Active School

 

Active School

Welcome to our Active School page.

PE

All classes receive at least one hour of PE every week.

The strands of the PE curriculum are Athletics, Aquatics, Dance, Gymnastics, Games & Outdoor and Adventure.

All children go swimming for an eight week block. Land PAWS Water Safety Programme is completed in our school.

All children do basketball and GAA every year which links to the strand of games.

Tag rugby and soccer were introduced in previous years. Peila was introduced this year with a focus on the games strand.

All children participated in Dance lessons this year which focuses on the strand of Dance. Children really enjoyed this strand of the PE curriculum.

PE with Joe was encouraged through our twitter page and our website when working and learning from home last year.

Children participated in GAA online during remote learning this year.

PSSI lesson plans and Move Well, Move Often resources are used in our school.

PE homework is encouraged.

Physical Activity

Our school reinforces the message that children require 60 minutes of physical activity every day.

The children receive two outdoor breaks per day - little break & lunch-time.

Children are encouraged to "Do your talking as you're walking".

Our yard is zoned into different areas. These areas include the playground, basketball court, soccer pitch and grass area - upper & lower yard. This engages children in a variety of different activities.

Children are encouraged to use the playground markings to play playground games at break and lunch-time.

Our school promotes physical activity when classes are lined up in the yard. Children get active in their line with active lines linking to active jars e.g. 20 jumping jacks, 40 punches in the air.

Children also participate in rainy day breaks before or after break or lunch on wet days in school. These are classroom-based physical activity breaks on the days when children are unable to play outdoors.

Every class completed the Active Break Every Day challenge as a whole school initiative for four weeks this year. All children really enjoyed this initiative. Children participate in active breaks in the classroom using a variety of resources such as active jars - activity & reps / How many? e.g. 15 hopping on the spot, go noodle, bizzy breaks etc to name just a few.

Every class participates in a number of activities to decrease sedentary time.

Our school is completing the Run a Day challenge. This involves children participating in the Olympic School Challenge.

Our school incorporates physical activity into annual calendar events throughout the school year. Active Halloween involves dressing up & walking in our locality for a Witch Walk. Our school held a Christmas disco just before the Christmas holidays.

Lá Glas usually involves walking to our hall for a céilí mór & concert celebrating St. Patricks Day during Seachtain na Gaeilge. Active events may incorporate a concert in our local hall. Additional active events in our school may include a Santa Stroll at Christmas and Easter Egg Hunt at Easter. These events also link to the Feel Good Fridays initiatives.

Partnerships

Pupils

Children completed a pupil questionnaire linked to active schools.

Our school has a different Active Slogan every year. Our school usually runs an Active Slogan Competition.

Our school forms an Active Committee every year. The main role of the Active Committee is to communicate messages about active schools with their class and teacher.

Pupils conducted a “What club are you in survey?”to find out about physical activity opportunities in the local community.

Parents

Parents completed a parent questionnaire in relation to active schools.

Children require 60 minutes of physical activity every day. Children used pocket planners and completed the Let’s Get Active Award initiative in conjunction with the Irish Heart Foundation. Children also completed the supertroopers programme with the support of parents at home.

Community

Many children are involved in various clubs in our locality such as local Community Games & local GAA to name but a few. Our children are members of many additional clubs.

Our school works very closely with the Community Games. Our school links with the local GAA Club & County GAA for training. We held a GAA Day with a local school to promote partnerships & physical activity.

Our school has worked in partnership with a variety of local coaches and mentors involved in a number of different areas over the years.

Our school works with Local Sports Partnership e.g. taster sessions during active week, use of stencils for our playground games on the yard etc.

Our school worked in conjunction with Health Promoting Schools. We completed a project with pupils, staff and parents. We achieved a Health Promoting School Flag for our school which links to active school flag. We celebrated this achievement with a yoga day for all children. This was enjoyed by everyone.

Active Week

Our school has organised Active Week every June for a number of years. This is part of the annual school calendar.

Our school participated in Active Home Week during National Active Week when working and learning from home last year.

Our school also held a Wellbeing Week during remote learning at the end of June last year. This also linked to Active Week.

Children and staff wear tracksuits for the week.

Every morning begins with "Morning Movement".

Physical activity is encouraged as homework.

Active Week is held in June in conjunction with Sports Day & numerous other whole school fun events such as the active chants and team races.

Taster sessions from local sports clubs and physical activity providers are also incorporated into Active Week. New activities are also introduced.

Local amenities are used during Active Week.

Teachers, parents and past pupils usually participate in Active Week.

The entire school community is encouraged to get active during Active Week.