What is the Active School Flag?
“The Active School Flag (ASF) is a Department of Education and Skills initiative supported by Healthy Ireland that is awarded to schools that strive to achieve a physically educated and physically active school community. The process aims to get more schools, more active, more”. (Active School Flag)
Our Active School Committee
To carry out our Active School application, we needed the help of our students. To facilitate this we set up an ‘Active Schools Committee’. Our Active School Committee consists of one member of staff, Ms Chesser and we have members from each class from 2nd to 6th class represented on our committee who meet regularly throughout the year. They will be working with Ms Chesser carrying out surveys, sharing ideas and performing duties.
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| Our School We try to promote physical activity in our school, our challenge this year is to maximise physical activity throughout the day and to encourage the whole school community to enjoy physical activity. To be awarded an ASF renewal, schools are required to review and self-evaluate their current provision under three areas; Physical Education, Physical Activity and Partnerships. If we can meet all of the criteria in these areas we will be awarded a flag and we will have got the whole school more active. |
| Here are the changes we have made to make our school more active so far: We launched the Active School Flag in the school; all teachers explained what ASF is to their classes. We sent a note text with a link to the ASF website to inform parents and guardians about ASF. We set up an Active School Committee. We learned and performed The Thriller Dance for our Halloween Disco. We now have active breaks each week! We have an Active School Flag Notice board in the school where we display our active events and active news. We have a ‘Well Done Wall’ where we display our student’s achievements. We have active homework once a week and are participating in the ‘Active Break Every Day Challenge!’ Due to bad weather, we could not do the Santa dash so had great fun doing the ‘Santa Dance’ challenge instead! Camogie training every Tuesday after school, weather permitting. |
Watch this video on the fundamental movement skill of running, then try it out for yourself! https://vimeo.com/404404521
1. Catch If You Can (use any soft object, small ball, a pair of folded socks) https://scoilnet.ie/uploads/resources/21844/21567.pdf 2. Kids HIIT Challenge ( Play your favourite music to make it even more fun!) See attached! 3. Play Limbo https://kidspot.com.au/things-to-do/activity-articles/limbo/news-story/dd464cdb6f3f4e41f8e335b52d3d4e39 4. Find your zen with Cosmic yoga: https://youtu.be/40SZl84Lr7A
4th Class – 6th Class
Active breaks are Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays! Thanks to the wonderful committee for organising the games and activities!
Well done to all who participated!
Well done to everyone, you were amazing!
Each class participated in the active breaks challenge for December. Short activity breaks included running, hula hooping, Go-Noodle and yoga!
Unfortunately, the weather was too bad to do our Santa Dash, however, we still had loads of fun doing a ‘Santa Dance’ instead!
What’s next?
Camogie Training:
Camogie training on Tuesdays after school from 4th class up to 6th class from 3-4pm.
Active Homework:
Active homework will be given on Wednesdays! Children will be given an Active Homework grid to tick off.
Active Breaks Challenge:
We had so much fun doing our active breaks and really felt the benefits of them in class that we will commence the daily mile challenge weather permitting!
June 2018
In June 2018 we received our first Active School Flag! Congratulations and many thanks to all who were involved.
Be Active After School Activity Programme
Ms. Sheary’s 1st and 2nd Class have started participating in the Be Active ASAP. We will be focusing on the strand of Athletics. Thanks to all the parents who have volunteered to help out in the running of the programme.
Week 1:
Active Schools Week Day 4-Aerobics, Swimming Lessons for 1st and 2nd Class, Basketball and ‘Run A Mile’ Challenge for 4th-6th Class
The girls were very busy today doing all the planned activities. Clodagh Pederson did aerobics/yoga with the girls in the morning.
Jan Pederson did basketball with all the girls in the afternoon. He taught them lots of skills needed for the game of basketball.
4th-6th Class did ‘Run A Mile’ Challenge in the town park. They did really well.
1st and 2nd Class went to swimming lessons to the local leisure centre.
Active Schools Week Day 3-Aerobics and Yoga
Clodagh Pederson did aerobics/zumba with the girls on Thurday morning. Annette Conde did yoga with the girls in the afternoon. They really enjoyed both of these activities.
Active Schools Week Day 2-Aerobics and Swimming Lessons for 1st and 2nd Class
Cloadgh Pederson did aerobics/zumba with all the girls on Wednesday morning. The girls really loved having Clodagh. Everyone got involved!
1st and 2nd Class went to swimming lessons to the local leisure centre.
Active Schools Week Day 1-Skipathon and Tennis Lessons for Senior Infants
Unfortunately the weather wasn’t good today so we had to do our skipping indoors. Some classes got outdoors. It didn’t stop the girls doing very well today.
Senior Infants had tennis lessons Wesley O’ Brien.
