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Chester's Active Breaks - Teacher's Guide

Welcome to Chester’s Active Breaks, where our aim is to increase the physical activity levels of primary school pupils during the school day.

The information on this page will explain in detail everything you need to know about Chester’s Active Breaks as a teacher taking part in the programme. You can watch our video guided tour of the programme below and read more information about the programme and everything it involves below.

Teachers Video Guide to Chester's Active Breaks

What is Physical Activity?

The World Health Organisation (2024) defines it as any movement of our muscles that involves using energy. This can include the way we travel to and from work, what we do while at work and our own leisure activities.

The Chief Medical Officer’s recommendations are that children aged 5 to 18 years old should get sixty minutes of physical activity every day that makes them breath harder and feel warmer. Currently, only 20% of primary school children meet these physical activity guidelines, with Northern Ireland showing the lowest levels of physical activity for children in the UK. The other main message is that we should ‘move more and sit less’. Worryingly, research has shown that pupils in UK schools spend just under 10 hours of their day seated, with approximately 3 – 8 of these being during school hours (dependant on age group).

Further Reading :

What impact can this have on children?

Our physical activity levels as a child can determine how active we become as an adult. Increased sitting/lying time in children can affect their heart health markers (obesity, blood pressure, cholesterol, and insulin), fitness, cognitive development, and academic performance. These can then lead to developing chronic conditions later in adult life.

Further reading:

What is the solution?

We can promote Physical Activity in a fun interactive way, with support from the school community and encouragement from home. Allowing children to learn the important part physical activity plays in their lifelong health and wellbeing. We need to promote the message of ‘move more sit less.’ Physical activity is so important as it has many benefits to our health.

Further Reading:

Physical Activity chesters active breaks

So how can we increase Physical Activity levels within school?

We can introduce active breaks, activities that take no longer than 5 minutes, which present a break from sitting down. These can be built into the class (to improve teaching and learning) or a brain break away from teaching material. Research developed from Australia has shown positive benefits of introducing active breaks into the school setting, particularly when it comes to increasing physical activity levels.

Benefits of Active Breaks:

Has positive effects on children’s cognitive function

Improves classroom atmosphere

Motivates pupils

Breaks up long lessons

Encourages children to resolve conflict and problem solve

Helps children manage their own emotions and behaviour

Increases effort and ability to stay on task

Stimulates curiosity

Improves Mood

Further Reading:

TransformUs Australia Research

Chester's Active Breaks

Chester’s Active Breaks Challenge is a 7-week whole school challenge designed to increase pupils' physical activity levels during the school day.

The challenge begins on Monday 8th September and ends on Friday 24th October 2025.

This will involve a whole school approach from Primary 1 to Primary 7, with the goal of increasing children’s physical activity levels during the school day. We have created this resource pack for teachers to explain in detail what “Chester’s Active Breaks” entails.

These resources can be found on this easy-to-use online platform. One contact per school must register to access these resources.

Chester's Active Breaks Challenge

Your whole school challenge is to complete 2-3 active breaks per day with your class and record these weekly.

This will be recorded on a Excel Tally Spreadsheet which will only take few minutes.

This information is then used to determine a winning class within your school for each week, beginning in week 2. This information will also help us select our overall winners at the end of the programme, who will receive a prize.

The winner will have completed the most active breaks within the week and in event of a tie the number of minutes will be considered. The winner will receive a trophy to keep for the week.

In addition to the trophy, the winning class can also choose from the following rewards:

🏆 Extra golden time

🏆 Time off homework

🏆 Extra time outside

🏆 Activity of choice

So let the fun begin - the competition is on!

Weekly Class Quest

Follow along with Chester’s story that sets out a theme for each week, in line with the types of breaks you will see below (Chill with Chester, Lively lesson etc) presented in PowerPoint form.

The short stories (no more than 5 mins) are suited to each key stage and are pre-recorded with subtitles for pupils to follow along to.

