Active School Flag Renewal 2023-2024

Active School Flag (ASF) is a Department of Education initiative supported by Healthy Ireland, and part of the National Physical Activity Plan.

Students at Scoil Naomh Fiachra have been very busy engaging in many different activities this year. These activities include athletics, games, dance, hopping, dodging and side step to mention but a few. The main categories within the programme are Physical Education, Physical Activity, Partnership and Active Schools week.

Physical Education

Athletics is taught in September/October. Ciara from Kilkenny sports partnership came to our school in September 2024 and offered us the use of more equipment and model lessons in Athletics.

As part of our PE programme we did the Dance Strand in December/January. We did a whole school Macarena to end our Dance strand.

Games and Gymnastics are a large part of our Active Schools programme throughout the year. In April, Edel from Óide provided support to aid us in teaching Outdoor Adventure activities. This year we have placed emphasis on fundamental movement skills such as hopping, jumping from a height, landing and balance.

Physical Activity

Physical activity is encouraged through out the school day both in the classroom through movement breaks and in the school yard through initiatives such as our Active School Walkway, Run around Europe challenge, Feel Good Friday challenges where the whole school did laps together during our Run around Europe challenge and they do different dances with different dance leaders every Friday for Feel Good Friday. Classrooms drew up contracts to decrease sedentary time in the classroom. They can stand up when thinking, pairing & sharing. They can stand up for art, STEM activities and games in Irish can be done standing. Between every lesson transition children get up and move. Our senior students form a Playground Leaders group and in their groups they designed an activity timetable which they carried out with the junior students during yard break times throughout the week. The senior students enjoyed the responsibility and the junior students enjoyed the opportunity playing with the senior students.

Partnerships

Our Active School Slogan: Walk, Jump and Run is all active fun!

Partnership and working as a team are fundamental life skills which should be encouraged from an early age. The Active Schools programme provides a platform for students to become part of a committee and step forward as leaders. Meet our committee members.

As part of our Active School programme we have established links with local and national agencies who have given us great support. Our schools Parents Association are organising games for active week later this year and they are also organising the schools annual Fun Run in September.

Through surveys completed by students and parents our Active Schools committee gathered very interesting statistics, suggestions and new ideas. This feedback will be used in future Active Schools programmes within our school.

Local and National Agencies:

Kilkenny Sports & Recreation: A tutor visited out school to model an athletics lesson and allowed us use some of their equipment for 6 weeks. We are also on a list for playground markings with them.
Lisdowney Handball: Richie Muldowney is coming in during active week to give all children a taster session of handball.
Kilkenny GAA development officer Nathan Culleton: Has completed two hurling/camogie session with 5^th & 6^th class.
FAI soccer: 4^th, 5^th and 6^th class boys and girls competed in a soccer tournament in March.
Water Safety Ireland: Delivered a very informative session on water safety using the PAWS programme to the whole school in May.
Edel Murphy from Óide provided support to us in Outdoor and Adventure on April 26^th.
Seamus Nugent who is a sports inclusion & development officer from Kilkenny Recreation & Sports Partnership is coming in on May 28^th to deliver a bainisteoir beag programme to 2^nd to 5^th and perhaps 6^th class.
Boys participated in the Gaelic football and hurling leagues with Cumann na nBunscol.
Girls participated in the Kilkenny camogie primary schools league.
Selected students will participate in the annual Swimming Gala in the Watershed on June 18^th.

Active School Week

Active school week will take place from 10th – 17th June 2024

The schedule for Active week is as follows:

Wednesday 5th of June: Jenkinstown Wood for Outdoor & Adventure.
Monday: Walkway Challenge, Pilates. Parachute games
Tuesday: Whole School Sports Day.
Wednesday: Soccer blitz for 4^th to 6^th class with cluster schools in Lisdowney. Active Walkway for all school.
Thursday:Walkway Challenge, Co-Operative Games, Handball session.
Friday: Whole School School Trip( Active school trip )

Active School Flag Renewal 2020-2021

Wellbeing and Physical Education
Physical Activity
Partnerships
Active School Week

We are trying to renew our active flag this year.To learn more about the Active School initiative, visit their website by clicking on the link www.activeschoolflag.ie

Our active school committee is busy planning lots of ways to keep the pupils and staff healthy and active during these strange pandemic times.

The committee are currently choosing three of the fifteen fundamental movement skills for our school to focus on after Christmas, as part of our commitment to the Active Schools initiative.

The 2020/2021 Committee includes pupil representatives from 1^st – 6^thClass: Lilia-Jane, Mya, Olivia,Seán, Tara-Rose, Emma, Charlotte and Cillian.

Local Sports Hero Challenge April 30th: Kilkenny Camogie Allstar 🙂

Claire Phelan is from Lisdowney and is a Kilkenny Camogie player. She plays full back or centre back on the Kilkenny team. She is our local hero and all the boys and girls look up to her . Many of the girls aspire to be on the Kilkenny camogie team just like Claire. Claire set a knock the hurl challenge. The children had great fun doing it and the atmosphere in the school was brilliant last Friday. In the Junior Room we had a few children knock the hurl once and we had one girl knock it twice ! In the Middle Room a few children knocked the hurl once and one person knocked it twice also. In the Senior room a few children knocked it once and again one child knocked it twice ! Well done to everyone who took part.