Active Schools Week Diary
Tuesday 24th of April-Skipathon and Tennis Lessons for Senior Infants
Wednesday 25th of April-Aerobics and Swimming for 1st and 2nd Class
Thursday 26th of April-Aerobic and Yoga for 3rd-6th Class
Friday 27th of April-Aerobics/Zumba, Basketball, Swimming for 1st and 2nd Class and ‘Run A Mile’ Challenge for 4th-6th Class.
Active Schools Week
Active Schools Week is scheduled for 24th-28th of April. We have lots of activities and fun planned for this week. Teachers will be giving active homework. Please keep these dates in your diary so you can get involved too!!!
Tennis Lessons For Senior Infants
The girls have started tennis lessons with Wesley O’ Brien. The girls are having lots of fun learning the game of tennis.
Playground Games During Break Time
The weather has picked up this week and we have started putting P.E. equipment outside during break time. The girls are really enjoying having an opportunity to use the equipment in their fun and games.
Be Active After School Programme
The Health Promotion Department of the HSE is especially delighted to support this programme as it adds significantly to our Health Promoting Schools programme, involving parents in their children’s physical activity experiences and working in partnership with principals and teachers. The Be Active ASAP aims to improve the physical activity patterns of school children by introducing them to a wide variety of activities in a fun, supportive, positive environment, fostering positive attitudes toward physical activity during children’s crucial formative years.
The programme takes place after school on school grounds. It involves parents in the children’s physical activity. Ms. Sheary’s 1st and 2nd Class and Ms. O’ Callaghan 3rd and 4th Class will have the opportunity of participating in this programme. It gives children a chance to succed in a fun environment. It sure to be a delightful programme for all those involved. We will be running this programme in Term 3.
East Clare Basketball Competition
The 6th Class girls participated in the East Clare Basketball Competition on the 8th of March. They represented the school and did us proud. A very special thanks to Ms. Varley who accompanied the girls on the day.
School Talent Show
We held the first talent show of Convent Primary School Killaloe this year. Many of our pupils danced as part of their act. We have many talented dancers in our school.
‘WOT’ Day (Walk On Thursday)
We had our ‘WOT’ Day on 8th of February. This is the second of three walks we hope to do this year. The pupils were encouraged to walk to school on this day. Well done to the girls and their families who completed the walk to school. A special thanks to Ms. O’ Callaghan who organised this walk.
Scooter Workshop
Junior Infants-2nd Class was lucky to avail of a Scooter Workshop led by Roisin Garvey. This workshop was an initiative that was organised by the Green School committee in our journey to receive our Travel Flag. The girls really enjoyed the workshop and learned many skills. A special thanks to Ms. O Callaghan and the Green School Committee.
10@10
We started the 10@10 on the 22nd of January. Every Monday to Friday for the next three weeks Gráinne Bleasdale and Micheál Ó Ciaraidh are getting active with us while having fun for 10 minutes, every morning at 10 o’clock. We are getting very fit!
P.E. Strand and Fundamental Movement Skills Timetable for January-June.
Every month the classes will focus on the same P.E. Strand Unit and Fundamental Movement Skills.
| Month | Strand | FMS |
| January | Games | Throwing |
| February | Gymnastics | Balance |
| March | Dance | Co-ordination |
| April | Athletics | Catching |
| May | Aquatics | Jumping |
| June | Outdoor and Adventure | Running |
Christmas Disco
We had a Christmas disco on the day of the holidays. We danced to lots of Christmas music. We had a great day.
Active Christmas
ASF encourages all schools to incorporate physical activity into the daily routine throughout December. We have decided to have a ‘Dancing December’. We have included two Christmas Classics- Jingle Bells and Crazy Santa Song. The videos are uploaded below for all the family to get active over December!!
Physical Activity Calendar
Some classes are participating in the physical activity calendar for the month of December. The girls looked forward to this every morning in the month of December.
12 Days Of Christmas
We are also doing the ’12 Days of Christmas’ as we line up after break and lunch time. This ensures we are not feeling the cold!!! This is led by the senior members of the Active School committee. They are doing a fantastic job. It goes like this ‘On the first day of fitness my teacher gave to me …….
Super Troopers and Go Noodle
Hope everyone is enjoying the Super Troopers programme at home! In school we’ve increased the time we spend exercising! For brain breaks throughout the day, the girls are now getting active by dancing to some great guided dancing videos from http://www.gonoodle.com. There are lots of great movement ideas on the website if you’d like to try it at home!
Hallowe’en Disco
The pupils dressed up in their Hallowe’en costumes and we had our annual Hallowe’en disco in the hall. They danced the day away and had a ball!
‘WOW’ Day (Walk On Wednesday)
We had our ‘WOW’ Day on 25th of October. This is the first of three walks we hope to do this year. The pupils were encouraged to walk to school on this day. Well done to the girls and their families who completed the walk to school. A special thanks to Ms. O’ Callaghan who organised this walk.
Camogie Training
The school was lucky enough to have camogie training in Term 1 with David Carroll. Lots of skills are being learned. The girls are really enjoying it. A special thanks to the very competent David Carroll. Our camogie stars of the future!
