Active Flag 2019/2020

Physical Education

Here at Inver National School each class receives at least one hour of P.E. every week.

Our P.E. classes are made up of the six strands of the P.E. curriculum and throughout the year we take part in:

  • Athletics
  • Gymnastics,
  • Dance
  • Outdoor and adventure activities
  • Aquatics.
  • Games.
  • All classes follow the same strand timetable and each strand has a Fundamental Movement skill attached to it. Every FMS will be covered over a 2 year period. The Strand and FMS for each month are displayed on the Active Board in school corridor along with other P.E. reources.
  •                             
  •                             
  • All teachers use PSSI lesson plans.
  •      
  • Each child receives P.E. homework on P.E. days
  •                      
  • Sample of PE photos

We have a basketball court to the front of the school with playground markings, a playground and yard to the rear of the school and an astro pitch to the right of the school.We have the use of the local community centre which is suited to indoor activities in poorer weather. We also have use of the local swimming pool and  football pitches in Kilcommon.

We think P.E. is a very important subject and we follow a school P.E. plan & policy. Our school yearly plan ensures that we are teaching the various strands each year. This year we decided to prioritise the Gymnastics strand. We usually have a visiting coach carry out the Gymnastics instructions due to our limited resources such as mats, beams etc. This year we decided to work closely with the Gymnastics coach and also teach gymnastics ourselves during the week while Gymnastics sessions are ongoing. ( This has been hampered due to Covid 19)We also decided to purchase mats for individual use by pupils.

Physical Activity

Here are some samples of how we stay active in Inver N.S.

Each pupil and member of staff has commited to being an active member of Inver N.S.

Every class practices regular Exercise Breaks in class as transitions between subjects. We use sites such as gonoodle, cosmic yoga but also allow children to choose exercises . If children do  not get out due to really bad weather at break times, all children do exercises when class teacher returns.

       

The Children in the  Senior Room have taken part in the Climb  the Heights Challenge for the past 2 years, with the guidance of our parent volunteer, Barbara.

 

Children are rewarded with extra time outside , replacing sweets as treats.

            

 

Our Playground leaders had 6 weeks working with the Junior room and 2 weeks with the Middle room. The leaders had their own activities to organise for Thursday Lunch breaks and they were just outstanding while working with the younger children.  Each group rotated after a certain amount of time so children were exposed to a number of activities and skills on each leader day .

  

 

Pedometer Challenge

All children from 1st class to 6th took part in a Pedometer challenge. Each child had to wear a pedometer at Lunch break for one week and the aim was to clock up the most steps over the week i.e. be as active break as you possibly can. Every day the reading from the pedometers were recorded and on Friday prizes were given to the child with the most steps and also the biggest  %age increase from Monday to Friday. It was great fun and the children were very enthusiastic about it.  Below is  a photo of some of the winners, Jason, Danny and Kyle, from the Senior Room.

 

Active Break Challenge

All classes have taken part in 2 Active break challenges so far this year. Each class for the duration of a week completed a running break, a dance break and an exercise break. It was lots of fun. Last year each class completed all 3.

                     

 

Everybody in the school has been using our Active Walkway for their exercise breaks and their Daily Mile or K a day Challenges. We are so proud of all the children and the enthusiam they have brought to each challenge. We would like to thank Gerry Sweeney, a parent in our school, for erecting the signs. The Active walkway is also used if children are not participating in games at break so they can DO YOUR TALKING WHILE YOU’RE WALKING!

All children completed The Daily Mile challenge in 2019 and the K a Day challenge in January /February 2020.

 

Our Run Around Ireland Challenge was just getting underway when interrupted by Covid 19 crisis. The children in the senior room had calculated the distances from our school to all the landmarks on the map of Ireland and all children were informed about the challenge in a whole school assembly. A map of Ireland with landmarks and distances has been posted on each classroom door for them to record where they had travelled to but alas.. We look forward to getting stuck in upon our return!

The Active Committee have many duties and carry out these duties with enthusiasm and efficiency.

 

   

Active Code

We have a school code which we all recite on a regular basis, It was decided through an Active Code competition where children were asked to write a rap/song or poem to represent the message we want to give everyone else, about staying fit. Danny and Taylor were the winners of the competition and their efforts were combined. What do you think?

   

Yard Rota

Specific areas of the Yard are allocated to each class on a daily basis for safety reasons.  Activities in these areas are rotated also throughout the year, through consultation between the Committee and other pupils. We have free Fridays for a number of weeks at different stages throughout the year and we also have Disco Fridays where pupils can get together to boogie to some popular tunes in a particular area of the yard.

 

       

Active Lines

After lunch break each day a child is chosen to suggest and demonstrate an exercise (jumping Jacks, Squats…) . Alternatively, the teachers on yard do excercises with the children as they are lined up, before returning to class.

On rainy days all children do exercises after break with their teacher if they do not get out to yard.

       

Children are encouraged to bring in any awards they recieve through participation in out of school activities. Photos are posted on the Active board.