After the story, your class will be tasked with completing a quest to uncover one of the 7 Ways to Move More Sit Less each week and receive a heart point.

The answers to the quests are found on the subsequent slide - follow along each week with the story, until your class has collected 7 heart points and revealed all the 7 Ways to Move More Sit Less.

This will help your pupils understand the importance of why we need to move more and sit less. The quest includes activities such as complete the missing words, unscramble pictures to unlock clues, actively answer questions and solve riddles.

These 7 easy to follow steps will also help encourage pupils to stay active not only during the school day, but at home too.

Types of Active Break

The active breaks have been split into different themes, depending on what type of break you think your class requires:

Lively Lesson

Description: Lively lessons are movement breaks that are integrated into part of the lesson plan (this can be used for different topics within the curriculum) and can take up to five minutes. They can be used to enhance learning and test pupils’ knowledge. For example, if teaching time, you can ask pupils to stand up and show you the time using their hands as clock hands.

Purpose: to reduce restlessness, bring pupils back on task, helps to create an effective learning environment.

Chill With Chester

Description – Chill with Chester breaks use the element of mindfulness for calming activities, not necessarily part of curriculum but can be part of personal development.

Purpose: to reduce stress, decrease anxiety, and increase focus and attention.

Brain Break

Description: Brain Break activities give children a short break from a long period of concentration, that involve being creative and curious.

Purpose: they can help children explore their imagination, build social confidence, and improve sensory development.

Cardio Booster

Description: Cardio Booster breaks get the heart pumping and children moving with minimal to no equipment required.

Purpose: can regulate energy levels, improve fitness, improve oxygen circulation, and improve focus.

Monkey Madness

Description: Monkey Madness are activities and games that require working in pairs, teams or sometimes a whole class activity.

Purpose: improves team working skills, gives a sense of achievement and helps problem solve.

Resources

The active breaks are not limited to the resources we have provided, we will also share links to external sites and are aware of many other examples out there. Please feel free to create your own or use different resources. Then select one of the above types of breaks it is most like when recording this information onto the Tally Sheet.

Each activity will come with a lesson plan that will outline what type of break it is, the equipment needed, the approximate length of time the activity will take, teacher top tips and any health and safety considerations.

Some of the active breaks will then be followed by an activity example sheet. These outline different ideas, topics, and methods that you can use for that activity. These are simply guides, if adjustments are needed, please do so, as this can enhance your classes enjoyment.

Lesson Plan and Activity Sheet Examples

How can active breaks can be integrated into your day?

Research has shown that consistency is key. To successfully integrate active breaks into your class schedule, it is recommended that teachers include them as part of their lesson plans. Know how many you intend to do that day. Try and stick to it so that is becomes part of your everyday class routine.

Time constraints are something that we understand can get in the way. To help overcome this issue we have created some resources that fit in line with the current Northern Ireland Primary Curriculum. We have also outlined how each resource can be suited to each key stage (Foundation, KS1 & KS2).

Research has shown that active breaks can be a valuable addition when implemented during the following:

When planning lessons involving material that pupils may find difficult
Lessons that involve extended seating time
When transitioning from one subject/lesson to the next
Using an active break as part of your structured lesson
For classroom management to help reengage pupils proactively
To boost learning opportunities through movement can allow teachers to see if the content has been understood.

In previous research teachers also involved pupils, by letting them choose a particular active break and selecting a different pupil each time. They also came up with ideas such as selecting a class champion (or pupil of the week), who would set daily alarms on the class iPad to remind them to complete their active breaks. Assigning your pupils to an important role such as selecting the active breaks or setting reminders to do them, gives them a sense of responsibility which can increase their likelihood to enjoy the programme. Previous research has found that young people in Northern Ireland see fun and support as being some of the most important aspects of taking part in physical activity. So, don’t forget to cheer your class on throughout the programme and help them see why they should “Move More and Sit Less” for their health now and for the future.

Further Reading:

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