European Week of Sport
The 2017 European Week of Sport and Physical Activity was celebrated across Ireland from 23rd-30th September 2017. It aimed to promote sport and physical activity across Europe. The Week was for everyone, regardless of age, background or fitness level. On Friday we marked the occasion with a ‘Teacher-Pupil Challenge’. Junior Infants-2nd Class participated in a beanbag challenge and 3rd-6th Class participated in a basketball game. The whole school community enjoyed the day.
Cross Country County Finals Competition
The girls were very busy training for the Cross Country County Finals. They had lots of training after school with their capable trainers Ms. O Callaghan and Mr. Toomey. The girls represented the school very well. The under 10 team finished in 9th position. This was a great achievement as hundreds of pupils all over Clare participated in the competition. Well done to the teachers involved. A special thanks to the parents who supported the girls on the day.
East Clare Cross Country Competition
Well done to all the girls who represented our school at this years Cross Country trials. Excellent achievements with three individual medals and 3rd under 10 in team results. 🏆
Well done to Ms. O’ Callaghan who trained the girls for this competition.
Cross Country Trials
Pupils in 1st-6th Class participated in trials we had in the GAA field. All pupils did themselves proud and it was very difficult for the teachers to choose the girls who would participate in the competition. Thanks to Ms. O’ Callaghan, Ms. Varley and Ms. Sheary for choosing the teams.
Continuing Professional Development
Ms. Griffin attended the ‘Move Well, Move Often’ fundamental skills workshop. The resources are designed to complement the teaching of the Primary P.E. curriculum. They will help and assist teachers integrate skill development into the P.E. strand/lessons that we are teaching. It was a very worthwhile workshop.
P.E. Equipment Audit
As part of the ASF process we completed a P.E. equipment audit. We also organised the P.E. equipment store room.
Resources For Parents
Here are some ideas for home:
- Go for pre- or post-dinner walk.
- Turn up the music and boogie down!
- Make a game out of household chores.
- Sneak workouts into other activities i.e. taking the stairs instead of the lifts in shops.
- Turn TV ad breaks into fitness breaks.
- Have a weekly sports night, where everyone in the family gets involved.
- Let the kids help with work in the yard and with gardening – catch leaves, raking, sorting, digging, planting, etc.
- Walk the dog!
- Walk, cycle or scoot to and from school, park and other places.
- Make time for physical activity everyday.
Here are some fantastic websites for parents to encourage even more physical activity at home.
http://www.irishprimarype.ie
http://www.irishheart.ie
http://www.getirelandactive.ie
http://www.parkrun.ie/
https://ot.rte.ie/get-involved/10-at-10/
http://parentsforhealth.org/
https://www.pta.org/programs/content.cfm?ItemNumber=3397
http://kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_center/staying_fit/exercise.html
http://www.supertroopers.ie/
ASF Support Agencies
Irish Primary P.E. Association- https://www.irishprimarype.com/
Clare Sports Partnership-http://claresports.ie/
Clare Education Centre-https://clareed.ie
National Governing Bodies Of Sport-https://www.sportireland.ie/Governing_Bodies/
Cara Adapted Physical Activity Centre-https://caracentre.ie/
Sports Inclusion Disability Officers https://www.sportireland.ie/Participation/Sports_Inclusion/
Irish Heart Foundation-https://irishheart.ie/
Irish Water Safety-http://www.iws.ie/
Road Safety Authority-http://www.rsa.ie/
Active School Flag Committee 2017/2018
Pupils from each class have been selected to represent their class for the Active School Committee.
The members of the committee are:
- Hazel Flemming-Junior Infants
- Áine Conroy-Senior Infants
- Muireann Coleman-First Class
- Mia Byrnes-2nd Class
- Daisy Ryan–3rd Class
- Fiona Byrne-4th Class
- Katie Mowat-5th Class
- Karen O’ Mahony-6th Class
Our Active School Flag Slogan
Hop, Jump, Dance and Skip, It’s Important to Keep Healthy and Fit.
Physical Education Programme
The PE programme in Convent Primary School Killaloe incorporates six strands – Athletics, Dance, Gymnastics, Games, Aquatics and Outdoor and Adventure activities. This year we are putting a special focus on Athletics. Our targeting of the Active School Flag has required an audit of our PE programme. This examination has helped us improve our provision of Physical Education in the school.
Active School Flag Website: www.activeschoolflag.ie
For us to become an active school – we really do need your help. So please volunteer your time to help us achieve this goal. If people in the community have ideas, can lend a helping hand or want to join our active schools committee then get in contact with the school. The teachers leading this school project are Ms. Varley and Ms. Griffin
Active School Committee 2016
Our Active School Flag Committee was established in January 2016. They have been extremely busy encouraging all classes to be active at both sos time and lunch time. They have organised a rota for sports equipment on the yard at big lunch and the pupils are thoroughly enjoying this opportunity.
