ACTIVE SCHOOL

In our school, every class follows a PE timetable, with each class enjoying one hour of physical education per week. Junior and Senior Infants take part in PE on Tuesdays and Thursdays. As part of our whole-school approach, all classes cover the same strand at the same time. At the moment, we’re all working on the Games strand. We use the Move Well, Move Often resources to cover different fundamental movement skills.

In April 2025, Ms. O’Brien and Ms. Byrne attended a Physical Literacy course provided by Oide. They found it highly informative. Ms. O’Brien is also taking part in several Active School webinars to keep our programme fresh and exciting.

This year, we also invested in a brand-new speaker for the yard. It’s located in the infant yard, but it’s loud enough to be heard on the senior yard too. Being active outside is so much fun and as the weather improves, we will especially enjoy our PE homework.

Have a look at some of the photos below to see us in action. And a big thank you to our Active Committee for doing such a great job cleaning the PE press!

Our break times are always full of energy. There is plenty of running, skipping, and soccer happening across the yards! The Infants are especially lucky, with monkey bars to climb on during lunch time and a polydron set to enjoy in their yard. And in June their balance bikes are arriving! One of their favourite things is when the older classes come down to join them as playground leaders. They organise games and make break time even more fun!

We also have our Active Walkway in use, and right now, each class is taking part in our “Skipping Around Europe” challenge. It’s been a huge success! The Infants have skipped their way to London, while the older classes have travelled even further. Each class has made their active promises, which are proudly displayed on the Active School Board!

We keep parents well informed through our regularly updated website, where parents are kept up to date on our progress. We also share updates during our whole-school assemblies.

In March, our Local Sports Partnership came to school to teach us about games from the past. We emailed the local disability officer too.

Meanwhile, our Active Committee has been working hard leading the Skip Around Europe challenge. They also organised our What Club Are You In? survey, visiting each class to find out what clubs pupils are part of. The results are proudly displayed on the Active School Board. In February, pupils completed questionnaires about physical activity at school. Ms. O’Brien found the feedback very interesting. One clear message was the pupil’s plea to get back on the pitch! We’re now considering making the pitch accessible even with wellies. Parents also shared their views in a separate survey, offering valuable suggestions for Active School Week and reinforcing the importance of accessing the pitch.

We also held a competition for our Active School slogan—congratulations to Grace Murphy, who won with the catchy slogan: “Keep Moving, Get Your Body Grooving!”

Active School Week takes place every June and is one of the highlights of our school year. We love swapping our regular homework for active homework and wearing our tracksuits all week. Each day brings something new, with a wide variety of activities to enjoy, from Sports Day, tennis, and Zumba to boxing sessions and our walk to Huntington Castle. One of the most exciting parts is our annual basketball league, which Ita helps to organise. Sixth class especially look forward to the much-anticipated teachers versus students basketball match.