Customer Story - Newlaithes Infant and Nursery School

Nathan Pow - Newlaithes Nursery and Infant School

Nathan Pow is a class teacher and PE coordinator at Newlaithes Nursery and Infant School in Carlisle. Here, he explains how Moki has made learning fun for children approaching the end of Key Stage 1.

Equal opportunities for all

Nathan went into his performance review with his head teacher towards the end of 2019 knowing that one of the main targets for the school was to find ways of using technology to promote active learning. As the school only covers Key Stage 1, with children up to the age of 7, many tech solutions on the market were not appropriate, and Nathan wanted to make sure they used their Sports Premium investment wisely.

"We needed a solution that would be right for everyone.”

“Before my review I did a bit of research. Even though we are an infant school, some children were starting to get fitness trackers as presents. But, as we are in a mixed income area, using those in class would simply highlight the gaps in opportunity some children face. We needed a solution that would be right for everyone.”

Nathan came across Moki on Instagram, and quickly realised it was just the sort of tool he’d been looking for.

"Every day the children would be like: When are we all getting Moki?"

“We ordered a few bands as a trial, and the children immediately loved them. There was huge excitement, and demand to be chosen during that trial period, which made the decision to go for it really easy. Every day the children would be like: ‘When are we all getting Moki?’ so we had to go for it, really!  At the start of 2020, we had ordered Moki bands for all 60 of our Year 2 pupils - plus the teachers and the Head!

A different way of learning

As the children wear the bands all day, Moki quickly became part of the fabric of the curriculum at Newlaithes.

Nathan's hand crafted Moki rack

“Because the children are still quite young, we didn’t want anything that was too complicated, or relied on them having to interact too much with the technology. But the Moki bands are so simple to use. It quickly became part of the morning and afternoon routine: Registration; Lunch orders; Put on Moki bands!”

“Teaching children maths is challenging in Key Stage 1, but the data provided by Moki can really help introduce new concepts."

Rather than just being a tool for PE, the Moki bands have helped teachers introduce new elements into maths and science lessons - at an age when curiosity is starting to blossom.

Using Moki across the curriculum

“Teaching children maths is challenging in Key Stage 1, but the data provided by Moki can really help introduce new concepts. By reviewing steps data they were learning about ‘more’ and ‘less’, and also thinking of ways to improve their step counts day by day. We often see them creating their own fun science experiments: Do blond haired boys take more steps than brown haired girls? And, overall, we have just seen a lot more enthusiasm for staying active. In one PE lesson, we were able to log one million steps across the year group!”

Giving children an incentive to be active

Any concerns about unhealthy competition developing between the children were quickly dispelled. Instead, Nathan noticed that they have taken more of an interest in health and fitness.

“It’s amazing - we no longer have to encourage children to join in during PE, or be active in the playground."

The Moki bands have given them the perfect incentive to keep moving at what can be an impressionable age. 

“It’s amazing - we no longer have to encourage children to join in during PE, or be active in the playground. There were certain children we knew were not being as active as they might have been. But once they had the bands on, these same children were routinely recording the highest step counts in the class. They don’t stop all day, every day and they especially love it if they beat the adults!”

Using Moki at your school? Want to share your story with the community? We'd love to hear from you! Contact us.