The Worldwide Classroom
Around the world, families are gathering around their screens to watch the daily thirty minutes workout with Joe Wicks, The Body Coach who has become the new PE teacher to the nation. Joe has spent the last four years travelling round the United Kingdom, self funded as he wants to inspire kids to get moving and eat healthy. The “spider-man” lunge, and “bunny bounces” are aimed to engage the youngest of children watching the online classes but the exercises can be done by all and during some of the daily shout-outs to those doing the live class there have been people in their seventies and even eighties taking part.
Structure & Stability
For thousands of parents, Joe Wicks 9am PE class offers some structure and stability for their children, following school closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Teachers scrambled to gather material for children to take home for the last few weeks of the Spring term. Parents set up What’s App and Facebook groups frantically sharing suggested daily timetables for the weeks ahead. Businesses moved fast to keep themselves in the forefront of customers' minds, from Chester Zoo doing online live animal feeding sessions, art teachers running live classes to their children, yoga, magic, languages, drama. Your day could be filled with online learning, west end shows and music lessons but often many did not know where to start, PE with Joe at 9am is a pretty good place.
So how did Joe Wicks end up becoming the nation's PE teacher?
A personal trainer with a first class degree in Sports Science and an online nutrition coach, Joe became well known for his online HIIT classes and accompanying book, Lean In 15. Fast forward several years and Joe has published six more books, and has thousands who have taken part in his 90 day body transformation programme. Joe wanted to help and decided to offer the classes free online, he has been overwhelmed by the millions of people who have tuned in each day, with the real numbers being impossible to know as whole households are joining in together.
Worldwide classroom
Artroom Brighton who runs after daily school classes for children in Sussex, learnt at speed about how to use Zoom for lessons and offers daily live art classes. Teacher, Seb Dewing has seen children joining from around the world all uniting together to draw and create.
BBC Bitesize has promised to deliver lessons for the Summer term, which is music to most parents' ears. Overwhelmed by the amount of resources offered online, a constant flurry of emails from teachers and often trying to juggle working from home and children of different age groups. Parents are struggling to put a typical daily school life into action. Luckily, the Easter holidays have offered some respite from home education and a chance to regroup. PE with Joe continues and for many this is the one bit of continuity they can offer their children when restricted to short daily outdoor exercise each day.
Geography
We were over the moon to spot our map behind Joe every day in his PE classes. A present from his girlfriend a while ago, and it has pride of place in his living room.
The map featured is our Classic World Map in Lemon - Orange - Sage - Thistle.
Never have we felt more connected globally. Whilst we may not be able to fly abroad, or even visit our own neighbours, we are all together facing the same situation with this pandemic. When it is over, and one day it will be, we will view travel with fresh eyes and be grateful for little things that we took for granted only a few weeks ago. Until that time, we will keep doing our 9am PE sessions with Joe Wicks and get through as best we can. Stay well everyone.