Vachdorf Primary School shines: Last set of jerseys for active students!

Vachdorf Primary School shines: Last set of jerseys for active students!

On October 3, 2025, the Vachdorf elementary school was honored as the twelfth and final monthly winner of the “Exercise Calendar 2024” initiative. The students presented a remarkable video entitled “Moving Breaks – Fit for the Holidays”, in which they implemented their creative movement tasks both in the classroom and on the schoolyard. This award took place in collaboration with school sports coordinator Sebastian Hardt and the South Thuringia State School Office, and the honor was presented by District Administrator Peggy Greiser and Henry Borchert from the School Office. Thanks to the generous support of the Schmalkalden-Meiningen district and the Rhön-Rennsteig-Sparkasse, the school received a high-quality jersey set with the Prachtregion logo.

The “Exercise Calendar 2024” initiative was launched by the German Sports Youth to increase the promotion of exercise among children. Every month, a school that creatively implemented a special sport or movement task was honored. A total of twelve sets of jerseys were given away over the course of the year, which created excitement and motivation.

Exercise as an important component for children

Promoting exercise is essential for the well-being of children and young people GKV alliance explained. A school should offer a stimulating environment that provides sufficient opportunities for exercise. To achieve this, multi-component approaches that combine both relational and behavioral measures are important.

Physical education plays a key role in this. An extension of time and improvement of teaching methods are necessary so that more movement time is available. It is also important to integrate regular “movement breaks” into lessons in order to motivate children to learn more actively.

Joint efforts for more exercise

But not only the school, but also the parents must be involved, because they are important role models and should actively participate in school physical activity measures. Collaboration between school, parents and the community is crucial to making the journey to school safe and active.

To promote exercise activities, the German Sports Youth has developed an attractive concept with the exercise calendar. Games like “Countdown” not only train children’s physical fitness, but also develop skills such as attention, working memory and cognitive flexibility. These important skills can be promoted through simple movement and play tasks, which has a major impact on children's development reports the German Sports Youth.

Movement is more than just a fun factor - it is an important part of child development and should not be missed. Through the commitment of everyone involved, the Vachdorf primary school is sending a great example of showing a “good hand” when it comes to exercise, and this is particularly important for the youngest children.