Yorkshire specialist edtech platform partners with first international school

Yorkshire based specialist edtech platform, myphizz which is designed to boost childrens’ health and wellbeing, has partnered with Bishop Hedley High School in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales.

Myphizz, which launched in September 2021, is an app built for schools to engage pupils in an active curriculum. Using a live leaderboard, children have the ability to set ‘phizz’ challenges in their classrooms or at home, comparing results across their school, as well as nationally.

Physical activity among pupils fell during the pandemic, with more than 31 per cent of children undertaking less than 30 minutes of exercise a day; this is a huge contrast to Ofsted’s recommendations that pupils should engage in exercise for an average of at least 60 minutes per day across the week.

Adrian Davies, a teacher at Bishop Hedley High School leading the introduction of myphizz commented: “After spending almost two years in a home learning environment, many of our pupils increased the time they spent being static and we wanted to find a new way to get them moving.

“In secondary schools we need to be innovative to encourage pupils to engage and take part in group challenges. As myphizz is accessed directly from a PC or device, it has proved to be a great tactic to drive engagement with PE via a channel they are comfortable with.”

The use of education technology in schools has seen a “sharp increase” in recent years, with the Covid-19 pandemic and school closures leading to 71.5 per cent growth in the UK education technology sector.

Anthony McBride, co-founder of myphizz, added: “By drawing on the expertise of schools, myphizz has been built to give pupils control over their own physical activity, whilst contributing towards the national curriculum’s physical education objectives. We’re absolutely thrilled that Bishop Hedley is seeing the benefits first hand of myphizz.

“With schools still being impacted by the pandemic and children potentially missing out on physical activity whilst isolating at home, myphizz provides a way for schools to continue communicating and engaging pupils in exercise whilst not in a school setting.”

Over the next five years, myphizz hopes to have signed up 700 schools and solidify the link between elite sporting organisations and schools, to “scout the next generation of talented athletes, as well as make a positive impact on the lives of young people across the UK”.