Safe Enough to Move: How Teign’s Friday Run Club is Building Physical Literacy and Wellbeing

At Future Action, we are proud to be partnering with Active Devon and 10 brilliant schools as part of the Devon RISE Up programme. Each school co-designs its own bespoke approach, funded by Active Devon and inspired by Sport England's Patchwork Physical Literacy initiative.

This programme is about more than activity — it’s about physical literacy. The Physical Literacy Consensus Statement for England reminds us that our relationship with movement is shaped by how we move, connect, think and feel, and by the environments in which those experiences take place.

To help all children, especially the most vulnerable, develop a lifelong love of movement, we must first ensure they have positive, meaningful experiences in safe and trusted environments.

The first step in physical literacy is simple but profound: young people must feel safe enough to move.

This is exactly what’s been achieved at Teign School, a vibrant 11–18 academy in Kingsteignton. Teign is a comprehensive community where staff place student progress and success at the heart of everything they do.

Here, brilliant PE Teacher Carrie Irwin tells the story…

Closing the gap

'Despite an already diverse extracurricular offer at Teign, we still knew a group of students remained disengaged from physical activity.

In response, I launched a weekly running club during the first term to explicitly target student wellbeing and promote self-care through movement.

What began as a small initiative has now become a thriving, year-round programme, featuring both onsite and offsite sessions.

Running and walking are both accessible ‘Repeater’ activities helping our students to calm their amygdala, widening their window of tolerance and allowing students to access their prefrontal cortex.

We have found Repeaters to be powerful regulation tools, particularly for students managing anxiety or dysregulation.

Structure and delivery

Intentional efforts have been made to nurture a sense of belonging:

-          Initial name games to foster connections between students

-          Emphasis on “Run Club” as a team, not just a club

-          Continuous encouragement of peer support and staff-student relationships

By creating a psychologically safe and uplifting environment we are prioritising our students’ physical literacy.

Striving for everyone to have a positive and meaningful association with movement enables students to build the confidence and competence essential to be active now and throughout their lives.

Onsite sessions are creatively designed to be fun and functional.

Activities include:

-          Team relays with upbeat music for motivation

-          Tag-style running games to promote 'Play Wrapped in care'

-          Bodyweight strength challenges such as the ‘Bring Sally Up’ squat routine to improve injury prevention and build muscular endurance.

Offsite sessions involve minibus transport to local trails, cycle paths, and nature reserves.

These sessions offer a more adventurous experience and are often differentiated by pace groups to ensure accessibility for all ability levels. In adverse weather, the group stays together for increased support and safety.

More Than Just an After-School Club

The Running Club has evolved into a supportive wellbeing community.

It provides:

-          A safe, inclusive space for students to connect and open up

-          Opportunities to challenge physical and mental boundaries

-          Tools for long-term health and resilience

Beyond Running: Embedding Everyday Wellbeing Tools

The Run Club also integrates accessible self-care strategies from the RISE Up programme alongside physical activity to create sustainable habits.

These include:

-          Balancing while brushing teeth – Improves balance, focus, and cognitive health

-          “Bring Sally Up” challenge – Builds strength, discipline, and motivation through short, structured routines. These ‘Stress Busters’ involve pushing against a force to settle the nervous system.

-          Deep breathing practice – Teaches calming techniques and body awareness

-          Gratitude journaling – Cultivates a positive mindset and emotional regulation

-          Nutrition education – Offers practical advice on hydration and fuelling for performance and wellbeing

-          Goal setting – Encourages personal achievements (e.g., running 7 minutes continuously, speaking to someone new)

Staff Engagement

The club’s success is bolstered by enthusiastic staff participation. Teachers from beyond the PE department, including Miss Brown (MFL) and Miss Morrissey (Head of English) have regularly supported sessions, modelled active lifestyles and encouraged participation from students who might not traditionally engage with PE.

Several members of staff, including a senior leader, have joined Run Club on a more flexible basis when their schedules allow.

These trusted adults and staff role models play a vital role here by modelling joy, encouragement, and consistency they help embed meaningful, memorable movement experiences that shape lifelong wellbeing.

