Kilcoole Primary School are kick starting their pursuit of the Active Schools Flag this week. The Active School Flag (ASF) is a Department of Education and Skills Initiative supported by healthy Ireland, and part of the National Physical Activity Plan.
The ASF initiative provides schools with a framework to guide, support and incentivise them to work towards achieving a physically educated and physically active school community.
We begin with the 'Active Break Every Day' Challenge for the next 4 weeks! Classes are encouraged to take indoor and outdoor movement breaks everyday, these breaks are a great way to restore concentration and focus, and should form part of the school day every day for everyone. We've got some great resources to help us along the way such as Cosmic Kids Yoga, The Irish Heart Foundation Bizzy Breaks, Movement in the Classroom from the PDST and RTE's 10@10 videos. Have a look at what our classes got up to last week.
Physical Activity
Active Breaks Everyday Challenge
Our school grounds have been alive with activity over the past few weeks as the boys and girls get out and get moving! We've been getting that fresh air into our lungs as we're out exercising and moving our muscles on our 'Active Breaks' twice a day! All classes have been engaging in a variety of activities and have made great use of the Irish Heart Foundation Bizzy Breaks and PDST Movement in the Classroom resource packs. Classes are using the Active Breaks Challenge Charts to record and share their efforts with others and we've got our Active Schools notice boards on display now in both the Junior and Senior buildings.
Active Students of the Month and Our First Feel Good Friday
We were busy in November with our ‘Active Break Everyday Challenge’ which saw classes take at least one active break every day, these movement breaks are a great way to restore concentration and focus throughout the day.
On Novembers ‘Feel Good Friday’ we all got out and active and honoured our Active Students of the month, we saw some Gaelic superstars, wicked walkers and Usain Bolts in training throughout the school grounds!
Well done to our Active Students of the Month:
J.I- E.Siklody, D. Gill, A.Conroy
S.I-S. Kerley, J. Moorehouse, M. Kearney,
1st E. O’Neill, F. Crean, G. Byrne
2nd M. O’ Brien, M. Kilkenny, C. Daly
Check out our specially designed Active School Flag Certificates!
12 Days of Fitness
December saw the launch of our ‘12 Days of Fitness’ the children took part in a different ‘fit’ activity each day in the days running up to our Christmas holidays, some of the activities really tested our resolve like the plank and the wall sits!
Physical Education
Physical education provides children with learning opportunities through the medium of movement and contributes to their overall development by helping them to lead full, active and healthy lives.
The 7 key messages
1. The importance of enjoyment and play. The child who associates fun and enjoyment with physical education lessons and who gains a sense of achievement will develop the positive attitudes so necessary for continued participation in physical education lessons and physical activity. Through play the child learns to move effectively, to think, to interact socially with others and to express feelings.
2. Maximum participation by all children in the physical education lesson. The desire by children for active participation can be seen as the starting-point for the teacher when planning and implementing physical education lessons. Lessons which can be identified as successful in achieving the pre- determined objectives will inevitably be those where the children were active throughout the entire lesson.
3. The development of skills and increasing understanding of the activities which the children are experiencing. The development of skills forms a significant part of the curriculum for physical education, beginning through structured play activities at infant level and extending throughout the class levels. As the skills are developed there should be an emphasis too on increasing the child’s understanding of the activities he/she is engaged in. This can be achieved by adopting appropriate teaching methods where discussion is an essential part of the process.
4. Providing a balance between competitive and non-competitive activities. Activities incorporating some elements of competition can benefit the child as he/she progresses towards the achievement of his/her potential. The positive opportunities presented include the development of respect for opponents, rules and classmates as officials. However, the pressures of competition can form barriers to progress for some children, and competition does not always present the ideal environment for development of skills. A balance should therefore be sought between provision for competitive and non-competitive activities.
5. Providing a balance between contact and non-contact activities. The needs of the individual child should be considered when selecting suitable activities. A balance should be sought which, for example, allows the child who favours non-contact activities to enjoy those activities and yet be able to engage in contact activities, where possible modified to suit his/her needs.
6. Providing opportunities for achievement for each child. It is essential that the child be presented with achievable tasks, regardless of the activity he/she is engaged in. The satisfaction of achievement is the factor that motivates many children to continue to participate in physical activity.
7. Providing activities equally suitable for girls and boys. Activities which have traditionally been associated with either sex can be presented, sometimes with modifications, to a mixed class. Single sex classes should be exposed to a range of activities from all six strands where possible, thus ensuring that a balanced programme is presented to them.
All pupils in Kilcoole Primary School are provided with at least 60minutes of PE each week. We are very lucky in both the Junior and Senior building to have a hall and expansive green pitches where we can run, jump, skip, hop and play all the games we want!! Recently the Junior Building have been very fortunate to have an extended playing field opened up to us with amazing views of the rolling Wicklow mountains and the Sugar Loaf.
We teach all 6 strands of the Physical Education Curriculum however this year our trips to Shoreline, Greystones to cover the Aquatics Strand of the curriculum have been postponed, we are looking forward to their resumption in the coming year.
We have been covering the PAWS Water Safety Programme at several class levels to teach children how to be safe around water in homes, farms, pools, beaches and on our waterways. The course outlines life-saving guidelines for children of every age and that is reassuring for us here in the coastal village of Kilcoole. See us here enjoying the story of Splash and River in Infants while 2nd class are busy working together to make Water Safety Posters.