                         

Subject links

Exercise and outdoor activity is encouraged throughout the year and linked with many subjects. Annually each class participates in an outdoor Maths trail. The Senior room annually take part in a beach clean up (Geography) and a marine life /seashore trip.(Science/Geography) The junior room and middle room go on nature walks also and we do not want to forget the all important easter egg hunt . During Maths and Literacy lessons also, we incorporate exercises into skip counting and spelling ocassionally. Each year everyone in the school takes part in a Céílí for Seachtain na Gaeilge.

                          

              

 

                               

Partnerships

Kilcommon GAA club 

In Inver we have always maintained strong links with our local GAA club. We have pupils who train with the club and every Friday , a coach from the club, James, comes to train the children.  We also have the use of their grounds for home games.

   

Cumann na mBunscol

Every year the children from 3rd class up take part in the mini 7’s and the league games. The children always enjoy the day out and maintain positive attitudes. We are very proud of each and every one of them.

 

Parents

Parents have always been so supportive in our efforts  to encourage and improve childrens levels of activity, and certainly lead by example with many attending fitness classes and also jogging/walking locally.We have many parents involved in challenges throughout the year and also during Active week. We usually have parent volunteers organise and run the annual Sports day and many also take part in the annual netball game and sports day races, much to the delight of  the children in the school. It is always great fun, very competitive and we have smiles all round. Parents also accompany their children when they walk, cycle or scoot to school when the weather is good. They also organise a fundraiser dance each year and help organise fundraiser walks too. We are blessed with such a proactive group of parents and we really appreciate all the hard work and time.

All parents and children within the school completed the Active Flag questionnaire, the results of which are posted on our Active Wall. There, parents are also kept updated about P.E. strands and current Active Flag challenges. Parents are also informed via our webiste, messages on aladdin and letters home.

The Active Flag committee also carried out the ‘What Club are you in?’ survey, the results of which are posted on the active wall in hall.

                 

Water Safety Ireland  – PAWS (Primary Aquatic Water Safety)

Children in 1st and 2nd class completed their PAWS programme in June 2019. 5th and 6th Class are due to complete this programme in June 2020.

ParkRun

All children are encouraged to take part in the local Parkrun. Barbara, a parent in the school and her 2 children, Eve and Lucy, religiously complete the parkrun every weekend, be it at our nearest one at Cross or in Dublin. Barbara has also been heavily involved in thr running and skipping initiatives over the past number of years and also volunteers to take various groups of children for aerobics/games during Active week.  We are truly grateful for her time and commitment! Eve and Lucy are an inspiration to us all.

       

Gymnastics

Over the past number of years, we have had the pleasure of working closely with Lorraine and team from Kids N Motion. Lorraine is a fantastic Gymnastics instructor with the patience of a saint and we have all learned so much from her approach and discipline.

                                    

CPD

Members of the staff have completed many of the Move Well Move Often courses . Múinteoir Lorraine completed A Whole School Approach to Physical Activity Day in November 2019 as well as Move Well Move Often courses over the past number of years and reported to the teachers at the following Staff meeting. See attendance details below.

   

First Aid Training

All staff , 4 teachers, our secretary and our SNA,  completed training in Emergency First Aid and Cardiac First Response in October 2019.

 

Mayo Cycle Safety School

We have had the pleasure over the past number of years of working with Gerry Butler for our Cycle Safety Training. It is always something the children benefit from hugely and enjoy thoroughly.    On the last day of training, the children got to go out onto the main road and were accompanied also by An Garda Siochána on their bikes.

 

Active Week 2019

See on link below for snippets of our Active Week 2019.

https://sninbhear.edublogs.org/active-school-scoil-gniomhai/

 

Celebrating our 3rd Active Flag  27/04/2021

We had a lovely day today to mark our 3rd Active Flag award combined with marking Mayo Day.  To start the day, we all gathered outside and  recapped on some of the activities that we have completed over the 3 year cycle. Together we sang our Active code and then Lucy and Freddie, who are graduating this year ,were invited to raise the flag to a big cheer. We are very proud of all of the children for their enthusiasm , leadership and for making this initiative so much fun. We look forward to continuing being Active in Inver NS and it won’t be long until we celebrate our Active week towards the end of June.

Upon our return to the classroom, the children got to watch a special video message from none other than our local sporting hero Chris Barrett.(Ex Mayo GAA star). Chris congratulated the boys and girls on their wonderful achievement and reminded the children that keeping fit is not just about playing football. It can be any sport and variety is best.

The children enjoyed decorating their Mayo crests and got to participate in extra activities  such as penalties on the múinteoirs , fundamental movement skills development and rounders.

Unfortunately the weather did not hold up for our outdoor disco but we will certainly make up for this in time.

The surprise of the day was the arrival of the ice-cream van at the front door of the school. We all enjoyed our lovely treat!!

Thank you to all the parents for your support and encouragement throughout the past few years and once again well done to the children of Inver N.S!

 

 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email