The Children took on the challenge with great excitement and determination. Well done to all :).

Partnerships

Go Handball

Lisdowney GAA

Lisdowney hurling visited the school after a sensational win in the county final in October 2020. Well done, such a brilliant achievement.

Thanks to Brian Ryan who is the GAA Development Officer who visits our school regularly and trains the middle room hurling skills.

Paws Water Safety

Children learned all about water safety and designed water safety posters.

Useful websites

https://activeschoolflag.ie/

https://irishheart.ie/

https://www.sportireland.ie/ga

https://www.hse.ie/eng/about/who/healthwellbeing/healthy-ireland/

www.hse.ie

http://kilkennygymnastics.ie/classes/

https://www.krsp.ie/

https://watersafety.ie/primary-school/

Physical Activity

Active Homework

Active Walkway

Our Active Walkway is up and running. Over the coming weeks we hope to use the walkway while engaging in other subjects.

Run Around Ireland Challenge

The Children participated in a Run around Ireland Challenge. A lap of the school and pitch was equal to one kilometre, all students kilometre was added together and each day/week the children reached different landmarks around Ireland such as Clara Bog, The Cliffs of Moher and Kilkenny castle. The children loved reaching their target landmark.

Active Movement Breaks 2020-2021

In term 1, all classes participated in at least two active movement breaks for 4 weeks before Christmas. The teachers and children found it really helped them work harder and focus better. Children did various different types of active movement breaks from running around the school, to a quick hurling session, to dance to yoga, to name but a few ! As part of our movement break initiative the whole school did a run to Croker to tie in with the hurling and football All Ireland’s happening in December. The whole school ran/walked a total of 102km over the course of the 4 weeks. Well done to all ! We will definitely keep up the active movement breaks for the year.

Completed Run to Croker Chart

Monster mile

Well Being & Physical Education

There are 6 PE Strands in the curriculum. The strands are Athletics, Dance, Games, Swimming, Gymnastics and Outdoor and Adventure .To achieve an active flag status at east 5 of the 6 strands must be covered. Each year we normally go swimming but this year due to the pandemic we are going to do the strand of gymnastics instead.

Whole School PE PLAN

Children do all 6 strands every year and a 3 year plan has been put in place to cover all the Fundamental movement skills which help children develop important skills.

Whole School PE PLAN

April & May Gymnastics

The children are really enjoying gymnastics this month. We are hoping to buy some more equipment for it soon.

What time is it Mr Wolf?

Landing game with Fundamental movement skill: landing

In March & the first week in April the children did Athletics and they really enjoyed it.

In December and January(remote learning) all classes did Dance. Each class participated in dance lessons outdoors and the Junior room were able to do some dance indoors as well. The Fundamental movement we are working towards in Dance is the side step. Each class has been learning the Cha Cha slide to incorporate the side step into their dance.

Our campaign to become a recognised ‘Active School‘ has gone extremely well. Following a visit from the ASF inspector, on 31st May 2016, we are now officially a recognised Active School. The inspector was very impressed with all of our hard work and commended us on how active we are. Following his visit we received our ASF certificate and our AS Flag which is now hanging beside our Green School Flag and Irish flag. Well done to everyone for all of their hard work.

Active Week 2017 will take place from Sunday June 11th – Friday June 16th. There are many exciting and fun activities organised for this week, including a fun run on Sunday June 11th, sport’s day on June 13th and school tours on June 15th and lots more.

Our ‘Walk a Mile’ every Friday has been a great success and our ‘Drop Everything and Dance’ on Wednesdays has been great fun too. These and many more activities are planned for the last term.

Our ‘Active Week’ 2015 which included an ‘Active School Tour’, ‘Our Sports Day’, ‘Our 6km School Walk’, visit from Kilkenny hurler Michael Fennelly, agility and core class with Teresa Dunphy and many more activities all took place between the 8th and 14th June 2015.

Active Week 2016 ran from June 7th – June 12th. This week included ‘Our Sports Day’, ‘Our 6km School Walk’, a trip to Jenkinstown Woods for orienteering with Pat Farrell, agility and core class with Teresa Dunphy and many more activities too.

Again, a big thank you to Ms Fennelly who has been working so hard in coordinating all of the above activities.

Useful websites:

Active School flag

Get Ireland Active

Get Ireland Walking

Irish Heart Foundation

Safe Food

HSE – Physical activity fact sheet for parents

RSA – Safe cross code

Again this Halloween we took part in a “Monster Mile”, the children dressed up in their Halloween costumes and we walked a mile around the school.

As part of the ASF process we talked about ‘active travel’. The children learned about staying safe while taking part in ‘active travel’ through the SAFE CROSS CODE. Click MVI_2098 to see the middle room singing and dancing to the SAFE CROSS CODE.

We went orienteering with Pat Farrell in Jenkinstown Woods as part of our Active School Week 2016. We had a brilliant day and thanks to Pat for planning all of the activities.

On Friday of Active Week this year, Teresa Dunphy took us to her clinic to do core and agility activities. We had a brilliant time and thanks again to Teresa for giving up her time to give the classes to us.

We recently had a loan of some fantastic athletics equipment which the whole school got to use and enjoy. Here are some pictures of the children using the equipment.