Active School – Knocknacarra Educate Together NS

Our school community received our first Active School Flag Award in 2019. We achieved this by increasing levels of physical activities in our daily lives (both in school and at home), looking at specific areas of the PE curriculum, ensuring that all aspects of the curriculum are being taught and creating links with sporting agencies and community groups in our local area. The main goal of participating in this scheme is that a sense of health, well-being and physical activity will continue to be fostered in our school. We are currently in the process of renewing our Active Flag.

After some general information about our work towards achieving an Active Flag, you will find on-going updates of our progress in four categories:

Physical Education

Physical Activity

Active School Week

and

Partnerships.

Our ASF co-ordinator oversees a committee comprised of staff members and pupils.
Discretionary time throughout the year is being used by teachers and qualified coaches to coach the children in a range of non-competitive activities including individual and team sports. For example, swimming lessons are taking place for 1^st class and above in the third term. Gaelic football and hurling skills are taught after school as well as athletics and basketball.
Each class is provided with at least 1 hour of timetabled Physical Education per week. This is comprised of at least two 30-minute lessons.
Our PE Curriculum Policy was drafted by teachers as part of the Active School Flag process in 2018. It was ratified by the Board of Management. This plan will be reviewed and amended by staff on a regular basis. All staff members have access to the PE plan as well as the PDST lesson plans for teaching all aspects of the PE curriculum.
An audit of all PE equipment was made and an itemised list ongoing acquisition of new equipment takes place.
The specific area of focus within the curriculum was the Games Strand for our first Active Flag. This year the school is focusing on the Dance Strand for our flag renewal.
We are aware of the importance of being physically active on rainy days when the children cannot play outside. If the children are unable to go outside due to rain, each teacher ensures that he or she gets at least 10 minutes of physical activity that day. Each class has a ‘Go-noodle’ or ‘Just Dance’ account.
We are incorporating physical activity into our everyday lessons. For example, as part of Maths Week, all classes went on an maths trail. Walks around Knocknacarra, Cappagh Park and Bearna Woods have become more active and fun as well as educational.
We have an ASF notice board whereby we inform our school community of our progress to date and any upcoming school events.
All the children and staff love to dance in KETNS. We have explored dance at events such as the Halloween disco, Christmas disco. Every Friday the children dance in the yard listening to music on the school’s “party rocker” using a school’s playlist.
We have liaised with the Health Promotion Officer with the HSE, and our school co-ordinator attended a Health Promotion Healthy School’s activity day in March 2018. All staff are aware of the importance of a healthy and balanced diet along with an active lifestyle.
The KETNS yard is kept very busy. All the children are encouraged to run and travel freely around the yard. Ball and tag games are permitted and encouraged. The older children often teach the younger children new and exciting games. Yard markings were painted by a volunteer parent last in Spring 2019. The yard is divided into zones to facilitate different activities such as basketball, soccer, four square, skipping rope and running games.
The school creates opportunities to exercise where emphasis in on fun e.g. active line where the children do different activities every morning during small break. Each day a different child from each class leads the activity. All classes engage in Busy Breaks throughout the day.
Classes regularly take running breaks, and in the past we participated in a challenge of running around Europe.
Every Thursday the children get ‘active homework’ where they are encouraged to get not only themselves physically active but also their other family members physically active too.
The school has sent teams of students to hurling and soccer blitzes. An athletics team has represented the school at Galway City Sports. We are in the process of purchasing sports kits for school teams.
Active School Week takes place annually in May.