Active Children;
- Concentrate and Learn more / Perform better in school
- Have fewer discipline problems
- Enjoy school more
It is recommended that children receive at least 60 minutes of exercise every day. The reality is that most children dont receive this.
In Scoil Chaitríona we encourage our children to be as physically active as possible; during break times, during class time (brain breaks) and also outside of school. Scroll down to learn more.
More information on how active your child should be at:
https://www2.hse.ie/wellbeing/teaching-your-children-to-be-active.html
Physical Activity
Break Times
We have two breaks throughout the school day where the children are encouraged to go outside and play. Every day, for the second break, the playground leaders leave out playground equipment for the children to play with. They really enjoy this equipment and it ensures the children are in engaging in a wide variety of activities and so never get bored!
Game of the Month
At the start of the month at our committee meetings we introduce a new game. The committee members then go back to their class and teach them how to play it. Some of the favourite games they played this year included Rock, Paper Scissors Tag and Catch the Frogs.
Active Lines
From Monday to Thursday the Active Committee Members in the class lead their classmates in a number of exercises to keep them active.
Break Everyday Challenge
In November, every class in Scoil Chaitríona took part in the Active Break Challenge. This year it ran from November 1st to November 30th. This meant that every class was committed to taking an Active Break Every Day over the four weeks. The benefits of this for the pupils are improved concentration in class, improve fitness and improved long term health benefits. Classes tried out different activity breaks including running breaks, Drop Everything and Dance to the Macarena and exercise breaks. Many classes used Go Noodle for dance breaks, 10@10 Classroom Movement Breaks, in association with Fingal Sports Partnership, Bizzy Breaks for Bizzy Minds and Bodies from Irish Heart Foundation. Some classes went for walks around the school, running and used jam jars activity. Each class were given necessary charts and resources. The challenge was explained and the class that completed the most amount of active breaks were awarded with an extra yard break. Each class had two jars with lollipop sticks, in one jar the particular exercise or action was named and the other jar was for the frequency. The children really enjoyed this challenge, esp when it was the teacher who had to do the exercise!!
Do Your Talking As You’re Walking
To ensure that children stay active during break times, children are encouraged to ‘Do your Talking as You’re Walking’. This way the children can chat and stay active at the same time. We ran an art competition to promote this. We displayed the winning posters on classroom windows all around yard. We have posted winning posters on classroom windows all around yard. The Active School Committee keep an eye out to ensure this is being enforced.
Have a look at some of the work of talented artists in Scoil Chaitríona!!!
Active Breaks
It’s not easy for adults or children to sit for long periods of time without getting restless and losing focus. Here in Scoil Chaitríona, we incorporate lots of movement breaks in throughout the day to ensure we get a break from our seats and are kept focused. These breaks could be an action song, 10@10, an activity from ‘GoNoodle’ or Drop Everything and Dance.
Wake Up, Shake Up!
Every Wednesday morning, the whole school meets outside for Wake Up, Shake Up! Classes from 6th to 3rd, took a month each. They had to compile a routine and lead it.
Cycle Wake Up, Shake Up!
On Wednesday mornings from October to November and again from March to June we meet up with 2 other schools in the community and along with Garda assistance we take part in a cycle around the town perimeter. This is a great opportunity to become more confident on the road.
Run Around Ireland
It has been a long tradition in Scoil Chaitríona to doing the run around Ireland challenge. The children really enjoyed this challenge. They loved getting outside for laps and we had a large map of Ireland displayed in the entrance area of the school where each class marked off which place they had reached. Each class picked a set time to do their run. This was not during yard time. We used simple calculations i.e. 1 lap is 1km. Distance for Junior -2nd class was 300m, while 3rd-6th was 800 metres.
There was great competition between the senior classes especially. The emphasis was on the class working together as a team to complete as many laps as possible each day. We tried to build variety into this running challenge by running at different times of the day, running for different lengths of time, changing the direction of the running route and asking pupils to focus on different things as they run. We used the challenge as an opportunity for pupils to develop good running technique. if you wold like more information on teaching your child to run you can follow these links.
- PDST Running Videos https://www.scoilnet.ie/pdst/physlit/videos/
- Running Teaching Points https://www.scoilnet.ie/uploads/resources/21887/21610.pdf
- Running Assessment https://www.scoilnet.ie/fileadmin/user_upload/RunningAssessmentDesign.pdf
This is an activity we intend to include daily going forward as we all have noticed the benefits, running is so good for us both physically and mentally especially when we can get a bit tired and restless from trying to sit and concentrate in class. We come back in refreshed and ready to set to work again.
#Feel Good Friday
On the last teaching Friday of each month the school takes part in Feel Good Friday. Physical Activity makes you feel good, fact! This initiative encourages the school to take part in a fun, inclusive and energised classroom-based activity in a different way each month. The children have had a chance to explore lots of different challenges and sports and we have invested in their physical activity by purchasing further equipment that they have enjoyed.
Physical Activity throughout the Year
September: Run Around Europe
October: Witches Walk, Catch the Broom, Beat the Witch Relays
Maths Week- Trails
November: Active Break Everyday Challenge
December: Christmas Santa Bop
January: Skipping Challenge. Who can climb the highest mountain?
February 14th – Mind your Heart Day & Dance Off
March: Seachtain na Gaeilge Céilí & Walkway Easter Hunt
April: Table Tennis & Hand Tennis Challenge
May: Active Week May 15th-18th
June: Take on the teachers Challenge
