http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6176699
On the BBC too - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-16971411Hundreds of five-year-olds are to get a new addition to their timetables in a bid to boost their literacy: exercise.
The 10-minute routines of controlled movements, likened to t'ai chi by one teacher, will be introduced at 40 primary schools to train pupils out of reflexes in their bodies that can hamper their reading and writing.
Most children grow out of certain reflexes, such as the way a baby grasps a finger placed in its palm, but when they do not it can slow development and have an impact on their learning, according to researchers. They have now devised exercises - many of which are accompanied by songs and nursery rhymes - to help to "switch off" the reflexes, aiding children's ability to concentrate.
Dr Martin McPhillips, a psychology lecturer at Queen's University Belfast who has studied the phenomenon, estimates that among the children in the bottom 10 per cent for reading, 60-70 per cent may have so-called "persistent primary reflexes".
The project is one of six to have won a grant from the government-funded £125m Education Endowment Fund.