have already spent two hours swimming in the morning." However, the exercise counsellor wants to emphasise one more thing: "It's no secret that obesity is becoming more and more of a problem, even for children, so it's important to remind parents that even if children are more active at school, they still need opportunities to exercise in their free time and shouldn't just sit in front of a screen."

However, the positive effects are not only felt by the children themselves, but also by teachers and carers, as Philippe Arendt explains: "The concept takes a lot of pressure off me, including in terms of inclusion." He has an autistic boy in his class, for example, who initially struggled with integration and the movement exercises, but now participates enthusiastically and can keep up with the others – simply by learning "differently" together. According to the teacher, it is important to respect the children's mood: "We are a movement class, but that doesn't mean that everyone has to take part or that I force someone to do the exercises."

His aim is to promote the concept of the Moving School beyond the walls of his classroom, as he firmly believes in its benefits: "In future, I want to offer observation sessions (visits from outsiders, ed.) in my classroom so that teachers from other schools can also see the concept for themselves." The only remaining challenge is to ensure that the pupils don't lose their desire to go to secondary school, as the lycée is the end of movement breaks and alternative sitting at the latest.

The latest announcement and a pilot study from 2014 in five primary schools in the municipalities of Nommern, Fels, Fischbach, Vichten and Lintgen show that there is a political will for change. However, all those surveyed are certain that there is still a lot to "move".