Active Flag

In All Saints’ National School we are on a mission to get our Active School Flag!

There are four main elements to achieving our Active School Flag.

1.Physical Education Lessons.

2.Physical Activity at other times throughout the day.

3.  Partnership with pupils, parents, community and other agencies. 

4.An Active School week.

Physical Activity

Active School Week

We had a jammed packed timetable for Active week which ran from Monday the 31st of May to the 4th of June. There were many activities planned everyday from skipping, playground games, virtual coaching session, running challenges and our annual Sports day. Check out some of the activities and photographs from Active week below.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Y4D_z5KrfLgvhpLnwiY6GovcP59P4OjZ/view?usp=sharing

Belfast MET

Belfast M.E.T boxing – A big Go raibh Míle Maith agat to John Mulhern from Belfast MET and his students Jack and Zoe for giving 3rd – 6th class the opportunity to engage in a virtual boxing class as part of active schools week.  John is a lecturer in Sport, Health and fitness and he did not hold back putting us all through our paces. There were some very tired out boys and girls and girls after the session but it was thoroughly enjoyed by all. John explained that to be a successful athlete you must train very hard and that the same is true for anything we want to achieve in life. Sport can teach us to work hard and achieve.

Run Around Ireland Challenge

As part of working towards our Active School Flag all the students and teachers are taking part in the Run around Ireland Challenge.

This 4-week challenge that encourages schools to build a running break into every day. It’s an excellent way for children to learn about some of Ireland’s most famous landmarks and is a great way to build physical activity into the school day and to bring learning outdoors.

It supports the Athletics strand of the PE programme and gives students the opportunity to develop good running technique. The run around Ireland Challenge will bring many benefits to our school.

• It is a great way for pupils to learn about Ireland’s most famous landmarks, and to bring learning outdoors.
• It supports the Athletics strand of the PE curriculum and gives pupils the opportunity to develop good running technique.
• This challenge is also one of the key criteria for schools working towards ASF.
• Regular movement breaks help support increased concentration and focus.

 

Each class will walk, run or roll to different landmarks around Ireland all the way from Malin to Mizen head. Each lap the children and teachers run counts as one kilometer. The class must work together to clock up laps in order to reach as many destinations as they can over the course of the challenge.

To celebrate the landmarks each class reaches the destinations they reach will be shared on the website each week. It is important to remember that it is a team effort and the most important thing is to have fun. Best of luck to all the classes taking part!

Run around Ireland destinations reached.

Week 1

Mrs Duffy’s Class; New Grange

Ms Kane’s Class; Clara Bog, Giant’s Causeway, Glenveagh Natioanl Park, Hillsborough Castle, Malin Head, New Grange, Powers Court, Sliabh Donard, Sliabh League, The Spire.

Mr Mc Kenna’s Class; Glenveagh National Park, New Grange, Sliabh Donard, Kilkenny Castle.

Mrs Shannon’s Class; Mizen Head and Clara Bog

Mrs Mc Kenna’s Class; Powerscourt Waterfall, The Spire, Sliabh Donard, New Grange, Malin Head, Giant’s Causeway.

Ms Dufy’s Class; Mailin Head, The Spire, Clara Bog, Sliabh Donard.

Week 2

Mrs Duffy’s Class; The Spire, Clara Bog

Ms Kane’s Class; Killkenny Castle, Cliffs of Moher, Kylemore Abbey

Mr Mc Kenna’s Class; Powerscourt, The Spire

Mrs Shannons’s Class; Hillsborough Castle, Clara Bog, The Spire, New Grange

Mrs Mc Kenna’s Class; Clara Bog, Glenveagh National Park, Slieve League Cliffs

Ms Duffy’s Class; Mizen Head, Killkenny Castle, Rock of Cashel

Week 3

Mrs Duffy’s Class; Rock of Cashel, Powerscourt Waterfall

Mr Kane’s Class; Hook Head Lighthouse, Rock of Cashel, The Blarney Stone.

Mr Mc Kenna’s Class; The Blarney Stone, Mizen Head, Cliffs of Moher.

Mrs Shannon’s Class; Rock of Cashel, Powerscourt Waterfall.

Mrs Mc Kenna’s Class

Ms Duffy’s Class; Carrauntoohill, The Aran Islands

Week 4

Mrs Duffy’s Class; Mizen Head

Ms Kane’s Class; Carrauntoohill

Mr Mc Kenna’s Class; The Aran Islands, Carrauntoohill, 

Mrs Shannon’s Class; Kylemore Abbey, Clara Bog

Mrs Mc Kenna’s Class;

Ms Duffy’s Class; Blarney Stone, Powerscourt Water Fall

 

 

Active Schools Walkway

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NpL6ggMz0VdMVldX9r9gSOaigCXybIupiUJBtGq8WPY/edit?usp=sharing

All Saints’ NS is delighted to launch our Active School walkway. The purpose of the Active Walkway is to ;

• ENERGISE the School Day.
• Support the PHYSICAL EDUCATION programme.
• Promote ACTIVE LEARNING across a wide variety of subject areas.

