Since we started the Active School Flag project our school has become a more physically active place both inside and out. To encourage us to stay active we decided on an Active School slogan. Every child was invited to create a slogan and our SNA's had the difficult task of deciding which suggestion suited our school the best . There were many great entries but in the end they chose the slogan ‘Go outside and have some fun. Keep playing until you're done’.

Playground Organisation

Our playground is zoned to allow the children to engage in a variety of different activities at break times. The grass area around the school is divided up into a football/soccer pitch for the middle classroom, a football pitch for the senior classroom, a soccer pitch for the girls’ soccer team, and a free play area for the infant classes. On days when the grass areas may be too wet to use, the children in the senior classroom can play basketball or other games with our playground equipment on the basketball court, the middle classes can use the area to the front of the school and the infant classes can use the playground equipment to play their own games in the area to the right hand side of the school. This works very well because it means that the children can choose from a wide range of activities in an environment that is safe for all. 

Playground Markings

Our Parents’ Association kindly funded playground markings around the school to give the pupils more game choices at break times. They are very bright and colourful and all the pupils, particularly those in the infant classes, love using them to make playtimes more active and enjoyable! The children also enjoy using them during active breaks

Playground Leaders

This year we have playground leaders in each classroom.  They have made a list of games that can be played in the yard, taking some ideas and opinions from the ASF Suggestion Box.  Each class play the game allocated to them at break time on the given day.  It is great to see that many children are also playing these games during lunch time and at home.      According to research, the first eight years of a child's life is the best time for them to develop fundamental movement skills. With this in mind, the Active Flag committee decided that on lunchtime on Monday's and breaktime on Wednesday's all children would play games incorporating various fundamental movement skills. Each class is given a game to play suitable for their class level. The playground leaders and equipment monitors play an important role in implementing this.                      Here are some of our favourite playground games:

Active Walkway

Our active walkway is in place on the school grounds. The 14 colourful signs are located in various different settings for example in the gardens to the front of our school, the basketball court, to the rear of our school and along our new path to our vegetable patch. Our First Class pupils measured the distance of the walkway with a trundle wheel thus combining maths with physical activity. The total length of our walkway is 131 metres.

A map was made by senior pupils showing the location of each sign and it is displayed on our Active Flag noticeboard. 

This walkway is a great asset to our school and has been used in so many different ways already – exercise, mindfulness, orienteering, maths, English, World Book Day. It is inclusive and accessible to everyone. It has allowed us to appreciate the beauty of the grounds of our school and garden areas. It also gives us an opportunity to admire the biodiversity of our school environment. 

Active Breaks challenge

Every class participated in the  #DaretoBelieve Olympic Challenge for 4 weeks. 

The Olympic Movement Breaks are a series of 20 short videos led by Olympians and High-Performance athletes demonstrating fun exercises and activities that students of all abilities can do. The short videos are across a variety of different sports including athletics, boxing, rugby sevens, swimming, breakdancing, and para powerlifting.

The goal was to  highlight the many fun benefits of being more active. The Olympic Movement Breaks encouraged schools to take part in a four-week ‘Active Break Every Day’ challenge (it ran  from November 13th-December 8th 2023).  Regular movement for children brings many benefits to the teaching and learning process, and following these high-performance athletes is a great way for young people to see some of the athletes who will represent Ireland in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games next summer.

Pupils loved this initiative, enjoyed being active, learning about different sports and our Olympians.

Aside from this challenge teachers and pupils regularly complete active break challenges, everyone enjoys the benefits of moving between and during lessons.

Our ‘Run Around Europe’ Challenge

During February and March, the children took on the 'Run Around Europe' challenge. The pupils enjoyed getting outdoors for this activity which aims to increase fitness levels, improve concentration and focus and practice the fundamental movement skill of running. For the pupils in the junior classroom, 2km was achieved when they ran around the school building once. For the pupils in 2nd – 6th class, 1km was achieved when they ran around the school building once. As this was a non-competitive running initiative the pupils ran in their class groups with a different ‘group leader’ being appointed each day. Various members of the Active School Committee recorded the number of kilometres completed each day and results were displayed in each classroom. It was a daunting task but everyone was up for it and determined to SMASH IT!! Some pupils challenged themselves to run 2km, 3km, 4km or even 8km each day! 

The pupils enjoyed this challenge so much that we continue to run for fun each day. This assists the children feel refreshed and ready to learn.