Their presence has also reinforced the message that movement and wellbeing are for everyone and has helped normalise participation across the wider school community.

This cross-school involvement is slowly reshaping the school culture around physical activity.

Using Social Media to Celebrate Success

Weekly updates via the Teign PE Instagram—including reels, stories, and posts—showcase the joy and achievements of the Running Club.

This consistent, positive visibility:

-          Recognises student efforts

-          Inspires wider participation

-          Shares the inclusive power of PE with the broader community and other schools

Student Feedback 

Across Teign School, Student Voice is instrumental in our decision making. Students have played a vital role in shaping and evaluating the success of Teign's Run Club.

Their conversational feedback provides authentic insight into how the club is achieving its goals of inclusion, engagement, and improved wellbeing.

“I never used to do exercise outside of PE lessons which I had to. I wanted to ride my bike but it’s broke. Now I run and my legs are my pedals – I can do it!”– Year 8 Student

Many students participating may not have traditionally found a connection with PE, yet they now look forward to sessions, feel safe enough to try and are forming positive relationships with movement.

Run Club offers a new entry point into physical activity—one that fosters independence and self-belief. 

“You don’t have to run – it is for everyone.”– Year 7 Student

Students are able to recognise for themselves, the inclusive ethos of the club. Run Club has created a space where all students feel welcome, regardless of ability or confidence level.

The fact that students are now sharing this message themselves reinforces a strong, shared culture of belonging.

“Where are we going this week, Miss?”– Year 7 Student

For many students a sense of anticipation and excitement has become a key feature of the club.

Students look forward to sessions, this consistent buzz around Friday runs, supports increased engagement and sustained attendance.

Impact Highlights

On our SWEMWBS Wellbeing Scale we saw improvement of +47% with our biggest gains in students feeling optimistic about the future, feeling useful and feeling close to others.

These areas are closely linked with improved mental health and emotional resilience.

On our School Wellbeing Scorecard we increased from 77% to 83% post intervention.

Pre Intervention School Wellbeing Scorecard:

Post Intervention School Wellbeing Scorecard:

This positive shift indicates broader gains in students’ overall wellbeing. Run Club is effectively closing the gap for students who previously lacked a meaningful connection with movement and wellbeing.

The Running Club at Teign exemplifies how purposeful physical activity can transform student and staff wellbeing.

What started as a way to "catch the missed" has grown into a model of inclusive, habit-forming, community-led health promotion—supporting not just fitness, but mindset, connection, and resilience.'

Why This Matters

At Future Action, we want to say a huge thank you to Carrie and the brilliant team at Teign for their efforts to transform their children’s life chances.

Carrie’s work at Teign is a shining example of the Physical Literacy Consensus Statement in action: creating safe, inclusive, joyful opportunities that allow young people to reshape how they move, connect, think and feel about physical activity.

By embedding safety, belonging and fun into Run Club, she has supported young people — particularly their most vulnerable — to rebuild their confidence and develop a healthier, more positive relationship with movement.

At Future Action, this is something we’ve seen first-hand too. When I first began the Trauma Informed PE journey in my own school in the aftermath of lockdown, children’s wellbeing was at an all-time low.

The most important factor in repairing their relationship with movement was not the activity itself, but the relationships around it. By prioritising connection and making young people feel safe, we saw them flourish again.

Run Club proves the same truth: that physical literacy is not just about developing physical skills, but about building confidence, trust and belonging through movement.

When we get this right, we don’t just create active students — we nurture resilient young people with a lifelong love of movement.

Do You Want To Take The First Steps To Improving Your Students’ Wellbeing?

✅ [1] Join our waiting list – to explore partnerships, training, consultancy, speaking opportunities, or to get your copy of Time to RISE Up:

👉 Join the Waiting List here

📝 [2] Complete your School Wellbeing Scorecard – it takes just 3 minutes to map your current provision and identify key areas to strengthen:

👉 Complete the Scorecard here

Have a brilliant week, and thank you for all you do for your young people.

Neil Moggan and the Future Action team

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