Exercises in the classroom

East Tyrolean pupils become “exercise buddies”

Elena Eidler showed the pupils a series of exercises.(Bild: MS Egger-Lienz)

15 children from Egger-Lienz secondary school used a sporty method to learn how to keep fit for school. An expert demonstrated gymnastics and showed the pupils important exercises for their everyday school life.

It was an instructive and active lesson that 15 pupils from the first grade of Egger-Lienz secondary school experienced. Together with Elena Eidler from the Simplystrong school association, they were trained as "movement buddies". This is a sporting method to promote children's performance, as Eidler explains: "Movement breaks during lessons increase the ability to learn and concentrate in all subjects." Three programs with almost 500 exercises were developed for this purpose.

(Bild: MS Egger-Lienz)

It wasn't just the pupils who took part in gymnastics at the secondary school. Teachers were also trained to stand in front of the classes.

We're about to introduce the flag signal, which was my favorite exercise.

Schüler Luca aus der 1i-Klasse

Relaxation and stress reduction
In addition to the exercises, they learned a lot about proper relaxation and stress reduction. "The pupils can now independently lead small exercise breaks and ensure more movement and active relaxation," says teacher Kathrin Janzen. Pupil Luca adds proudly: "We're about to introduce the flag signal, that was my favorite exercise."