Our Active School Walkway is made up of one Home Station located outside the Gym, ten Green Stations and four Blue Active Stations. The walkway can be used as a stand alone walkway around our school but is also an excellent teaching and learning resource helping children access a range of curricular subjects in an outdoor environment, such as orienteering, quizzes, gníomhaíochtaí i nGaeilge, sensory walks, spelling and tables practice the list goes on. 

Check out the Active Walkway introductory video prepared by the 5th and 6th class students and some snaps of the children during our Active Walkway launch day.

Christmas Jumper Walk

Christmas Jumpers and Santa hats at the ready for our first annual Christmas walk. All the staff and students wrapped up warm in our Christmas Jumpers and set off on our brisk walk around the village.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Physical education, is an integral part of the curriculum, provides vital opportunities for the physical, social, emotional and intellectual development of the child. Through Physical Education children can experience the joy of physical exertion and the satisfaction of achievement while developing skills and positive attitudes that enhance self-esteem. Physical education also provides opportunities to develop desirable personal and social attributes: the concept of fair play, the acceptance of success and failure, and the ability to cooperate in group situations. These opportunities contribute to the understanding and promotion of a healthy lifestyle.

In addition to promoting healthy growth and development, studies show that positive movement experiences explored during physical education lessons enhance children’s ability to concentrate and maintain focus, help to relieve stress and anxiety, and encourage a lifelong love of physical activity. Physical Education has the ability to ensure that children have fun at school and establish a sense of connection with their classmates.

The PE programme in All Saints’ N.S incorporates six strands from the curriculum– Athletics, Dance, Gymnastics, Games, Aquatics and Outdoor and Adventure activities. This year we are putting a special focus on GYMNASTICS.

Teachers are dedicated to the improvement of Physical Education and have attended lots of continuous professional development courses  in the area of P.E.

Some of these included;

• Focus on Physical Education webinar delivered by the PDST giving guidance on physical Education during Covid – 19.
• ASF – Getting Started Workshop
• ASF – Nearly there Workshop
• PDST- P.E. support – Gymnastic. All staff member attended a special workshop delivered by Catherine Knight from PDST, focusing on the Gymnastic strand of the P.E. curriculum.

Sports Day

Sports Day is one of the great events in our school calendar and we couldn’t let a little thing like a global pandemic stop us celebrating together.  While we could not be together in person this did not dampen the Doohamlet spirit and many of you have shared some fantastic photographs of all the activities and fun you enjoyed at home. We would like to thank you and your parents for getting involved, getting active and sharing your photos. 

Partnerships

Hurling 

The 6th class students were delighted to be invited to take part in Hurling training delivered by Monaghan GAA Coaching and Games Hurling Development. The children thoroughly enjoyed playing lots of warm-up games and matches to help develop their skill and technique. 

The children were then invited to take part in a Hurling Blitz at Castleblayney College. The children competed against lots of other schools from the area and a really fun day was had by all. Check out some of our action shots!

Monaghan Sports Partnership; more people, more active, more often

Here at All Saints’ N.S  are delighted to have formed a partnership with Monaghan Sports Partnership. Paul Carragher the Community Sports Development officer has shared lots of opportunities for our school to get involved in more sports and activities and has given us advice on how our school can get more active.

 

Monaghan GAA Coaching and Development

The playing and development of Gaelic games in All Saints’ N.S Doohamlet has been a traditional and vital custom for many years. This year we were delighted to work in partnership with Monaghan GAA and welcome Eamon for 6 weeks of GAA coaching and training. This is always a fantastic opportunity to introduce children in the younger classes to Gaelic Games, possibly for the first time, and for all the children to develop skills and offer them an opportunity to play. By introducing children to Gaelic Games in Primary School the children are given opportunities for learning that will enhance their experience of curricular Physical Education and extra-curricular school sport.

Irish Tug of War Association

We were delighted to establish a partnership with The Irish Tug of War association.  Cathy O’Toole visited the school to give our pupils from 3rd to 6th class a taster session. During the session she explained the basic rules of Tug of War and demonstrated the correct technique to the children and teachers. The children got to give it a go, and there was great competition between the teams. Tug of War is a unique sport in the fact that everybody on the team must play their part, this gave all students an opportunity to let their sporty side shine. Tug of War is a great, inclusive sport that can be enjoyed by all ages The session concluded with a boys VS girls competition…. can you guess who won? Cathy also left us a junior Tug of War rope to practise with, in preparation for the Tug of War Blitz.